Q + A with Co-founder, Marian Cheng
This month, we’ve partnered with Mimi Cheng’s to bring you the ultimate in vegan yummies, the #GUACDUMPLING.
Inspired by our fan favorite by CHLOE. Guac Burger, Marian Cheng and her sister Hannah have created a vegan Guac Dumpling exclusively available for the month of March at Mimi Cheng’s East Village location.
Mimi Cheng’s is a popular cafe serving organic and locally-sourced Taiwanese-Chinese dumplings, inspired by a family recipe.
Here to share the inspiration behind Mimi Cheng’s and the #GUACDUMPLING, we’re chatting with Marian Cheng, Mimi Cheng’s Co-Founder.
by CHLOE.: Introduce yourself.
Marian Cheng: I’m Marian of Mimi Cheng’s, lover of all things beautiful: food, fashion, travel, and small details.
bC: What inspired you to open Mimi Cheng’s with your sister?
MC: We wanted to make delicious, quality Taiwanese food easily accessible to everyone. We wanted to dispel the preconceived notions that Taiwanese and Chinese eats all centered around MSG and grease. The cooking that we grew up on is very intricate and time consuming to make from scratch. We basically are inviting people into our own home kitchen through our mom’s original recipes, using carefully sourced, high quality ingredients, to deliver delicious, healthy, and vibrant eats.
bC: What is your first memory of eating dumplings?
MC: When I think about my childhood, I always had dumplings on the mind. My mom Mimi would carefully prep all the ingredients, including pounds of green vegetables to make dumpling filling. The kitchen smelled of sesame oil and spices. She usually did it late at night when the world was quiet and peaceful. I always loved to watch her intently wrap dumplings and wanted to get my hands in the flour and dough. She taught me how to pleat dumplings in the traditional half moon shape but mine never came out as perfect as hers. There’s something about a mother’s touch. We would spend hours making dumplings, knowing that we’d be enjoying the fruits of our labor all week. We always requested her secret sauce for dipping.
bC: What inspired you to focus on fresh, local ingredients at Mimi Cheng’s? What are the benefits?
MC: We always had a garden, growing up in the suburbs. Mimi loves using only the freshest ingredients for all her cooking, preferring to pick everything at the peak of its season. When you use the best ingredients, you can let the ingredients speak for themselves, rather than masking and making up for taste with artificial ingredients. Taste is a reflection of the nutrition in an ingredient; it all goes hand in hand.
bC: What sets Mimi Cheng’s dumplings apart from more traditional dumpling shops?
MC: Our ingredients, obsessive dedication to quality, and good vibes. Our dumplings are Taiwanese-style and based on our family’s recipes, which means our dumplings are made with very thin wrappers with a light and flavorful filling made from fresh and vibrant ingredients. All the other dumpling shops in NYC are Northern Chinese style, which means very thick dough skins and heavy greasy fillings. Northern China can get very cold so the food tends to be heavier. We let the ingredients speak for themselves; you’ll never find any MSG or fillers.
bC: Do you have any secret menu items?
MC: It’s a secret… just kidding. When you order our spicy dan dan soba noodles and say, “make it nice,” be prepared to sweat. It’s only for SERIOUS spice lovers.
bC: Tell us about your monthly specials. How do you come up with them?
MC: Hannah and I LOVE to eat and love to eat a variety of cuisines. It’s based on our taste palate, our current obsessions, seasonality, holidays, basically whatever we find delicious.
bC: You created a special by CHLOE. dumpling for March. What inspired you to transform the fan favorite guac burger into a dumpling?
MC: We love what by CHLOE. is doing. Changing the perceptions of vegan food and doing a killer job at it.
bC: Why do you think the Guac Burger works so well as a dumpling?
MC: The Guac Burger packs a lot of flavor and has components that create layers of flavor. It’s important to have a good base for the dumpling and a sauce that makes you want to dip everything you can find in it.
bC: Who are some other restaurants you would like to collaborate with in the future?
MC: Gjusta, Sweetgreen, Blue Hill, and Sqirl.
bC: What’s your favorite dish at by CHLOE.?
MC: The Guac Burger or Kale Caesar with a side of baked sweet potato fries. Extra Beet Ketchup and Chipotle Aioli.
bC: What does “Eat well. Eat with purpose” mean to you?
MC: Eat food that makes you feel good and makes you feel energetic and happy. Eat with a sense of responsibility to your community, farmers, and future generations. We are what we eat.
RAPID FIRE
1. Nickname? MC, MC hammer
2. Emoji that best describes you? The chick springing out of an egg
3. Sweet or savory? Savory
4. Name one food you can’t live without? Avocado
5. Kitchen appliance that you most identify with? Oven
6. Weird personal fact? Lavender bed spray is my best friend.
7. Favorite season? Spring
8. Choice super hero power? Being able to transport myself, so I could go anywhere and everywhere I want in a matter of seconds
9. Top 3 instagram accounts you follow? @beautifuldestinations, @nicole_franzen, @howyouglow
10. Beer or wine? Wine
11. Kitten or puppy? Puppy
12. Hosting a dinner with 4 people (dead or alive), who would you invite? Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Vince Vaughn, and Will Ferrell.
