You wouldn’t think a dumpling would have much of a story to tell. But, with the pelmeni, beneath that soft, doughy exterior lies a rich cross-cultural history, one drizzled with melted butter and served with a side of sour cream.
The pelmeni’s origins are somewhat murky, according to the interwebs. Siberia for sure, maybe China if you go back enough centuries. For Linzie Norman, the history is far more recent, dating back to her childhood in Juneau, Alaska, and a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant named Pel’meni. It’s there she got her first introduction to a dish she’s now slinging in downtown Missoula three nights a week under the name Pelz.
“It’s really the only late-night spot in Juneau,” Norman said of Pel’meni. “They only have one size and the majority of people are just getting the meat dumplings, so they only ever have one person working there at a time. It’s just this cool little place … I kind of grew up going there.”
So far, Norman is capturing the vibe that inspired her. Pelz, which she started three years ago at the Clark Fork Market, now operates from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday out of the old Sushi Hana digs, currently home to 3Bs Bagels. Norman got to know the shop’s managers through the farmers market, and when the owner started casting about for an evening use for the space, Norman jumped in, happy to help fortify Missoula’s weekend constitution.
“Such a unique, fun combination that most people would just never even think to put together at their house.”
Traditionally, Russians doused their meat-and-onion dumplings with any one of a number of standard condiments: butter, sour cream, vinegar, mayonnaise. That combo, while tasty, proved a bit too bland this side of the Bering Sea, and by the time Norman bit into one as a kid, Alaskans had sprinkled Sriracha, curry powder and cilantro over the whole affair. They’d even thrown in a slice of untoasted rye bread for good measure. The menu at Pelz still includes a nod to the Russian way — straight pelmeni slathered in butter, with a cup of sour cream on the side — but it’s the zesty flavor fusion of her own homeland that Norman has really sought to emulate.
“The toppings are what make it,” Norman said. “It is such a unique, fun combination that most people would just never even think to put together at their house.”
When I had my first taste of the pelmenis recently, the Alaskan-style hit just about every tastebud I’d hoped for, plus a few I’d probably been neglecting. But I loved the traditional style, too, because it gives the pelmeni filling lots of room to shine.
And, to that point, what goes inside a pelmeni is just as important as what goes on it. And over the past three years Norman has built a network of suppliers designed to keep her ingredients as fresh and local as possible. Her beef comes from Helmville’s Mannix Ranch, her pork from Kalispell-based Farm to Market Pork. Slinging pelmeni at the farmers market put her in the orbit of folks from Swift Current Farms, and now the Stevensville outfit keeps her stocked with oyster mushrooms for her veggie-based potato-mushroom-leek dumplings. Even the dough is made locally, with flour and rye from Wheat Montana.
Norman credits that hyper-local approach in part to her background in community development. In fact, what began as a side-gig making pelmeni by hand has become an extension of that work and passion — promoting sustainable agriculture and local food systems.
“I’m just passionate about local food,” said Norman, who was able to purchase a $50,000 pelmeni machine in 2024 thanks to a state Growth Through Agriculture grant, increasing her production capacity to 2,000 dumplings per hour. “I really do appreciate what we have going here and just want to be able to keep our local food local.”
In addition to the weekend brick-and-mortar hours, Pelz will maintain a weekly presence at the Clark Fork Market this summer, along with limited catering. Norman is also eyeing other homegrown goods available across western Montana, contemplating new ingredients and flavor combinations, potentially adding her own signature to the pelmeni canon.
So yeah, it looks like a dumpling does have a pretty good story to tell.
