Dim sum ride goes bigtime

Several people borrowed Flying Pigeon bikes from China for the ride.

I finally made it back to the Flying Pigeon Bikes dim sum ride today, happy that the destination was Luscious Dumplings in San Gabriel. But when Flying Pigeon's Joseph and Adam saw how big the turnout was -- about 35 bikers and three babies -- they realized we would never all fit in the tiny dumpling shop. There were a few more people than usual, and a wider age range, due to the spread on the brothers in the bike feature Revinvent Your Wheels in the March Sunset magazine.These flaky pork rolls danced on the edge between sweet and savory...pork pastry!

Nearby Mission 261 is closed for remodeling so we backtracked to King Hua, where I've eaten several times. But my tablemates, several on vacation from Sacramento, were happy to let me go crazy on the dim sum checkoff sheet and get things like chicken salad buns, shrimp dumplings with chives, flaky pork pastries, seaweed salad and all the usual favorites. Despite a change of plans, someone's flat tire and some sleepy toddlers, it was a great ride. The next ride is a month from now; check the blog for details. The Flying Pigeon store re-opens around April 1 in its new location next to the Bike Oven at 3714 Figueroa Ave.
If you haven't noticed, Sunset magazine has become super-hip and foodie-friendly. Not only did they feature Flying Pigeon, but EatingLA got a great shoutout in Blog Roll section. Plus this month has a really complete tour of "Tehrangeles" -- Persian Los Angeles, a blurb on Esotouric and a big story on food carts in Portland. The only thing that's still retro about Sunset is that you have to buy a physical copy to see most of these stories.