Your official sneak preview of the Above the Fold print zine!

Just in time for National Dumpling Day

Above the Fold is a newsletter all about dumplings and people who make them. Soon, it will also be a print magazine! Subscribe now for early access to the first issue, coming this fall.

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Last time I checked in, I said sometime this summer would be when Above the Fold would finally launch in print. Welp, it’s officially fall—but progress is being made, because a printed proof officially exists, and that’s not nothing! I’ve held it in my hands, pored over every single page multiple times, and, more importantly for these purposes, have taken pictures of it—so now you can see it too.

I’m not the biggest fan of national food holidays, but dumplings will always get a free pass. So without further ado, on National Dumpling Day no less: The Official Sneak Preview of Above the Fold, Issue 1 [cue airhorn!!!!]

Photo (and magazine!) by Leah Mennies

On the outside: An illustration by yours truly, printed on a risograph at the SVA Riso Lab in New York and scanned onto the cover. 

On the inside, though, things get even more exciting:

Photo (and magazine!) by Leah Mennies

You’ll get a window into the elaborate dough-design process employed by LA-based fashion designer Jenn Kwong, of Kwong Shop. You’ll see, step by step, how Emily Efraimov painstakingly creates the signature pig head khinkali for her pop-up, Little Dacha. You’ll meet, through writer Sharanya Deepak’s empathic reporting, three Tibetan momo makers spread across Western Europe and the United Kingdom. You’ll be transported to the streets of Bologna, where local artist Claudiano.jpeg displays whimsical collages featuring tortellini. You’ll learn about Assyrian bourak, and its connection to one of the oldest documented cuisines in the world. 

And, last but certainly not least: You’ll get to experience an incredibly special interview between close friend of Above the Fold—and bona fide dumpling scholar, whose master thesis was, in part, on xiaolongbao—Lilly Jan and the one and only Martin Yan. Martin. Yan. Martin Yan!!!! 

Photo (and layout design) by Leah Mennies

Spending the last year on this issue has been an honor, a pleasure, and most certainly a labor of love. I can’t wait to do it again for the next one. But even more so, I can’t wait to get the very first copies into your hands! Because Above the Fold began as an email newsletter, this community will get advanced access to an extra-special first edition before I go wide.

And if print’s not your thing, that’s totally okay—you’ll have the opportunity to read the stories within, gradually, via this very newsletter in the coming months. But if it is your thing, please don’t keep it to yourself—drop a comment if you’re interested in ordering a copy for yourself or your dumpling-loving friends and family.

As for when this all goes down: I’ve officially uploaded final proofs to the printer, so hopefully sometime in late October. You’ll most certainly be hearing a lot more from me between now and then. 

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Above the Fold was created by Leah Mennies. Logo by Claudia Mak.