Supreme Dumplings founder launches manufacturing plant to spread the joy of xiao long bao

Usually at the National Restaurant Show, operators are the shoppers streaming through 12 football fields-worth of vendors and exhibitors.

This year, however, restaurant operator Brandon Ting was in a booth as a vendor, hoping to catch the attention of his foodservice peers with soup dumplings.

Ting is the owner of Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya and Supreme Dumplings, with about 23 restaurants between the two brands, all company owned. It’s a growing company, with another seven scheduled to open this year.

The five-unit Supreme Dumplings, in particular, has attracted attention for its broth filled, tender xiao long bao, or soup dumplings, among other things on the menu.

About a year ago, Ting opened a manufacturing plant to launch Starry Foods, which he hopes will bring soup dumplings and more to retail. It’s a U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected plant with Safe Quality Food certification, using the same recipes as the restaurant chain, he said. And it produces delicious soup dumplings, if samples at the Show are any indication, with a rich, ginger-spiked broth.

Soup dumplings have been growing in popularity in recent years with the rise of Din Tai Fung, a rapidly growing casual-dining chain that last year was one of the highest volume restaurant concepts in the country.

Like Din Tai Fung, Ting’s Supreme Dumplings offers a Taiwan-style xiao long bao (Ting is originally Taiwanese). He recruited a chef from the W Hotel in Taipei to create the menu. “I was amazed with his food,” Ting said.

Ting, who had already launched Kizuki in Washington state, convinced the chef to bring his family to the U.S. to develop Supreme Dumplings.

While Din Tai Fung is somewhat elevated, Ting said Supreme Dumplings aims to be more approachable and neighborhood friendly.

“You don’t feel the price level will be scary,” he said. “You want more families to dine with us frequently.”

Kizuki operates in Seattle and greater Washington, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Texas and Indiana.

Supreme Dumplings, meanwhile, is also in Washington, San Francisco and Texas. This year, the concept will open in Honolulu, as well as San Jose and Houston.

Now with the ball rolling on manufacturing, Ting said he’s looking for a partner that would support his planned growth.

What started as a tiny ramen shop 14 years ago has grown into a multi-brand business with the opportunity to move into wholesale and CPG.

Fundamentally, Ting said he wanted to be able to reach customers across the U.S. that have become fans.

“We have been blessed to have a lot of customers loving our restaurants,” said Ting. “Our base is growing bigger and bigger.”

Lisa Jennings is a veteran restaurant industry reporter and editor who covers the fast-casual sector, independent restaurants and emerging chain concepts.