After honing skills at Seven Stars Pepper, Uway Malatang, and elsewhere, Szechuan chef Cheng Biao Yang plans to open Country Dough, in Pike Place Market this summer. Per Seattle Met, the star of the new spot will be street treat guo kui, Szechuan flatbreads that are either stuffed with meat or vegetables, or split and filled like a sandwich.
Yang's reputation precedes him--Nancy Leson raved about his skills with hand-pulled noodles in this Seattle Times piece from last year--but he is looking forward to his new focus at Country Dough. Yang has wanted to prepare guo kui for years, Met reports, but they’re "labor intensive and best when served fresh … Hence he needed a setting with a high volume of customers...aka Pike Place Market." Yang also plans to offer both hot and cold fruit teas at Country Dough, and if it’s feasible, may also add some noodle plates (potentially his zha jiang mian, made with a salty fermented black bean paste and ground pork).
The guo kui are "tentatively priced" around $7 and Yang will run Country Dough with his son Steven (a partner) and his wife Shan Li (at the register). In their market spot near Emmett Watson's Oyster Bar, there are just a few seats, but a courtyard with outdoor seating is close at hand.