|
Chef Interviews
Kenny Lao’s youthful energy is infectious, a zesty joie de vivre that colors both his personality and his food. The owner of New York City’s Rickshaw Dumplings, California native Lao graduated from Brown University and earned an MBA from NYU’s Stern Business School, but all the while suspected that his heart was in his stomach. (In a good way.)
Inspired by a family who taught him the virtues of an adventurous palate, Lao embarked on a quest to spread the gospel of homemade dumplings. Rather than dive in head first like a rookie, he worked front-of-the-house jobs at esteemed restaurants like Nobu and Tribeca Grill to garner experience in the restaurant industry.
That’s right; he probably took your coat one night. But, the unglamorous diligence paid off; Rickshaw Dumplings is a smash success, giving diners dynamite twists on traditional Asian flavors, all to the smooth groove of a customized soundtrack (another reflection of Lao’s hipster zeal).
ASTV: Why did you decide to open a dumpling restaurant?
LAO: One of my favorite meals growing up was dumpling night in my house. We’d get together with another family and we’d wrap dumplings all night. It was a shared experience around food. I loved the kind of the communality of it.
ASTV: What did your family teach you about food?
LAO: Even as a kid we ate out probably three or four times a week, around Pasadena where I grew up. My father never let me order off the kid’s menu. He didn’t want me eating grilled cheese and hot dogs at the best restaurants in town! My mother says I was always very stubborn. I was allergic to crustaceans, but I couldn’t help myself. I loved shrimp, lobster, all of it, even though I wasn’t supposed to eat it. My mother thinks I grew out of the allergy because I forced my way through it.
ASTV: How did you get [New Asian Cuisine contributing chef] Anita Lo involved with Rickshaw?
LAO: I knew Anita through having worked in NYC restaurants. When it came time to come up with menu for Rickshaw, I wanted to have a chef on board. I don’t have formal back of the house training. There are a lot of chefs playing in more casual aspects of the restaurant right now, and I thought this concept was a logical fit for a well known Asian chef.
ASTV: How did you choose the dumpling recipes for the menu?
LAO: Really, I said hey, you’re the chef, come up with the best flavors that are accessible but authentic. The flavors are bright and vivid; they speak to a wide audience. The most popular is a Thai basil chicken dumpling; it’s a very traditional flavor that people recognize. Our chocolate dumpling is delicious! We use mochi flour for the dumpling, which is covered with black sesame seeds and filled with dark chocolate and high-density butter. When you cook it, the inside melts and becomes a chocolate soup. It’s a burst of flavor! And it’s apparently the first of its kind. It was named among the top ten best chocolate desserts in New York in New York Magazine.
ASTV: What’s your favorite dumpling on the Rickshaw menu?
LAO: One of my favorites here is an unusual one that Anita made up. It’s a Peking duck recipe. I knew that Peking duck is a fairly traditional Chinese flavor and I thought it would be delicious, especially if it’s pan fried because then it becomes crispy, like duck skin.
ASTV: According to your website, you worked with a guy named DJ Stang to create an original soundtrack for the restaurant?
LAO: The music is really kind of the key element here. One of the things I realized is when people come into restaurants they’re in for the whole experience. I think that what you hear is just as important as what you see, smell, and taste. DJ Stang is a crazy Swede! He’s a DJ that I know here. It’s all music that I personally really like, but it also fits the restaurant really well. We try to do music that’s very melody driven, songs you recognize or think you recognize. We still get people asking about the music. It’s pretty unusual for a restaurant. We take off songs that the staff gets sick of, but it’s pretty static. We have every kind of music. It’s a really fun mix. One of the songs is a cover of a Cranberry’s song, in Chinese.
ASTV: What are you up to when you’re not at/thinking about the restaurant?
LAO: I sleep a lot when I can! Also, this sounds crazy but I go out and eat dinner. I go out and eat all the time. I swim twice a week. Sunday is my real day when I try not to come into the store, but we’re opening two more stores, so for now I’m coming in.
ASTV: Where are the new restaurants going to be?
LAO: One on 8th street, near NYU. It’s a great location, one that I’m really excited that we were able to land. I’m really excited to come back to my alma mater area.
ASTV: What advice can you give to wannabe restaurateurs?
LAO: People always ask; how do you open a restaurant? People want to know how I did it. The best thing to do is to get experience in the restaurant industry, any way you can; cashiering [sic.], hosting, bussing, line cooking. Get experience to see what it’s like to work in a restaurant, and then see if you still like it. There’s not that much of difference between working in a restaurant and owning one. It’s very, very hands on.
Inspired by a family who taught him the virtues of an adventurous palate, Lao embarked on a quest to spread the gospel of homemade dumplings. Rather than dive in head first like a rookie, he worked front-of-the-house jobs at esteemed restaurants like Nobu and Tribeca Grill to garner experience in the restaurant industry.
That’s right; he probably took your coat one night. But, the unglamorous diligence paid off; Rickshaw Dumplings is a smash success, giving diners dynamite twists on traditional Asian flavors, all to the smooth groove of a customized soundtrack (another reflection of Lao’s hipster zeal).
ASTV: Why did you decide to open a dumpling restaurant?
LAO: One of my favorite meals growing up was dumpling night in my house. We’d get together with another family and we’d wrap dumplings all night. It was a shared experience around food. I loved the kind of the communality of it.
ASTV: What did your family teach you about food?
LAO: Even as a kid we ate out probably three or four times a week, around Pasadena where I grew up. My father never let me order off the kid’s menu. He didn’t want me eating grilled cheese and hot dogs at the best restaurants in town! My mother says I was always very stubborn. I was allergic to crustaceans, but I couldn’t help myself. I loved shrimp, lobster, all of it, even though I wasn’t supposed to eat it. My mother thinks I grew out of the allergy because I forced my way through it.
ASTV: How did you get [New Asian Cuisine contributing chef] Anita Lo involved with Rickshaw?
LAO: I knew Anita through having worked in NYC restaurants. When it came time to come up with menu for Rickshaw, I wanted to have a chef on board. I don’t have formal back of the house training. There are a lot of chefs playing in more casual aspects of the restaurant right now, and I thought this concept was a logical fit for a well known Asian chef.
ASTV: How did you choose the dumpling recipes for the menu?
LAO: Really, I said hey, you’re the chef, come up with the best flavors that are accessible but authentic. The flavors are bright and vivid; they speak to a wide audience. The most popular is a Thai basil chicken dumpling; it’s a very traditional flavor that people recognize. Our chocolate dumpling is delicious! We use mochi flour for the dumpling, which is covered with black sesame seeds and filled with dark chocolate and high-density butter. When you cook it, the inside melts and becomes a chocolate soup. It’s a burst of flavor! And it’s apparently the first of its kind. It was named among the top ten best chocolate desserts in New York in New York Magazine.
ASTV: What’s your favorite dumpling on the Rickshaw menu?
LAO: One of my favorites here is an unusual one that Anita made up. It’s a Peking duck recipe. I knew that Peking duck is a fairly traditional Chinese flavor and I thought it would be delicious, especially if it’s pan fried because then it becomes crispy, like duck skin.
ASTV: According to your website, you worked with a guy named DJ Stang to create an original soundtrack for the restaurant?
LAO: The music is really kind of the key element here. One of the things I realized is when people come into restaurants they’re in for the whole experience. I think that what you hear is just as important as what you see, smell, and taste. DJ Stang is a crazy Swede! He’s a DJ that I know here. It’s all music that I personally really like, but it also fits the restaurant really well. We try to do music that’s very melody driven, songs you recognize or think you recognize. We still get people asking about the music. It’s pretty unusual for a restaurant. We take off songs that the staff gets sick of, but it’s pretty static. We have every kind of music. It’s a really fun mix. One of the songs is a cover of a Cranberry’s song, in Chinese.
ASTV: What are you up to when you’re not at/thinking about the restaurant?
LAO: I sleep a lot when I can! Also, this sounds crazy but I go out and eat dinner. I go out and eat all the time. I swim twice a week. Sunday is my real day when I try not to come into the store, but we’re opening two more stores, so for now I’m coming in.
ASTV: Where are the new restaurants going to be?
LAO: One on 8th street, near NYU. It’s a great location, one that I’m really excited that we were able to land. I’m really excited to come back to my alma mater area.
ASTV: What advice can you give to wannabe restaurateurs?
LAO: People always ask; how do you open a restaurant? People want to know how I did it. The best thing to do is to get experience in the restaurant industry, any way you can; cashiering [sic.], hosting, bussing, line cooking. Get experience to see what it’s like to work in a restaurant, and then see if you still like it. There’s not that much of difference between working in a restaurant and owning one. It’s very, very hands on.