It's a true pleasure to watch talented chefs do what they love best. At Eton, a small Carroll Gardens restaurant serving fresh dumplings, noodles and Hawaiian shave ice, you can watch the entire creative process, from dough to delicious. There's passion in this food—Chef Eton Chan spent months developing the dough recipes alone—and it comes through in every bite.

The friendly, laid-back staff prepares every meal to order, demonstrating serious culinary mastery molding dumplings, hand-pulling noodles. It's amazing to watch. And it's an unusual mix: comfort food by a fine-dining chef in a space that feels more like a neighborhood bar than restaurant.

Chan, an easy-going, Chicago native and ex-stockbroker, is a French Culinary Institute grad and the former chef at Manhattan heavies like Asiate, Cafe Gray and Southgate. He opened shop a little less than a year ago, and describes the menu as "easy, comfort food." Most importantly, he says, "We create an eating experience—all this is recreating something we had once before and loved..." He and his wife fell in love with shave ice on their honeymoon in Hawaii, the chicken dumplings are based on his grandmother's recipe, and so on. "If our customers can have the same experience, then we've done our mission." The current summer menu includes over 25 flavors of shave ice (FYI, there's no "d" at the end of shave— a common mistake) and three staple, hearty dumplings—each capable of standing alone, but delicious together:

1. Juicy Pork and Beef with Cabbage
2. Chicken with Mushroom
3. Tofu with Lentils, Celery, Cabbage and Vermicelli

Eton offers a daily special dumpling as well. We enjoyed an amazing Duck a la Plum dumpling (shredded duck, plum sauce, steamed cucumbers and scallions) that tasted like Peking Duck and raised the bar for dumplings everywhere. Other specials include a Barbecued Pork Dumpling (using Eton's own special BBQ sauce), a Scallop, Pancetta and Balsamic Vinaigrette dumpling and a Goat Cheese dumpling (with red beets, honey, walnuts and spices). Forthcoming summer specials plan to take full advantage of the season's fresh fish —shrimp and edamame dumpling anyone? As Eton puts it, "I just want to take it to another level...If you have the opportunity to experiment, why not?"
Sauces include the spicy, delicious sriracha (aka "rooster sauce"), ginger vinegar, chili oil and a plum sauce, which they plan to bottle soon, with packaging designed by a neighborhood regular (the same who designed Eton's "chubby dumpling," and who is paid, of course, in dumplings).

And the price is definitely right. My partner in crime and I came with healthy appetites, and our filling "Plate Meal" included one order of dumplings (we tried one of each kind), white rice and a salad dressed with a summery but not-too-sweet kiwi vinaigrette dressing—all for a whopping $6.00.

We topped off the night with shave ice (picture the best snow cone of your life as a starting point) made in Eton's very cool, old-school looking machine. Flavors include green tea, coconut, blueberry, lychee, passion fruit and mango, among others, cherry being most popular. We shared a rainbow shave ice (topped with a little condensed milk to keep it creamy) and a tropical rainbow shave ice with vanilla ice cream at the bottom. As we ate, the shave ice and ice cream ultimately combined to become what Eton calls "a surprise milkshake"....and honestly, what sounds better than that? Inside each we found Mochi—nicely textured, not-too-sweet, white, rice gluten cubes, which make an already playful dessert even more fun.

The small shop currently seats about 12 max, but word-of-mouth-spurred success has Eton planning to open a second location at Smith and Sackett later this summer. The new shop will serve all cold items —shave ice, bubble tea, etc.—while the original will continue to offer dumplings and place their formerly Fall/Winter-only noodles on the menu full-time. They'll also start serving Ramen and offer both pork and veggie broths for noodles.
Keep in mind Eton's BYOB, and if you want a quick pick-up I suggest you call ahead—fresh made dumplings and noodles take at least 15 minutes to prepare—longer depending on traffic.

Eton's one-year anniversary celebration is July 1st, and festivities will include dumpling and shave ice-eating contests. The current dumpling record? A longshoreman who goes by the name of Joe Nose ate 25 dumplings in 5:58. (Eton's personal best is around 10 minutes).

If you have a dumpling craving, Brooklyn's Eton will satisfy and then some.

Eton
205 Sackett Street
(between Clinton Street and Henry Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11231
718-222-2999
Nearest Transit: Carroll St (F, G)
Lunch: 12-4:30
Dinner: 5:30 -- 11 (or when food runs out)
Closed Tuesdays