3 concepts from Asia are making their U.S. debut

Julia Zhu was born and raised in the Hangzhou region of China, south of the Yangtze River, which she said is often called the “land of fish and rice.”

Her father was one of the founders of a more than 200-unit chain that was founded there in 1998 offering homestyle cuisine of the region. The signature dish is a slow-cooked Clay Pot Chicken with Green Tea, which Zhu said has been a top seller since the beginning.

Zhu moved to the U.S. at age 15, but she said there are not many restaurants offering Hangzhou-style dishes, even in New York’s rich dining scene. So the family decided to give the U.S. a go with Grandma’s Home, which opened in the city’s Flatiron district last week.

It’s a casual concept with low-ABV cocktails, beer and sake. To start, the 120-seat restaurant is only offering dinner service, though lunch will start later.

Zhu said they are focused on getting this first unit going, and haven’t decided growth plans. “It would be great if we could expand,” she said, though there are no plans to franchise.

This hot-pot concept was founded in Inner Mongolia in 1999 and has more than 200 units across China, Japan, Singapore and Madrid.

The first in the United States opened last week in East Rutherford, New Jersey, as a dining concept with the American Dream, an entertainment and retail complex developed by Triple Five Group with a DreamWorks Water Park, a Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park, a Legoland Discovery Center and more.

It's a cook-at-the-table concept with meat and vegetables that can be simmered in hot pots of broth with sauces for dipping.

Not clear, however, is whether this is the same Little Sheep brand owned by Yum China Holdings Inc., a licensee of Yum Brands Inc. in mainland China, which owns several other restaurant brands in addition to operating units of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

Restaurant officials at the unit in New Jersey declined to answer questions about the brand beyond the press release.

Soft opening last week in  the Tangram Food Hall in Queens is the Taiwanese wheel cake concept Money Cake. The official opening day is scheduled for early April.

Money Cake has five locations in Taiwan, as well as units in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia and Montreal, but this will be the first in the U.S., and it brings an innovative pastry to the snack scene.

Wheel cakes come originally from Japan, but they were adopted in Taiwan while it was under Japanese rule. A common street food, wheel cakes are either sweet or savory little disks made with waffle batter, crispy on the outside and stuffed with various fillings. Classic offerings include things like red bean, custard, taro, matcha or cheese-and-potato. But the menu includes other combo offerings, like custard and chocolate with Ferrero Rocher or Oreos; custard with fresh strawberries; or custard with fresh mango.

This first unit will include some New York-specific cakes, with a pepperoni pizza filling, for example, or chicken pesto. New flavors will drop monthly, and the menu also includes teas, tea lattes and cheese foam beverages.

Alan Cheng, CEO of Money Cake Inc., is the master franchisee for the brand in New York, where he plans to open 10 over the next 10 years.  In some markets, Money Cake is co-branded with a boba tea concept called Don’t Yell at Me, and Cheng said his company may also co-brand elsewhere, but the Tangram Food Hall location already had boba tea concepts.