Women, queer, and immigrants owned and operated restaurant set out to define Taiwanese cuisine in America in our own terms. Inspired by the traditional Taiwanese roadside banquet, we believe in the importance of delivering craft, thoughtful food with the intention of connecting each other in the community.
You'd be excused for not noticing Hue House while walking down a midtown Manhattan street. After all, as ambitious as the idea behind this new four-story cultural club showcasing Asian culture may be, the building itself is fairly nondescript, tucked into 56 East 41st Street near Madison Avenue. Step inside, though, and it becomes immediately clear just how much thought has gone into the project.
While first-timers may be tempted by the rainbow-tinted soup dumpling sampler with flavors like black truffle, pork, cheese, and kimchi, it's better to just settle on two 10-piece trays of single flavors. The original pork is always a safe pick, juicy and thin-skinned. My favorite, the spicy Sichuan, has a rich, oily inside punctuated by a brief but intense spice.
In 1928, Huang's great-grandfather opened Tai Kee Wonton's original location in Hualien, Taiwan. The business skipped a generation with the unfortunate passing of his daughter. Huang's mother and aunt inherited the restaurant and ran it together for several years. Huang moved to the U.S. with his mother and his sister, Heidi, in 1990. Then, in 2008, the family opened Tai Kee Wonton on Saratoga Avenue, a San Jose neighborhood with heavy traffic near the border of Santa Clara.
Taiwanese Marylanders-or any regular explorers of the Rockville Pike food scene-will likely recognize most of the dishes on the menu at Bao Bei, though they're under new names. The Bao Bei Bao is a gua bao, a classic Taiwanese pork belly bun on a pillowy soft bao (here, it's also available with tofu). The Bao Bei Bowl is really lu rou fan, Taiwanese braised pork rice with mustard greens- you might have tried it at A&J or Taipei Cafe up the road. Sesame-and-scallion bread is something like shaobing.
