A Restaurant Inspired by the Longtangs of Shanghai | The New Yorker

"Stepping into Little Alley, a Shanghainese restaurant inspired by the city’s longtang architecture, I found the crab soup dumplings to be the standout: as a smartly dressed waiter enthused, “The dumplings are our pride and joy.” The delicate, paper-thin skin conceals succulent pork and crab and a luxurious, superheated broth that makes managing to eat one whole without a second-degree burn a minor feat. The menu’s most noteworthy items are homey longtang classics: honey kaofu, a spongelike soy-braised unpeeled wheat tossed with wood-ear mushrooms and peanuts that tastes like a sweet holiday at home; lion’s head—tender stewed meatballs stuffed with half a salted duck egg and meant for sharing; and yan du xian, a rich winter stew of ham, pork belly, tofu-skin knots, and fresh bamboo shoots that evokes familial comfort yet remains rare on American menus. A young Shanghainese diner observed that “Shanghainese food is not fancy or bold or particularly pungent,” but that its mild flavors layer on top of each other, and she seemed astonished that this taste of the longtang has landed smack dab in the middle of Manhattan. Entrées $16–$26." - Jiayang Fan