Din Tai Fung

A year ago, my friend Aimee treated me to an amazing treasurer; Din Tai Fung, 1108 South Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia CA 91007, 626-574-7068, www.dintaifungusa.com

There's a history to this place which you can discover on their web page.

I remember standing in line, waiting with Aimee and a few friends for about 45 minutes before we were seated. I was told that that was normal for the place. When you walk in, there's a glass window to the kitchen and you can watch them prepare the Taipei dumplings.

The dining area is not a big place but it's aestheticaly pleasing, modern and comfortable. Aimee did the ordering. We were having fun talking about art, music and stuff. When the first order of dumplings came in its steamer, everyone was smiles. I was the only one who had never been there before. I remember they wanted me to take the first bite. I did as they watched me.

I placed the hot small pork dumpling in some vinegar and soy sauce and placed it on my tongue, closed my mouth and out of this dumpling exploded a delicious hot soup. The sensation was awesome and delicious. For some reason it reminded me of kissing. Sorry about that, anyway it was amazing. Everyone at the table asked, "What do you think?" and I replied "It's like eating perfection". We had vegetarian dumplings, shrimp, etc. We were so focused on the dumplings that it got very quite at our table at one point.

Din Tai Fung is a little bit of a trek from Downtown LA. I don't think a lot of people know about it but I have been in situations where I mentioned it and people have either said that they had heard of it or that they loved the place and were so happy to hear that I'd been there. I hope you get a chance to go too.