Every once in a while, I have a topic that fits into both Fabulous Foodie and Greater Gotham. On such occasions, I feel efficient, accomplished and just a wee bit like I am getting away with something sneaky. This is one of those topics.

I read a lot of food columns (partly for Fab Foodie purposes and partly because the next best thing to eating it, is reading about it) and The Boston Globe got me thinking about dumplings. See, they too read Smitten Kitchen (which I swoon over regularly) and the author of such, Deb Perelman is a regular contributor to NPR and wrote a piece for them last month entitled Beyond Potstickers: A Dumpling Lover’s Confession.

Well, not unlike the Boston folks, I too felt the need to confess. I have never met a dumpling I didn’t like. Oh sure, I’ve met some that gave me pause for a moment but never for more than that. They are culinary gifts – only with these you get to eat the wrapping. They can be sweet or savory, large or small, sticky, salty, solid or slippery. Dumplings can be anything and from anywhere.

Having said that, I have a favorite dumpling. Luckily for me, my darling dumpling is close at hand here in New York (see, there is a Gotham connection after all) It is the xiao long bao (soup dumplings). In New York, there are two sources for first class XLBs – Goodie’s on Chatham Sq in Chinatown and Joe’s Shanghai’s (in midtown, downtown and in Elmhurst) . My favorite ones are the pork ones. I think of them as inside out won ton soup. Perfect little packets of joy complete with a ritual for maximum enjoyment (“grab, lift, glaze, nibble, slurp”). The crab variety is just as tasty.

I first encountered these delectable dumplings about 10 years ago when I was working downtown, not too far from Chinatown. A couple of my co-workers (technology guys always know where to find the best food) dragged me off to Goody’s (as it was then) – a place that they admitted lacked atmosphere or any real sense of service. “Never fear,” I was assured. “It will be worth it.”

And it was. For that I shall always thank them.

Actually, you know – I’m feeling rather peckish a the moment. Hmmm . . .