For Khailing Neoh, it makes sense that the literal translation of the Chinese term “dim sum” is “touching heart.”
Neoh has been trying to use her Chinese-American food to connect with the hearts of Greenville diners since starting her dim sum pop up concept six months ago.
Now, she’s putting down roots.
Neoh said Sum Bar, a brick-and-mortar version of her pop up concept, will be opening later this year (barring any construction-related delays) in downtown Greenville on East Washington Street next to Fireforge Crafted Beer.
Update: Sum bar is officially set to open on Jan. 21, 2023, and will feature a full bar as well as a variety of dim sum dishes.
For those unfamiliar with dim sum, it’s a traditional Chinese meal made up of small plates, often dumplings and other snacks. Think of it as the Chinese version of Spanish tapas or other small plate styles of dining.
The menu at Sum Bar will be small and focused, with maybe a dozen or so items that are meant to be shared.
Expect menu items like siu mai (shrimp and pork dumplings, small enough to be eaten in one bite), char siu bao (fluffy white buns filled with savory Chinese BBQ pork) and gai lan (steamed Chinese broccoli drizzled in oyster and garlic sauce).
The full-service bar, while offering typical drinks, will also feature hand-crafted cocktails that were created to pair with the dim sum food itself, using classic Chinese ingredients.
Neoh, a territory manager at Parker Hannifin with a degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering, said she hopes to use her food as a way of spreading her own culinary heritage with Greenville.
“Dim sum is comfort in all aspects of the word,” she said. “It’s comfort food where you have the sweet and salty, the savory and warm. But it’s also the comfort of a shared meal, being together with family and friends. I think the dim sum concept all around is just diving into a big bowl of comfort.”
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She describes having dim sum as a treat, the kind of food that is intricate and detailed and takes a lot of time and effort to create.
“It’s not the kind of food that you typically make at home,” Neoh said. “These are not normally the shared recipes that pass from family to family, because it’s just so time-consuming to make each little thing. So for families, it was always a treat to go get dim sum.”
Sum Bar will tap into those traditional Chinese flavors and recipes while also offering Neoh a chance to expand and play around with the influences that shaped her.
“It’s really interesting, because I’m figuring out my own roots as I fo through this process. There’s a fine line between experimenting versus exploiting versus tarnishing a tradition, so at least in the beginning I’m going to stay as true to the roots as possible while having smaller changes as we go,” Neoh said. “I want to make sure that especially for people who are trying dim sum for the first time, they get the dim sum I know and love.”
Sum Bar will continue hosting popup events until the formal opening of the brick and mortar sometime later in the year — check out sumbar.gvl on Instagram for the latest events.
