Perhaps it’s similar to San Francisco’s Chinatown, where the incursion of non-Cantonese cuisine has been a hard-fought battle. I’ve been told that it’s because most of the prime commercial real estate was held by Chinese family associations or its prominent members, who only trusted Cantonese-speaking tenants. Historically, if you were seeking Shanghainese or Hunan food (not even Sichuan fare) you had to look around the fringes, especially Kearny St.
Sam Lok (now Z&Y) was the Trojan horse for Sichuan cuisine, when it brought Sichuan fare to its menu while owned by Cantonese. 901 Kearny (now Quickly/Kobe Bento) hosted a series of Shanghainese joints beginning with Meilong Village in the 1980s, and of course Henry’s Hunan originated on Kearny and spawned some ersatz imitators,
I think I finally figured it out. Quite a mystery to explain why Iowa City has three Sichuan restaurants and Los Angeles Chinatown has none. This will change soon with the opening of a branch of the famed Sichuan Impression restaurant. However I don’t know if that’s more in response to LA Chinatown’s growth as a center of hipster dining, in that Sichuan Impression (along with Chengdu Taste) are two Alhambra Sichuan restaurants that have garnered wide general attention among LA area diners.
I don’t know the name of the Spicy Legend chef, which was unaffiliated with the CQXM folks (they departed from Z&Y years earlier). Spicy Legend pretty much photocopied the Chili House menu and an old Chowhound thread said that the chef was from Henan.
Thanks! Let us know if you catch the name or take some photos of the menu. It could be a rebranding —-v-pots liquor license won’t expire until Feb 2019. Funny, I think we are at the point where places are accurately using Sichuan or Hunan in their names. One confusing counter example is Hunan House In Chinatown, more Sichuan than Hunan and the Hunan dishes deviate from smoked pork and Hunan American dishes.
Also,
Palace of Spices (SF tenderloin ) Desi/Indian Chinese, or as they say “Indo Chinese”
Ha, I included that just for you Indochina is anachronistic, but it is potentially confusing as some restaurants still use at least the French version of the term—- Palo Alto’s Indochine and Indochine Vegan on Valencia. Tangentially, I recall some restaurant in the Bay Area, probably a French one, having a poster of 1992 Academy Award winner Indochine.
For those looking to, uh, relive “the tropical elegance of French Vietnam in the 20s”, there’s Le Colonial
It’s almost universally known as Desi Chinese. Indochinese would best reserved for discussing commonalities among Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese cuisines.
Wojia in Albany opened a couple of days ago. I’d already had lunch when I saw a parking space in front, and got a menu. I’m not familiar with Hunan dishes, but the ones here don’t seem to be in the list in the Wiki page. Standout: House Special Ox Aorta.
Chairman Mao, smoked pork, steam dishes, pickled “chopped” chili dishes, the dishes under five wows, strike me as especially Hunan. Dry salty heat themes probably extend to their dry pot (“griddle cooked”) items too.
The classic potato strips on corner, toothpick lamb, and rattan pepper (green Sichuan peppercorns) were popularized in the San Gabriel Valley at Sichuan Impression and Chengdu Taste, perhaps elsewhere, before they started appearing at, still only a handful, of Sichuan restaurants in the Bay Area. Those restaurants tend to have more savvy kitchens in my experience than most Sichuan band wagoners. FWIW, and someone who speaks mandarin could hopefully give more context than my blathering , the English word “impressive” also is used in Sichuan Impression and Wojia’s menus.
Shanghai Dumpling House (Pleasanton) Shanghainese menus are obligatorily adding “Sichuan” items, but this place is notable as being the first Bay Area restaurant to my knowledge to list “Wanzhou grilled fish”, in English, on a menu. Under different names, the earlier appearance to my knowledge of the Chongqing style fish in a big chafing dish was in Chinatown’s Pot Sticker in 2012. Defunct Pepper Brothers specialized in the dish in 2013, and though its available at lots of places now, no restaurant focusses on it.
Jin Li Yuan (Fremont) the Sunnyvale Sichuan hot pot restaurant builds beyond its Sunnyvale location.
A One Kitchen (San Bruno) With an English only menu, they sport a full bar and Sichuan dishes that sound like Fuqi feipian (couple’s delight), toothpick lamb, Chongqing chicken, bean jello, and fried rice cakes I’ve only seen at Chef Zhao. But they tout crab with garlic butter sauce as their specialty, and have garlic noodles, shrimp in kataifi dough, salmon egg rolls, and a mango salad.
Gallus Pot (Union City) Shenzhen hot pot has closed
I’m not sure if Wanzhou grilled fish is a specific preparation, but the similar style of the fish on a rectangular plate over open flame in offered at many Sichuan/Hunan places.
My understanding is that it’s the style of cooking/presentation, but I’m not sure. Most restaurants seem to have a single item on the menu fitting that description. But a few offer choices of veggies, sauces, etc. In the SGV, Arcadia’s Sichuan Kung Fu Fish has as many options for their grilled fish as you’d get with hot pot/dry pot.
Indochina is anachronistic, but it is potentially confusing as some restaurants still use at least the French version of the term—- Palo Alto’s Indochine and Indochine Vegan on Valencia. Tangentially, I recall some restaurant in the Bay Area, probably a French one, having a poster of 1992 Academy Award winner Indochine.
