Sans Dumpling

A humble beginning... one dumpling at a time

In the beginning, every sheet of dumpling dough was hand rolled - one dough at a time and one dumpling at a time. Now we employ a dough sheeter to prepare the dough and continue to wrap each dumpling by hand at a rate of one dumpling per 8 seconds. Hooray!!!

My appreciation for food appears to have started very early. My mother says I was the easiest baby out of her four because whenever I cried at night, one bottle of milk was always enough to soothe me and put me back to sleep through the night. Then, as a young child, I became quite a busybody in the kitchen. I always looked forward to dinner time so I could ‘help’ my mother prepare the family meal.

Over the years, I have probably made a gazillion dumplings serving friends and families and occasionally joked that I should start selling dumplings. In my little hometown, however, culinary skills were regarded as a hobby and not a talent that could be nurtured into a real profession. Going to culinary school was therefore not on my radar at all; I instead pursued an education in food and wine science. The thought of turning my passion for food and cooking into a career remained far-fetched for many years until a point where the circumstances of my life changed significantly.

In the late 2010s, I was supporting Johannes part time with Kemmeter Wines and growing increasingly aware of the mounting duties involved in running a vineyard and winery. With support from a respected former boss, I recognized the fork I had come to in the road and addressed it by quitting my full time job in 2017. It was not an easy decision but it was the right path to take. The main intent behind quitting my job was to help Johannes and work together at Kemmeter Wines. However, when we had the opportunity to build our wine production facility in 2019, we realized that this could be the chance for me to fully embrace my passion for food. Thus, we added a commercial kitchen at the facility for Sans Dumplings.

Looking back, the path to establishing Sans Dumplings was long but beautiful. It has been a journey and not a destination. Without Johannes‘ and my father’s encouragement, I do not think I would have had the courage to do this. Today, I must admit that I enjoy the change in my work duties from a ‘farm girl’ and a ‘wine cellar rat’ to a self-taught chef having fun in the kitchen. I have been able to leverage knowledge and skills from all my previous jobs and experiences to run the kitchen and business effectively.

Sans Dumplings opened its door on Jan 30, 2020 - the year in the history that this generation will remember. It was set up as a small take-out kitchen selling mainly Asian dumplings with a variety of filling choices (see menu at Sansdumplings.com). Dumplings are cooked to order and packed in a compostable food container. Although it is a take-out restaurant, customers can enjoy their dumplings at a few picnic tables with a vineyard view during nice weather seasons. We are not equipped to provide dine-in services and are not allowed to serve any alcoholic beverages with Sans Dumplings. There are nearby wineries and breweries that will welcome you to enjoy Sans Dumplings with their beverages. Please go to the list of frequently asked questions for more information.

Complexity can be realized through simplicity.

That is to state that superb quality of the ingredients whether it will be food or wine grapes simplifies the dumpling making and winemaking processes.