Even the great French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten remembers the first time he had soup dumplings, those fatty, porky, mouth-size morsels with steaming-hot broth inside. It was during a trip to China in 1982, JG (as friends call him) recounts, and back then he was only able to secure a one-day visa to taste Shanghai’s delights. But it still made a lasting impression: “In Shanghai, they fold and cook, fold and cook,” he explains. “The pork is room temperature — they never put it in the fridge; it wouldn’t get an A in New York.” So, in honor of Chinese New Year, we were wondering who had the best nouveau soup dumpling in New York, and we threw in one of the classics, Joe’s Shanghai, for the sake of comparison. We asked the chef to rate each spot’s dumplings on a scale of one to five, taking into account dumpling skin, filling, and overall appeal. Check out our slideshow to see who topped JG’s list.