It is lunchtime on the Downtown Mall, and Chef Sun-Da is slicing cucumbers to toss into his sesame cold noodles. Dicing and sprinkling in a tiny kitchen big enough for only two or three adults, Sun-Da glances through the window that opens to the Mall, where a casual line is waxing and waning.
A red Chinese lantern laps outside, near the chalkboard menu that names this nook, "Marco and Luca's." But to the businesswomen and construction workers patiently chatting outside, Sun-Da's place simply is "The Dumpling Window."
Here, near the corner of Market and 2nd Streets, in a space no bigger than some walk-in closets, Sun-Da and his wife Dragana Katalina-Sun have been doling out dumplings and authentic Chinese dishes such as hot and sour soup, cold noodles and roast pork hot buns for nearly two years.
In its brief history, Marco and Luca's has become a break-out success and a cult-like phenomenon, wooing everyone from families-on-the-go to devoted University students with its delectable dumplings.
"I am sure they make the best dumplings this side of the Great Wall," said fourth-year College student Buck Brody, a Charlottesville native.
On an autumn afternoon seated at the only table and chairs their eatery provides, Dragana holds two-and-a-half-year-old Luca in her arms as customers and friends stop to greet her.
As the line amasses and dog-walkers holler hellos to Dragana, she casts an intimate smile toward the store window, saying her husband "believed if you work hard you could always get a chance to do something like this."
Sun-Da and Dragana's chance came four years ago, when both were living in Germany and working as refugees -- Sun-Da from China and Dragana from Bosnia.
The couple fell in love in the winter of 1992, when Dragana was washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant where Sun-Da was chef, she said. Soon after, the couple welcomed their first child, Marco. But four years ago, when their refugee status threatened to oust the pair from Germany, they were sent a stroke of luck.
"An American refugee program accepted us," Dragana said, with a still-relieved hand over her heart. "Thank God."
Still, Dragana said the process of assimilating left her, Sun-Da and then-three-year-old Marco feeling worried and lost in a foreign place.
Although Dragana now speaks fluid, expressive English, neither she nor Sun-Da spoke the language or held steady jobs upon their arrival to Charlottesville.
"There was a lot of crying," she said. "But Marco would tell me, 'Mom, don't cry.'"
In addition to Marco's encouragement, Charlottesville's International Rescue Committee proved an invaluable source of support for the family. Along with guiding Dragana toward a job at the Omni and helping Sun-Da find his first car for $900, the IRC pushed the couple to apply for a bank loan and start their own business two years after they settled in Charlottesville.
Sun-Da said he nearly stumbled past the window his restaurant now calls home -- then a burrito shop on its way out of business. Although Sun-Da was suffering from illnesses at the time, he said his wife was the hard sell.
"I didn't want to call about the store," Dragana said, shaking her head. "We had two small kids, Sun-Da was sick and we didn't have steady jobs."
But a phone call and a Virginia National Bank loan later, Marco and Luca's was born in December 2001.
As immigrants, Sun-Da and Dragana said they had modest expectations for Marco and Luca's. They aimed for a place everyone could afford, where young and old could take it to-go or loll on the Mall. Profit-wise, the couple said they hoped for $100 a day and to be able to pay their bills.
The small space limited the menu, (which still is colorfully printed on their trademark chalkboard), to noodles, hot buns, hot and sour soup and the now-famous dumplings.
"In China, to have a dumpling is a treat," Dragana said of her husband's inspiration. "We thought it would be good luck."
According to dumpling aficionados across Charlottesville, luck has had nothing to do with it. It is the dumplings that started tongues wagging since the inception of Marco and Luca's, prompting a word-of-mouth promotional campaign about delicious, tangy sauces and a to-die-for hot and sour soup.
Third-year Architecture student Dan Bracey grew up near the Mall and said he heard about Marco and Luca's from neighbors.
"Sun-Da's dumplings are masterful," Bracey said. "The best in town, hands down."
In describing his first trip to Marco and Luca's, Buck Brody recounts a divine moment of love at first bite:
"It was kind of like falling in love for the first time," he said.
For these dumpling devotees, there is no comparison between Marco and Luca's and the Chinese delivery joints sprinkled beyond the Mall.
"Charlottesville has so many good restaurants, but Marco and Luca's is the only good, authentic Chinese," Bracey said.
According to Dragana, her husband makes all the difference. She said his professional training has endowed him with a dedication to the details and a magic touch. When comparing Marco and Luca's to the other Chinese fare in town, Dragana carefully articulates her pride.
"I don't want to say it's better, but I think it's different," she said.
As for the mere handful of choices on Marco and Luca's menu, Brody evoked the age-old quality over quantity maxim.
"They don't do a whole lot of stuff," he said. "But they do everything really, really well."
The community's gushing over the savory food is exceeded only by its impassioned response to Dragana and Sun-Da themselves. Their window has become the center of a community, fed by their warmth and their drive. Customers can sense this is a flavorful business with heart, as they poke their heads in to wave at Sun-Da and excitedly grill Dragana about the couple's third child, a boy due in March.
"The couple is always chatting and friendly," third-year College student McKay McFadden said. "I feel like I am supporting something small and worthwhile when I'm there."
It is all part of an experience Dragana attributes to their inherent love of people and the inspiring energy of the Downtown Mall.
"We love talking to people through the window," she said. "It's wonderful to be out here on the Mall -- it's like you're doing something special."
As their family and customer-base grows, so will the realm of the dumpling window itself. Sun-Da and Dragana expect Marco and Luca's new store, located on the Downtown Mall's York Shops, to open in November. The addition plans to offer new selections such as warm noodles, rice, soup, dim sum, Chinese seaweed and tofu. When faced with concerns about losing the intimacy of the window, Dragana said she hopes the new location will allow for even more contact with customers. She assures the personal touch will still be there, with Sun-Da cooking in an open kitchen and bar seating overlooking the mall. As for the window that started it all, Sun-Da said they will try to keep it as well as the new shop.
Reflecting on what had made Marco and Luca's work, Dragana said she and her husband's recipe for success is putting emotion into their business.
"It's not just what you eat," she said. "It's how it's prepared and how you feel."
Back at the window, Dragana and Luca play with animal crackers while Sun-Da reminds her to offer drinks to friends stopping to make dinner plans. The couple has hung a small American flag beneath the window's awning, and a book of business cards advertises for local merchants.
"It's just like a dream," Dragana says. "Being part of a nice town is something I've always dreamt about."
Since coming to America, dumplings may have had something to do with Dragana and Sun-Da's good fortune. But here, in their corner of the world, it seems they have made their own luck.
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