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Matt Rusconi, franchisee of the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop in Storrs, shows off his restaurant’s automat serving station. (Tim Leininger / Journal Inquirer)
Living Reporter and Theatre Critic
Matt Rusconi, franchisee of the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop in Storrs, shows off his restaurant’s automat serving station. (Tim Leininger / Journal Inquirer)
STORRS — In a blend of modern twists to old flavors with retro technology, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop has brought back the classic automat with bold new ideas of flavor for the equally classic dumpling.
Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, which opened on Feb. 2 on Royce Circle at the north end of the University of Connecticut campus, is the first franchise of the restaurant to open. The original is in Brooklyn, New York, franchise owner Matt Rusconi of Lebanon said.
“The founder, Stratus Morfogen, came up with the concept in 2018. In 2020 he got it open,” Rusconi said.
Hours: Daily 11 a.m. to midnight.
Menu: 15 rotating flavors of dumplings.
Miscellaneous: Automat service. Online and app ordering.
Contact: 860-477-0080; brooklyndumplingshop.com/storrs-ct
Morfogen, who has opened 40 restaurants in his time, started experimenting with dumplings at the Brooklyn Chop House and it was a smash hit.
“Then he came up with the concept of the automat,” Rusconi said.
The automat is a food service concept often used in cafeterias across the country that went out of fashion in the 1970s when fast food chains became more popular. The concept was that food would be on display in the automat window and the consumer would see what was available to order, pay for it, open the door, and grab their food — not all that different from a vending machine.
Rusconi said he read about Morfogen’s inventive throwback in 2021. He has been operating franchises since 2008.
“I had heard about the concept and spoken to Stratus,” he said. “I saw a vision and said I want to be a part of this.”
Jumping in on the ground floor, Rusconi developed and opened the first Brooklyn Dumpling Shop in Connecticut. According to its website, a third store is in Hoboken, New Jersey, and 17 more are on the way, from New York to Texas.
Though not created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rusconi said the creation of the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop was fortuitous.
“Before COVID we had bigger restaurants,” he said. “Now we’re online and taking things out, I saw what he’s trying to do here. I think it was the next phase of service style, then it was serendipitous with COVID.”
Opening across the street from the UConn campus was a no-brainer for Rusconi.
“I thought the technology and the food type, the university, the age group, being near a college campus and the late-night possibilities, we had to do it,” he said.
With advancement in technology, this isn’t your grandmother’s automat.
“The way it works is, you can order online, or you can use the kiosk,” Rusconi said. “There’s zero interaction, but there’s always someone here to help you out. You scan a QR code, you get a text that says your food is working. When the food is ready you get another link with a QR code, and you scan it, and you get your food. We have our team in the back that makes our food to order. You can order your food online, take your time, scan, grab, and go.”
Brooklyn Dumpling Shop has more than 30 kinds of dumplings, he said, though not all are available at the same time, always having at least 15 available, rotating them on and off the menu.
“They’re like 1.5-ounce sandwiches,” he said. “You have ones that go on the grill, some that are steamed. You have soup dumplings. They’re packed with flavor.”
Even more compelling about the menu is the non-traditional dumpling flavors, such as pastrami, bacon cheeseburger, and pepperoni pizza.
“It’s a new take,” Rusconi said. “It’s dumplings reimagined. I like the Philly cheese, the buffalo chicken, and the chicken parm. The soup dumplings people enjoy. The mac and cheese are big sellers, (and) the Maryland crab cakes.”
The dumplings aren’t just for college students, he said.
“You see a lot of non-college age people coming in to check it out,” he said. “They’re excited to see it (the automat), and they come back again.”
Having only been open about a month, many people are experiencing Brooklyn Dumpling Shop for the first time, such as two customers: Sarah Friday of Boston and Victoria Doncell of New York.
“It’s really cool,” Doncell said. She ordered pork dumplings to share with Friday.
“It wasn’t hard at all,” Friday said of the ordering process.
“They’re really good,” she said of their dumplings.
For coverage of local restaurants, cultural events, music, and an extensive range of Connecticut theater reviews, follow Tim Leininger on Twitter: @Tim_E_Leininger, Facebook: Tim Leininger's Journal Inquirer News page, and Instagram: @One_Mans_Opinion77.
Living Reporter and Theatre Critic
Tim covers leisure and arts, and he is also a theater critic. He interned for the JI in 2015, and was hired in 2016. Tim graduated from UConn, Central College of McPherson, Kansas, and American Musical & Dramatic Academy. His favorite movie is "Jaws."
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