Andy Huynh moved to Santa Cruz from his hometown of Los Angeles at 20, saying he preferred the area’s small-town vibe and that “the skies were actually blue.” He cooked at a dozen local restaurants, learning from esteemed chefs along the way while honing his craft. When his focus, inspiration and culinary values eventually aligned, he formulated a business plan and did extensive R&D before founding Full Steam Dumpling five years ago.
Located in the Santa Cruz Arts Center, a bustling downtown community hub currently undergoing an extensive remodel, Full Steam features a diverse blend of Asian food favorites drawing on myriad influences. The dumplings headline—the most popular is the chicken and leek sausage gyoza—and other offerings include a pan-seared pork bao bun with black vinegar and a beef/baby leek wonton with Szechaun red oil. The ginger scallion clams, beef brisket chow fun and lamb chops with king trumpet mushrooms are some other hits.
Tell me your chef origin story.
ANDY HUYNH: I’ve worked in a bunch of restaurants, from fast-food chains to fine dining and everything in between. I started to find myself in farm-to-table restaurants with frequently changing menus based on the seasons, and that is when things started to get more interesting to me. I met some great chefs along the way, like Kendra Baker and Jessica Yarr—and then Brad Briske from Home, where we cooked everything under the sun constantly, which really sharpened my skills and made my hustle stronger. I got a clearer and broader picture of what it meant to run a restaurant, and after a while I knew it was time and I had to open my own spot.
Are you excited about your space’s remodel?
At first, I wasn’t looking forward to it at all because it meant I had to pause what I was doing. But I was inspired to use the lull to continue to level up our game and train staff, deep clean, reorganize and rewrite the menu to get to the next level. I’ve been spending a lot of time back on the line and really look forward to fully reopening so that I can share some new dishes and a side of my cooking beyond ramen and dumplings.
Open Wed.–Sat. 5–9pm. 1001 Center St, Santa Cruz, 831-200-4433; fullsteamdumpling.com.
