EATERY | Touch the Heart

Touch the Heart

By Tara Ryazansky

Photos by Max Ryazansky

Touch The Heart offers a feast for the senses. A giant floral mural by tattoo artist Christian Masot adorns one wall. Real plants and flowers decorate the space as well. The restaurant concept initially included an in-house flower shop, and while the focus is on food now, the evidence remains. “A lot of times, people choose us because of our aesthetic and our ambiance,” says Nick Andelora, who co-owns the restaurant with others, including Dan Grey and chef Anthony Leonido. He adds that the decor is one detail that makes Touch The Heart an excellent choice for events. There’s no need to worry about bringing your own decorations.

The space is definitely beautiful, but it’s the dim sum for me. Touch The Heart’s menu is unique. “When you’re dealing with fusion, you want to bring in different flavors and different ideas from other cuisines,” Andelora explains. “The cheeseburger dumpling is always the one example that I give. We’re doing things that are different from the typical pork dumplings that you find and Chinese places. We took an American favorite and put an Asian twist on it.” Andelora and Grey came up with the idea for Touch The Heart together. “We thought that Hoboken as a city was missing Chinese food the way that we do it. Chinese food lends itself to being a very takeout and delivery-focused cuisine. We didn’t think there was anyplace else like this.

Most of the Chinese spots that you find have very minimal dine-in or none at all. There was no nice, elevated, sit-down Chinese. Sushi? Yes, as in Saku,” Andelora says, adding that Grey is the owner of Saku and Leonido used to be the head kitchen chef there before the creation of Touch The Heart. The first item I tried was Fried Chicken Bao. A perfect bite of fried chicken topped with pickles and spicy mayo on a slightly sweet bun made for a great starter. The flavor combination reminded me a bit of chicken and waffles. Next up was the Edamame Dumplings. They were fresh and delicious. It was nice to see that the menu included some vegetarian options, especially since traditional dim sum restaurants can sometimes be lacking in that department when it comes to dumplings.

Max Ryazansky

Max Ryazansky

Max Ryazansky

Max Ryazansky

Max Ryazansky

“We wanted to make sure that we had a lot of options that were not meat and that were not fried,” Andelora says. The final plate that I tried was Miso Crab Noodles. They were the standout item. The dish was rich and creamy with a slightly spicy kick. The umami flavor and fresh crab made this an easy choice as my favorite. So many other menu items at Touch The Heart looked tempting. I think I will have to visit again to try the General Tso Chicken Dumplings and the Birria Dumplings. Also on the menu are mocktails by the pitcher or the glass. Touch The Heart is a BYOB establishment. “At the majority of BYOB spots, people are just bringing a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine,” Andelora says. “We wanted to set ourselves apart

Max Ryazansky

Max Ryazansky

Max Ryazansky

from the traditional BYOB, so we created mocktails; cocktails without the liquor. We put on the menu what alcohol they pair best with. It’s one of our main selling points, especially for events, because you can bring a bottle of alcohol to create your drinks here. It can bring the price tag down a little bit for people who are concerned with that. They’re colorful and beautiful, and we rotate them seasonally.” Touch The Heart also has a brunch menu that features tea service and creative dumplings and baos alongside typical brunch items like Eggs Benedict and Avocado Toast. Brunch is available on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Touch The Heart recently started a new special.

“On Monday, we do dollar dumplings. It’s really taken off,” Andelora says. “We figured since a lot of places are closed on Mondays, it would be fun.” I asked Andelora how they came up with the restaurant name. “Dim sum basically translates to “touch the heart” in Chinese,” he says, explaining that dumplings are meant to touch the heart rather than fill the stomach. However, I have to say that the five dumpling portions seemed generous to me. Andelora lets me know that Hoboken touched his heart. The business opened early into the pandemic in July 2020. “Hoboken is wonderful,” he says. “The people were tremendous throughout COVID. Hoboken as a community stepped up and supported businesses when they needed it.” — 07030