Chef Craig Li just opened a second restaurant in Connecticut, described by guests as a “hole in the wall” with delicious food.
But Li has developed food products at the Gold Dumpling restaurant so special and rare that he’s already looking for investors to help bring them into grocery stores in Connecticut, then across the country and then Western Europe.
“We can be up and running for production in one to two years,” Li said.
Li, 59, who was diagnosed with celiac disease later in life, meaning his body can’t tolerate gluten, spent more than two years developing a recipe to make the perfect gluten-free dumplings, noodles/lo mein and Bao buns.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes celiac disease as a serious, autoimmune disorder where ingesting gluten triggers an immune response that damages the small intestine, leading to nutrient malabsorption. The most effective treatment is a gluten-free diet.
The foods he has mastered making gluten-free are among Li’s favorite foods, as he comes from a city, Taiyuan, known as “noodle city” in the province of Shanxi.
Li researched, toiled, he tasted, he tested on others, and those with gluten allergies, sensitivities or who have gone gluten-free for general health are rejoicing in his tastes and textures made without Xanthan gum.
Li also carries the same products with gluten for those who prefer it, but is careful to separate fryers and other cooking instruments to present cross-contamination.
“You can tell that they were made with love,” one online reviewer wrote of the dumplings. “The owner was a kind and warm gentleman…The place is chill, warm, and no frills. The aroma of the food they make from scratch will delight your senses. If I could, I would give this place a 10!”
The Gold Dumpling, as in “the gold standard of dumplings, opened in West Hartford last month and before that in Groton in March of 2023. Groton is a take-out place and the West Hartford location is heavy take-out, but has a few tables.
The new restaurant is located at 278 Park Road.
The restaurant offers all the dishes found at a typical Chinese restaurant – General Tso’s chicken, beef with broccoli, braised pork, sesame chicken, and shrimp. All can be made gluten-free.
Li spoke through his son/translator, Harry Li, who is also in business with him for now.
Li said his dad’s first priority is helping people to be healthy.
He uses the finest ingredients, lots of fresh vegetables and it’s all from scratch, the younger Li said.
And what of the love that guest referred to?
“He likes spreading the love,” Harry Li said of his dad.
The taste so many guests are wowed by, combined with the trend toward gluten free has Li interested in distributing his food via the grocery store frozen section and looking for investors.
Craig Li is actually new to the restaurant business and it was prompted by his celiac diagnosis.
Harry, 29, who has deferred his own career as an engineer to help his dad, said dad was a successful businessman in China where he owned two companies having to do with environmental protection that were “shut down” because of politics.
After years of stomach pain, skin rashes and redness and other heath issues, Craig Lee was diagnosed with celiac and got the motivation to cook.
He sees healthful, gluten-free cooking as a way of helping people and developed the products and brought recipes for the other food.
Harry Li graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in mechanical engineering, but before a career is helping dad in business, he said. The younger Li said his goal is to join the United States military.
“I want to find the time to serve. I want to do anything I can to help,” Harry Li said. For now he works the Groton eatery.
Harry Li said 80-90 percent of the guests who come in are gluten-free eaters.
“My father’s goal is to develop healthy and delicious food,” Harry Li said. “We make all the food from our heart.”
Craig Li said he’s been thinking about a dumpling business since 2020.
Harry Li said the decor of the restaurants is plain because, “we want people to concentrate on the food.”
Craig Li said since going gluten-free his skin and stomach issues have disappeared, he stopped losing hair and his new hair is growing in black again instead of gray. He also couldn’t eat meat or seafood without a gastric reaction before going gluten-free, Craig Li said.
“I felt the changes,” he said.
Guests are mainly raving about his food on line: the tender meats, the fresh veggies, the GF products.
One online reviewer described the Gold Dumpling as a “lil hole in the wall place with essentially the entire menu available gf.”
“I love a sampler so they already get points for that, and the dumplings are color coded (with natural vegetable juice). The dumplings were all delicious, perfect chewy soft outside and fillings were simple but good.”
Another guest wrote, “Great little spot.”
“The vegetables tasted fresh and the meal was wonderful. Great flavor.”
Another wrote, “The short version is we ordered for two and have enough for another whole meal. The food was delicious.”
The guest called the restaurant “a fantastic addition to Park Road.”