Ph.D. students run “Cup of Wontons” stall at market
Darren Cheng, Chase McDonald, and Jenny Chang have been running a successful wonton stall at the Squirrel Hill Farmers Market since fall 2023.
Carnegie Mellon Ph.D. students Darren Cheng, Chase McDonald, and Jenny Chang run a wonton stall, called Cup of Wontons, at the Squirrel Hill Farmers Market, where they serve traditional pork wontons with hot tea. They also serve special weekly wontons made with different ingredients like cumin lamb and black pepper chicken, and they sell custom locally printed t-shirts.
Cheng, a fifth-year Ph.D. student studying mechanical engineering, said his favorite part of running the stall is interacting with the Squirrel Hill community. As a Ph.D. student he spends a lot of time working in a lab, so getting out to make food for others is a welcome break.
Being part of the broader community outside of CMU is something that I’m really proud of.
Darren Cheng, Ph.D student, Mechanical Engineering
“It’s nice to get really great feedback from the community,” said Cheng. “When we started back up this year, a lot of people said they were waiting for us and were so excited that we were back. There’re definitely people that I see every single weekend, and I know most of their names by now. Being part of the broader community outside of CMU is something that I’m really proud of.”
Cheng, McDonald, and Chang all play integral roles at Cup of Wontons. The process begins on Thursday evenings in a rental kitchen at Eastminster Presbyterian Church where they prepare and freeze the food. On Sunday mornings, Cheng and Chang set up the stall at the market while Chase picks up the food from the church. Cup of Wontons is open from 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., or until they sell out. Cheng typically takes orders while Chang cooks and McDonald garnishes.
“I couldn’t do it without Chase and Jenny,” said Cheng.
Source: Darren Cheng
Cheng typically takes orders while Chang cooks and McDonald garnishes.
Cheng credits his passion for cooking to the trio’s annual Friendsgiving celebration, along with other “cooking parties.” He said socializing remains an important part of their kitchen dynamic, even while running a business.
“During recipe development, we all mix a half-pound of pork and try throwing different ingredients in to try to improve things,” Cheng explained. “We’re just eating and talking and hanging out at the same time.”
Cheng was inspired to create Cup of Wontons in the fall of 2023 after eating at his girlfriend’s aunt’s pho shop in Vietnam. It reminded him of his childhood when he would make and eat wontons with his family.
“Every morning we’d wake up and get pho. It was such a great way to start off the morning, and I kept thinking it would be really cool if we had something like this in Pittsburgh,” Cheng said.
Running Cup of Wontons provides valuable business experience, too. Cheng said learning how to do administrative tasks like obtaining an LLC is helpful if he starts an engineering company.
The future of Cup of Wontons is unclear after Cheng and McDonald graduate in May and leave Pittsburgh. But even with this uncertainty, Cheng is confident this experience will stay with him after leaving CMU.
“It sounds corny, but it will always be a part of me,” said Cheng.
Pictured, top: Chase McDonald, Darren Cheng, and Jenny Chang (left to right) work together to run Cup of Wontons, a wonton stall at the Squirrel Hill Farmers Market. Photo provided by Darren Cheng.