Fusion restaurant Yo Dumplings opens in Brick West Brewing
Spokane’s first dumpling restaurant has opened its doors inside Brick West Brewing.
Jocelyn Dupree, chef and owner of the new restaurant, made the 17 menu items with help from her father, Ken Dupree, and sous chef, Brittany Moreau.
The menu is divided into five categories: snack attack, hand-helds, street food fusion, the stars of the show and food for the table. Dupree’s favorite item on the menu is the pepperoni pizza wantons, dipped in marinara sauce made by Moreau. The menu features loaded fries, elote sweet corn, Thai peanut butter sticky ribs, Korean brisket bao tacos, chorizo and potato pot stickers and Texas brisket Philly egg rolls.
Located at 1318 W. First Ave., Yo Dumplings opened on Friday.
Despite the restaurant’s name, there are no dumplings on the official menu. But, Dupree has plans to serve beer-filled dumplings for St. Patrick’s Day.
“This restaurant is very fusion,” Dupree said. “It’s East meets South. It’s Asian and Southern style food.”
Yo Dumplings is meant to offer dynamic flavors and textures to customers, Dupree said. Creativity is the name of the game for Dupree. The goal, Dupree said, is to bring elevated brewery food for Brick West customers to enjoy with their beers.
“There is nothing quite like the combination of hot, hand-crafted dumplings and a cold local brew,” Dupree said.
Dupree takes inspiration from her travels and enjoys pushing two food worlds together in one dish.
“Brittany and I, we really like to play with our food. We just try to make fun things that taste really good,” Dupree said.
Dupree’s path to owning a restaurant is a unique one. Armed with a music degree from Spokane Falls Community College, some might think that Dupree stumbled upon restaurateuring by bussing and waiting tables in her younger years. While that is true, Dupree also grew up watching her parents open several businesses, often trading in one for a new challenge. In fact, across the street from Yo Dumplings is Carnegie Square Bistro, which used to be her family’s first deli shop, Andy’s.
“I have a picture of myself there on my first day of kindergarten,” Dupree said. “My dad’s big joke is that I finally made it across the street with my own restaurant.”
Together, Dupree’s parents have owned two delis, two banquet facilities, a concert hall, restaurant and now a food truck called 509 Dine. Her dad used to park the food truck out in the grassy area in front of Brick West, which is part of the reason Dupree’s restaurant is inside the brewery.
“Bill, the manager at the brewery, used to be my parents’ marketing guy when they had the concert hall. He used to call us up and ask if the food truck could create a menu item for an event,” Dupree said. “He vouched for me to come in to this building. And now I’m here.”
Since the restaurant’s opening, you can find Dupree in the kitchen cooking with Moreau, both dressed in black chef shirts and pants, dark hair pulled back tightly, grinning under the pressure of getting food out to customers waiting for a bite.