Rush order

Capitol idea: Folks visiting or working at the state Capitol no longer have to exit the building to get their caffeine fix. Rush Coffee opened last week, occupying a small slice of the basement.

It’s the first of three new concepts to open in the Capitol by Chris Jarosz (Broderick Roadhouse, Saddle Rock). The main restaurant, the Statehouse, will serve farm-to-fork fare in the basement, and there will also be a smaller spot on the sixth floor.

Rush sports a minimalist, modern look, with its own roasted coffee and latte art. It sells pastries baked on the sixth floor as well as grab-and-go lunch items ($6-$8) that already wear the Statehouse label.

Little pockets of yum: The promise of pristine xiao long bao—also known as XLB or Shanghai soup dumplings—draws massive waits in Los Angeles at Din Tai Fung, the famous Taiwanese dumpling restaurant. With intricate folds, a delicate wrapper and vinegar on the side, XLB has something of a cult following for its interior of piping hot, savory pork soup.

Yvonne Nguyen tasted her first one as a college student in San Diego, and when she moved back home to Elk Grove, she missed them. A few dim sum spots carry them in the Sacramento area, but they’re never the restaurant’s focus.

“Everywhere I’ve gone uses frozen dumplings or they’re just not that good,” Nguyen says. “We’d go to San Francisco to try good dumplings.”

By “we,” Nguyen is referring to business partners Chris Tan and Justin Yang. They all worked at Elk Grove’s Chason’s Crab Stadium together. Nguyen dreamed up a dumpling restaurant, while chef Yang plotted opening a noodle spot one day. Tan linked them together for Journey to the Dumpling (7419 Laguna Boulevard), a new Chinese restaurant in Elk Grove specializing in XLB, noodles and other dumplings.

Before the Asian-Cajun Chason’s, Yang cooked at a bunch of Los Angeles restaurants. For Journey to the Dumpling, he draws from all over China. There’s Northern China’s beef roll ($9.50), sliced beef wrapped up in a chewy scallion pancake; roujiamo ($9.50), which roughly translates to “meat burger,” a street snack stuffed with pork belly that originates from the Shaanxi province; and XLB’s cousin sheng jian bao ($9.50), which similarly contains hot soup, but instead of a traditional dumpling wrapper, it’s made of a thicker steamed bun that’s also pan-fried.