Lucali x Mimi Cheng’s Calzone Dumpling Collab Launches Today

The calzone dumpling will be available throughout the month of May at Mimi Cheng’s in NYC.

It’s time for another Italian food mash-up that’s worth watching. Get ready for the calzone dumpling. The acclaimed dumpling restaurant Mimi Cheng’s recently opened its first Brooklyn location after doling out the Taiwanese dumplings in Manhattan since opening in the East Village in 2014. They added an Upper West Side location in 2021.

To kick off the new Mimi Cheng’s on Brooklyn’s bustling Atlantic Ave., sisters Hannah and Marian Cheng have launched Mimi’s Brooklyn Series, a limited-time collaboration with beloved Brooklyn restaurants. The Lucali collab kicks off today and runs through May 31, a mash-up of the ever-popular pizza restaurant’s calzones with Mimi Cheng’s delectable dumplings.

The calzone dumpling, available at all three locations, joins Mimi Cheng’s menu of consciously sourced dishes, which usually include dumplings made from organic chicken, pasture-raised pork, and seasonal, local vegetables. The sisters founded Mimi Cheng's and named it in honor of their mother, who always kept them fed with scratch-made dumplings.

After the April kickoff to the series with a brisket dumpling made with beef from Red Hook, Brooklyn’s Hometown Barbecue, the Chengs turned to Mark Iacono, the force behind Lucali, which still attracts lines daily for coveted tables at its Carroll Gardens flagship. 

According to Mimi Cheng's Instagram page, the calzone dumplings are "filled with buffalo mozzarella, fresh ricotta, parmigiano reggiano and owner, Mark Iacono’s off-menu specialty ham topping. Mark says 'NO SAUCE' with his favorite ham calzone."

Appetito can’t wait to get our hands on these calzone dumplings, which look like they may attract lines of hungry diners on their own.