Our family has two very good reasons to celebrate on December 31. Along with everyone else, we like to see out the old year and ring in the new with parties and fireworks and such, but with the birth of our first granddaughter four years ago early on New Year’s Eve morning, we gained an additional cause for joyous fun.

This year proved especially unique, as June’s baby sister arrived just about four weeks ahead of New Year’s, so the birthday girl’s parents wanted to plan a special day for June that could include the whole family. It would be baby Josie’s first big outing, so Mom came well-prepared with a well-stocked stroller and diaper bag. A good sign indicating Josie may be as good a traveler as her big sis: She slept through the whole adventure, making it a breeze for everyone.

My daughter and son-in-law live in suburban southwest Portland, Oregon, just a short hop from one of the first shopping malls developed in the area, Washington Square. Like most shopping malls today, it has lost business to online retailing, but it still sees a good number of visitors . . . especially around the holidays. Our birthday fun began with a stop at Build-a-Bear Workshop, where June picked out a bear to stuff and an outfit and accessories for “Loveo.” Then it was on to the main event: lunch at Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese restaurant famous for its traditional dumplings and bao. It boasts over 170 locations around the world and has earned a Michelin star at its Hong Kong property five times. The West Coast lays claim to all U.S. sites (California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada), with one coming to Broadway in New York City in the near future.

Now, I realize you may be thinking that the adults in the group decided where June’s birthday lunch would be held, but I can assure you that this child has a pretty sophisticated palate and can thank her parents for introducing her to a broad range of international foods from an early age. (I will admit that she gets pretty excited about Chipotle, too, though.) She has enjoyed dining-in and take-out meals from the restaurant many times and was especially excited to try out the unicorn “chompsticks” (her very apt corruption of “chopsticks”) she received in her Christmas stocking.

Our experience began outside the large windows fronting the restaurant, where patrons line up to watch the dumplings and bao being shaped and prepared; their dexterity and speed elicit awe and fascination with the process. After being seated, we looked over the menu and filled out a check-off form that allowed us to place our entire table’s order quickly.

Din Tai Fung is one of those restaurants that can best be experienced with a group willing to share plates in order to get a broad sampling of dishes. The menu features a range of appetizers, soups, greens, wontons, stir-fried dishes, and steamed dumplings and buns. The dumplings and bao arrive hot at the table in bamboo steamer baskets, five or six to a batch, and every dish easily serves at least two diners. We had son-in-law Josh guide our selections, as he is most familiar with the options, but someone new to the restaurant can consult the informative menu and get friendly guidance from their server.

We started by sharing a large bowl of the hot and sour pork soup. As you can see from the picture, this wasn’t the thin, watery samples you get at most Chinese restaurants.  This savory, thick, tangy-sour soup was chock-full of sliced bamboo shoots and wood ear mushrooms, silky strands of egg, tofu and green onions. It was followed by sweet and sour pork baby back ribs, very tender and coated with a house-made sauce.

We then dove in to a succession of dumplings served up in the bamboo steamers. The signature Xiao Long Bao, steamed Kurobuta pork soup dumplings, are created with 18 delicate folds of dough surrounding pork marinated in a blend of seasonings. They truly melt in your mouth. We ordered various iterations of these: crab and pork, truffle and pork, and simply pork. We also tried the kimchi and Kurobuto pork dumplings, encasing authentic Korean kimchi, chives, glass noodles and pork. Kimchi juice folded into the dough gives them the distinct color you see in the forefront of the photo here.   We also sampled the sticky rice and Kurobuta pork shao mai. Seasoned with soy sauce and bits of shiitake mushroom, the rice crowns the pork and offers a sweet complement to the savory pork.

We also picked a few items from the “Specialties” and “Greens” sections of the menu. The sticky rice wrap offered stewed pork belly, tender and moist, surrounded by sticky rice,   and the string beans with garlic offered just the right amount of crunch and garlicky punch. We also enjoyed fried rice served with a Shanghainese-style fried pork cutlet, slices of pork that were crispy on the outside but very tender and juicy inside.

We made a good dent in the meal and took home the rest. And June tried just about everything and proved very adept with those unicorn chompsticks, as well!

Our birthday dessert involved a stop at “the chocolate store” — See’s Candies — to allow June to select her favorite truffles. With that, we made our way to the car and home. The birthday girl was ready for a nap with her new bear, and I must confess that the rest of us, completely sated with our meal, were ready for one, too!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor