By The Chicago Cultural Alliance

The World Dumpling Fest returns to Chicago on Sunday to celebrate dumplings of the world from 10 neighborhood-based ethnic restaurants in the Chicago region, in conjunction with World Music Festival Chicago at Navy Pier’s Polk Bros Park Performance Lawns.
The 2017 inaugural event, held at Millennium Park drew more than 6,000 people and sold out of dumplings in the first few hours.
The featured dumplings:

Cafe Tola
Cultural Representation: Mexican
Dumpling Description: Empanadas
Chef/Restaurant Details: A blending of delicacies with colorful Mexican pizzazz and an adventurous menu of daily crafted homemade empanadas and wickedly-delicious coffees guaranteed to rock your world.
Lydia Hoover Photography
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Dia De Los Tamales
Cultural Representation: Mesoamerican
Dumpling Description: Tamales
Chef/Restaurant Details: Revolutionary tamales from Pilsen, created in a chef-driven, eco-conscious kitchen with a farm-to-fork attitude.
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Ethiopian Diamond
Cultural Representation: Ethiopian
Dumpling Description: Sambusas – whole lentil, spinach, and potato and carrots.
Chef/Restaurant Details: Executive chef and owner Almaz Yigizaw welcomes you to her namesake Ethiopian restaurant (Almaz means diamond in Amharic). The Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant & Bar is known for its extensive menu of authentic Ethiopian dishes and is open for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. All of the Ethiopian food is served in a welcoming, comfortable, and hip and inviting cultural setting.
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Friendship Chinese Restaurant
Cultural Representation: Chinese
Dumpling Description: Chinese Bao and Sui Mai
Chef/Restaurant Details: A long-held Logan Square destination for elegant Chinese dining for more than 20 years, chef/owner Alan Yuen brings new ideas to his dishes, with Chicago’s longest running dim sum each weekend, and Hong Kong Street Food each Thursday, with food and cocktail pairings harkening to his childhood in HK.

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Herb Restaurant
Cultural Representation: Thai
Dumpling Description: Saku Sai Moo in different varieties.
Chef/Restaurant Details: Herb is Thai redefined. Our dishes are perfect for diners who demand quality, healthy ingredients in their adventures of haute cuisine. Award-winning chef Patty Neumson looks forward to serving you at the best Thai restaurant in Chicago.

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Himmel’s
Cultural Representation: German
Dumpling Description: Spätzle with grilled onions (vegetarian), bread dumplings with pork mushroom gravy.
Chef/Restaurant Details: Sisters Diana and Carol Himmel’s dream started in their mother’s North Side kitchen dishing up scrumptious, homemade meals. “For the past five years, we have been blessed to bring you Pizza D.O.C. We’ve called ourselves an Italian restaurant with a German flair – and we of course have been the German flair. Now, we’re settling into our own, creating new from scratch dishes with a personal touch.”
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Kamehachi
Cultural Representation: Japanese
Dumpling Description: Goyza in different varieties.
Chef/Restaurant Details: Kamehachi means “eight turtles” in Japanese. The turtle and the number eight both symbolize long life and good luck in Japan. For more than 40 years, Kamehachi has been perfecting the art of making sushi. And today, the values and traditions established at “Chicago’s First Sushi Restaurant” are as strong as ever. With meticulously crafted dishes made with the highest quality ingredients, Kamehachi has earned its reputation as the premier Japanese restaurant in Chicagoland.

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Kasia’s Deli
Cultural Representation: Polish
Dumpling Description: Pierogi in different varieties.
Chef/Restaurant Details: Kazimiera Bober, better known as “Kasia,” is living proof of the “American Dream,” as noted by the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, Chicago Public Radio, WTTW and elsewhere. She immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1970s with the dream of a better life for herself and her children. After years of working odd jobs and struggling financially, she decided to pursue something in which she excelled, which was cooking.

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Sinhá
Cultural Representation: Brazilian
Dumpling Description: Coxinha de Galinha and Bolinho de Aipim (meat and veggies options).
Chef/Restaurant Details: Sinhá (Seen-yah’), which means “lady of the house,” offers you the only opportunity in Chicago to have Brazilian food catered for any occasion. The food preparation is totally authentic and so is the chef. Born, raised and educated in Brazil, Jorgina Pereira began small-scale catering 12 years ago for friends and acquaintances. For her, cooking is a source of personal enjoyment and an outlet for artistic expression. Since then, Sinhá has earned the respect of big-name establishments such as Varig Brazilian Airlines, who have frequently requested Sinhá’s contribution.
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Tryzub Ukrainian Kitchen
Cultural Representation: Ukrainian
Dumpling Description: 5-color varenyky – white: traditional potato & cheese; red: beet-infused shell with chicken, sundried tomato & red pepper; orange: carrot-infused shell with pork & onion; yellow: turmeric-infused shell with sauerkraut & mushroom; green: gluten-free spinach-infused shell with spinach, white bean & cheese.
Chef/Restaurant Details: Situated in the heart of Ukrainian Village, this trendsetting restaurant and bar showcases traditional Ukrainian fare with a modern twist. Try the Ukrainian-style pierogies called varenyky, handmade daily in our kitchen.

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Additional happenings will feature cultural artists and centers selling goods including Trickster Art Gallery, Artenimai, Artes Gemelas, Glass Sense, Sevim Surucu, and Studio 3311, and maker activities for all ages from local cultural heritage museums National Cambodian Heritage Museum, Chinese American Museum, Swedish American Museum, and Chicago Japanese American Historical Society.
The event will feature a number of international bands curated by World Music Festival Chicago starting at 1 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Music highlights include Jupiter and Okwess, playing the Congolese rhythms, funk and rock; Delgres from Guadeloupe, combining their native Caribbean rhythms with delta blues for a deep roots sound of their own; East Meets Middle East, a musical collective across continents, celebrating the rich traditions of the Middle East and South Asia; and the Zhou Family Band from China, entertaining audiences with traditional wind and percussion music.
In between global music acts the Chicago Cultural Alliance will highlight local performers at American Indian Center, Muntu Dance Theater Chicago, Chicago Samba, and PACF Performing Arts & Kapwa Cultural.
World Music Festival Chicago is produced by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The full schedule of performances happening September 7-23 can be found here.
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World Music Festival Meets World Dumpling Fest is FREE General Admission, $10 for a 3-Dumpling Tasting Pass, and $25 for a 9-Dumpling Tasting Pass. For complete details visit www.ChicagoCulturalAlliance.org/WorldDumplingFest.
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Posted on September 18, 2018