Manhattan's Yingtao Celebrates Lunar New Year With 8-Course 'Year of the Dragon' Menu

Yingtao, a new contemporary Chinese restaurant in Manhattan, is ushering in the Year of the Dragon with a specialty menu. Located in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, the buzzy restaurant has made a name for itself over the past few months with unique dishes that are inspired by Chinese home cooking and then infused with elevated culinary techniques.

For the new Lunar New Year menu, owner Bolun Yao curated an eight-course tasting menu that nods to the dragon with foods resembling good luck and strength. The menu kicks off with fresh oysters served with a hot and sour mignonette, followed by smoked steelhead trout and aonori milk bread. The course is rounded out with foie gras with Sichuan peppercorn and beetroot.

The mains span a diverse assortment of unconventional takes on proteins, at least compared to the more traditional Chinese versions. Along with wagyu and octopus dishes, tofu is dished up with celery root, while yellowtail is cooked with buttermilk and more Sichuan pepper. Dumplings combine Berkshire pork and black truffle in a one-of-a-kind twist.

In fact, the dumpling dish holds a special significance for Yao, who recalls how his grandmother handmade dumplings during the Lunar New Year. It was she who inspired him to open Yingtao, which now features an entire wall bearing her mosaic portrait.

The meal finishes off with two desserts: Tanghulu, a candy consisting of sugar-coated fruits on a skewer, and a walnut and coconut Nian Gao, also known as a rice cake.

Yingtao’s Lunar New Year menu will be available at the restaurant until Saturday, February 17.

Yingtao
805 9th Ave
Manhattan, New York 10019