There was a feast of epic proportions under way a few weekends ago at the then month-old A Bite of Szechuan. At the center of the sunlit dining room the staff had pushed nearly half the restaurant’s tables together to accommodate a family of some two dozen grandparents, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and cousins, all celebrating some happy occasion with a long, leisurely Sunday lunch.
And that’s why A Bite of Szechuan seems to have already attracted a devoted following in its brief existence. Champions of the restaurant at LTHForum have generated a slight dilution of the homogenously Chinese gene pool that seemed to have instantly gotten word that Cheng, formerly chef at Chinatown’s grilled-fish hot-pot sensation Ma Gong La Po, had arrived on the north side.
Eating is athletic at A Bite of Szechuan, but the time spent working at it is time to appreciate the great degree of variance in the seasoning. While much of the food may appear to be drenched in the same chile-saturated rufous hue, it’s a currency that’s traded in many denominations across the menu. The aforementioned boiled beef with tofu is pure chile heat. That rabbit buzzes with the Sichuan peppercorns’ storied ma la electricity. The pickled red chiles with spicy fish fillets could be eaten by the fistful with little to no ill effect, while the cumin-dusted barbecue lotus root could join in a fantasy lineup of movie theater snacks.
5657 N. Lincoln 773-878-8577
