Introducing RedFarm – The Reigning Champs of Chinese Cooking
“We’re from Austin, and we’d like to open a restaurant with you,” one modest proposal from two Austin gentlemen.
RedFarm arrives in the 2nd Street District.
RedFarm’s NYC origins: Turning the dim sum world upside down.
RedFarm’s future blazes bright.
Two Austin Gentlemen, One Modest Proposal
Interior shot of bar
Perhaps it was the appeal of the catchphrase “Keep Austin Weird.” Or maybe it was the many locally sourced menus from the city’s robust food scene. Whatever it was that made RedFarm’s chef Joe Ng and his longtime partner Zach Chodorow decide to open the newest location of their acclaimed Chinese restaurant in the 2nd Street District, the duo has never looked back since their grand opening on November 8th. As RedFarm’s manager and self-styled “Dumpling Ambassador,” Jeffrey Goldin explains, “About 8 years ago two gentlemen came in for dinner at our original RedFarm location. And they stayed until the end of the night and said ‘Hey we’re from Austin and we’d like to open a restaurant with you.’”
We sat down with Goldin to hear more about RedFarm’s outstanding success in New York City and what’s ahead for the restaurant’s Austin arrival. Get to know 2nd Street’s Newest addition with this video:
2nd Streeters Take Notice – RedFarm has arrived!
Whole Peking Duck with Pancakes and three sauces, photo credit: Evan Song
Soup Dumpling, photo credit: Evan Song
One of those two Austin gentlemen was Jesse Herman, a veteran of New Waterloo and an accomplished restaurant operator himself, who went on to become RedFarm’s Austin partner six years later when the deal was finalized. Thanks to his 15 years of honing his instincts in Austin’s culinary scene, Herman smelled an opportunity to bring RedFarm’s eclectic take on Chinese cuisine to an area of the city desperately in need of some great Peking duck (pictured above). Reflecting upon the state of Austin's food scene, Herman said to the American-Statesman, “We’ve had an explosion of restaurants here, not necessarily an explosion of cuisines…to me, it translated pretty easily to what we would like here.”
After turning down multiple proposals from investors and wealthy patrons to open up another RedFarm, Herman’s idea to bring dim sum to Austin’s downtown felt like the right move for Chodorow and Chef Ng. So when a prime location on 201 W. Third Street opened up, Herman jumped at the opportunity to open the first and only Chinese restaurant in Austin’s 2nd Street District to rapturous acclaim.
The brains behind RedFarm – Ed Schoenfeld and Chef Ng turn the world of dim sum upside down
Restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld, photo credit: Evan Sung
But a little buzz never hurts either. Because the road to RedFarm’s Austin arrival had been paved by the spectacular success of the restaurant’s New York City origins. Even by the Big Apple’s standards, RedFarm was no ordinary Chinese restaurant. It started as the brainchild of Brooklyn restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld, described by Goldin as a walking encyclopedia of Chinese cuisine and the most knowledgeable non-Asian of Chinese cuisine in the history of New York City.
Schoenfeld always envisioned RedFarm’s ethos to be squarely in the vein of New York Chinese cuisine, with customers being served steak, dumplings, sea bass, and noodles with locally sourced ingredients rather than your more esoteric fare like bird’s nest soup. The restaurant’s concept got kicked up a notch when Schoenfeld met Chef Ng, at the time a flamboyant upstart who had already turned the world of New York City dim sum upside down. Impressed by Ng’s imagination and creative flair – along with his ability to create 1,000 different dumpling shapes – Schoenfeld hired Ng to first run Chinatown Brasserie and then helm RedFarm’s original spot.
From Pastrami Egg Rolls to PacMan Dumplings: No one’s seen dim sum done like this
Pac-Man Dumplings, photo credit: Evan Sung
Although Schoenfeld passed away in 2022, his legacy lives on in the finely wrought and fabulous shapes of Ng’s signature dumplings that look like a Miyazaki movie come to life. A zany, childlike whimsy pervades Ng’s cooking from the translucid pink, yellow, and pale-blue Pac-Man dumplings to the artery-clogging pastrami egg rolls (with the meat imported straight from the legendary Katz’s Delicatessen). RedFarm Austin has carried on Schoenfeld’s craft-driven vision, with the Spicy Crispy Beef (thinly sliced flank steak double fried in a grand Marnier orange chili sauce) and the gluten-free shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings among the menu’s bestsellers.
As for cocktails, the winner is hands-down the “Le Club,” a deliriously spicy Margarita and Mojito mixed concoction – it’s not just Austin’s top seller, it’s been the number one drink for RedFarm’s New York patrons over the past 10 years.
Spicy Crispy Beef, photo credit: Evan Sung
Shrimp Snow Pea Dumpling, photo credit: Evan Sung
Le Club spicy Margarita Mojito
Interior Table
Conclusion
The future looks bright for RedFarm, with Decoy, their soon-to-be-open cocktail lounge, coming to a brand new space in the 2nd Street District, just down the street on 3rd and Lavaca. As far as expansion plans go, RedFarm’s partners have set their sights on Miami with a restaurant in Coconut Grove, along with laying the groundwork for more locations in multiple states. After ten years of being crowned the #1 Chinese restaurant in New York City by Zagat, RedFarm continues to test the limits of what’s possible with their intoxicating blend of dim sum delights. For 2nd Streeters craving Chinese cooking, surely there’s no better place than the reigning champs at RedFarm. For reservations, please check out our website.