Michelin Din Tai Fung Sells Out

The new 10,000-square-foot restaurant is located at Scottsdale Fashion Square and will officially open on April 20, with a soft opening that began on March 12. The grand opening will debut a new menu item, Steak Fried Noodles, which will be rolled out to other locations later in the year. The restaurant, designed by the Rockwell Group, has seating for 340 guests and features a dumpling-expo kitchen and a full bar. This opening marks the Taiwanese chain's first foray into Arizona, with a second location already planned for Chandler Fashion Center in the following year. The Scottsdale restaurant is the 20th location in North America for the global brand, which has over 165 locations worldwide. The new establishment is expected to create more than 300 jobs in the Scottsdale area. Din Tai Fung's journey began in 1958 in Taipei, Taiwan, as a cooking oil retail shop founded by Bing-Yi Yang. As tinned cooking oil became more prevalent in the early 1970s, the business pivoted to selling *xiao long bao* (soup dumplings). The dumplings became so popular that the oil business was phased out, and it became a full-fledged restaurant in 1972. The brand is renowned for its meticulous preparation, particularly its soup dumplings, which are made with a "Golden Ratio" and 18 folds. While the Scottsdale location does not have a Michelin star, the brand's Hong Kong branches have been awarded the prestigious honor on five occasions. In 1993, The New York Times named it one of the top ten gourmet restaurants in the world.