Flushing Chef Is 2018 James Beard Award Semifinalist

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- A Flushing chef famous for her dumplings is among this year's award semifinalists for what's considered the Oscars of the food world - and she's the only chef in Queens to make the cut.

Helen You, chef and owner of Dumpling Galaxy, was named a 2018 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalist on Wednesday. She's up for the foundation's regional Best NYC Chef award, alongside 19 other nominees in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

It's one of 21 prestigious JBF honors awarded each year in national and regional categories designed to recognize chefs and restaurants across the country. Semifinalists in the categories are selected from more than 20,000 online entries. A panel of 600 volunteers - restaurant critics, food and wine editors, culinary educators and past JBF award recipients - narrows that list down to five finalists in each category and then votes on the winners.

A handful of Manhattan restaurants and chefs - and even some in Brooklyn - staked their claim on both national and regional semifinalist lists this year. But You is the lone face of Queens of more than 400 semifinalists up for a coveted 2018 JBF award - and she's barely heard of it.

"I have not heard anything about it," You told Patch. "A friend nominated me for it."

And You said she's been so busy filling orders of her famous dumplings for Chinese New Year on Friday that she's had little time to read up on the awards. She apologetically declined to step away from the kitchen for even a few minutes to discuss her nomination with Patch.

There were just too many dumpling orders to be filled in too little time, she said.

With the citywide reputation - and even national spotlight - her dumplings have earned, it's no wonder her restaurant is swamped with orders. The dumpling house, situated in the Arcadia Mall at 42-35 Main St., earned rave reviews from New York Times Food Critic Pete Wells, who called his first dumpling made by You - stuffed with sea bass and minced ginger - "so satisfying that at first I felt no need to branch out" in a 2014 review.

More recently, Dumpling Galaxy was among three NYC restaurants on the 2017 list of "America's 38 Essential Restaurants," by Eater food critic Bill Addison, who does the rankings annually. If there's a soup dumpling better than You's in the NYC, Addison said he's yet to find it.

You opened Dumpling Galaxy in 2014 and now offers more than 100 varieties of pork, seafood,vegetable, beef, lamb, pan-fried, steamed and even dessert dumplings. Prices per half-dozen range from $4.95 to $7.95 for specialty creations.

The NYC Best Chef award You is up for honors cooks who've set "new or consistent standards of excellence in their respective regions" and have been chefs for at least five years.

The foundation will announce the finalists in each award category on March 14. Winners will be announced on May 7 at the James Beard Foundation Awards Gala in Chicago. Click here for the full list of the 2018 nominees.

Lead photo via Shutterstock.