A Little Dumpling Eatery with a Big Impact

This is the center of the restaurant, a blown-up menu and the front of the open kitchen. Dumpling Daughter, Weston, MA

Dumpling Daughter in Weston, MA

Dumpling Daughter is one of the only restaurants in Weston, Massachusetts. The restaurant is owned by Nadia Liu Spellman, the daughter of acclaimed chef Sally Ling. Sally Ling opened one of the first fine dining Chinese restaurants in the country in Boston in the 1980s, which was incredibly successful and only closed in the early 2000s. Sally Ling’s daughter Nadia opened Dumpling Daughter just about a year ago, seeking to continue her mother’s legacy as well as put her own spin on her favorite Chinese dishes; hence the name Dumpling Daughter. The restaurant is a casual dining experience, where customers order at the counter and then seat themselves. Nadia says that the idea behind the concept of the restaurant was to create a casual social space, where people can grab something quickly to eat or can sit with friends and family and enjoy several courses. Dumpling Daughter is located on Center Street, which functions as the center and only shopping area in the town. The restaurant neighbors typical stores that would be expected in the center of a suburb, a grocery store, bank, florist and bagel shop. The demographics found in the restaurant largely mirror the population of Weston and its surrounding towns, mostly middle to upper middle class Caucasians and Asian-Americans. Dumpling Daughter has greatly enhanced the neighborly feel to this town center. The surrounding shops, as well as the restaurant itself, are a magnet for the town’s residents as both a commercial and social center where both errands are run and friends are met for lunch.

Just as Global Cities, Local Streets argues that “globalization, immigration and gentrification are the major forces reshaping local shopping streets in New York City” (p. 31), globalization, immigration and to a lesser extent gentrification are also shaping the town center of Weston, a suburb of Boston. The presence of a brand new, wildly successful authentic Chinese restaurant speaks to the influence of immigration and globalization in the town center of even a relatively homogeneous town like Weston. The discussion of Orchard Street and Fulton Street in New York shed an interesting light on the center of Weston. Though there are obviously distinct differences between the shopping streets of New York City and a small suburban town center like the one in Weston. However, the street on which Dumpling Daughter is located has several similarities to both Fulton and Orchard Street. Like Orchard Street, Weston town center is a commercial area that is home to a trendy restaurant, Dumpling Daughter, and other upscale shops. However, similar to Fulton Street’s stores, which are often owned by immigrants, Dumpling Daughter is in fact owned by the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Also similar to Fulton Street, Center Street in Weston is located directly off of Route 20, which runs through several different suburbs of Boston, similar to how Fulton Street runs throughout Brooklyn. There is no doubt that there are several very distinct differences between Fulton Street and Center Street in Weston, one of the most obvious being the differing racial demographics. However, the stories of both Orchard Street and Fulton Street, and the similarities that these two large thoroughfares have with a small suburban town center provide a fascinating perspective with which to observe and evaluate even the smallest and most mundane looking of town centers.

Jane Bisson ’18