Yuriko Say, like many folks, has had some extra time over the past 170-something days. But unlike many of us, she’s done something productive with it.
"Having temporarily closed my restaurant, and with more time on my hands than I’d had in over a decade, I found myself in need of a project that would fill my empty days,” says Say, one of three owners of East Nashville’s beloved Peninsula, which is shuttered until it again makes sense to run a 35-seat restaurant.
“Teaching myself how to make the dim sum I’d been missing so sorely since moving to Nashville proved to be the perfect fit. Spending my days in the kitchen, tweaking and improving upon recipes countless times, then gifting the final products to friends became a means for me to preserve my sanity, and had the added bonus of making my friends happy during this horrible, horrible time.”
The good news is, you now don’t have to be friends with Say to get these things in your belly. “The response from friends was overwhelmingly positive, and when I was even able to impress Jake [Howell, the restaurant’s chef and co-owner] — the ultimate crowning moment on my culinary pursuits! — the three of us [Craig Schoen, Howell and Say] realized this was something I could offer through our online store.”
So, this week, MANJU, the pop-up dumpling shop in the Peninsula space, opened for your takeout pleasure. The menu currently includes pork dumplings with shrimp, water chestnuts and scallion sold in packages of 18 for $25. They’re flash frozen, so you just order online in advance. (When adding things to your cart, don’t forget the savory tonic I told you about earlier this summer). Pick up contactless between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. (This is legit contactless. Text when you arrive and the dumplings will be placed in your car trunk.) Take home, boil and eat in wonton soup (you can add a subscription of Howell’s broth to your order, too), or on their own with soy sauce and chili oil.
And, even as we pine for Peninsula’s Iberian delights to return, we don’t have to worry about MANJU disappearing, as Say promises the dumpling pop-up shop will continue for “the foreseeable future. I plan to continue selling the dumplings through the online store even after we reopen Peninsula.” More dumpling varieties — including some rotating, limited one-day-only items — are in the works.
