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It’s easier to stumble on Taste of Northern China than to find it. The address is 88 East Broadway, but the storefront is around the corner, on Forsyth Street, with a mysterious 106 above the door (a suite number, it turns out). The name Taste of Northern China appears on the menu but not on the sign out front, or at least not in English — the Chinese characters translate roughly as Northern Delicacies, with the not-so-helpful English addendum China Local Cuisine. 偶遇“北方美食”可能还容易些，专门去找反倒不易。它的地址是百老汇东88号，但是店面实际上在街角另一边的福赛斯街，正门上方有个神秘的106号（后来才知道是套房的编号）。菜单上有英文店名Taste of Northern China，门面上只有中文店名，旁边加的英文注释“China Local Cuisine”（中国地方美食）没有太大帮助。 No matter. You’re here now, with a fistful of skewers in loose foil, smoky, salty and heady with cumin and chile: a talonlike whole green pepper, longer than the stick it’s impaled on and crazily hot; string beans cut into two-inch clips and speared horizontally, evoking vertebrae; beautifully tender little chicken hearts, lean and closer to steak than chicken; nubs of translucent beef tendon, to work the jaw; cauliflower freckled with char; a squid’s snaking arm. 不管怎样，反正你已经来了，手里拿着一把烤串，它们用箔纸松散地包着，散发出烟熏味和咸味，上面撒着诱人的孜然和辣椒：整只尖青椒像爪子一样，比竹签还长，特别辣；四季豆切成两英寸长的条，横着串起来，让人想起脊椎；柔嫩的小鸡心含脂肪少，更像牛排，不像鸡肉；透明的牛筋块很有嚼头；花椰菜上布满碳烤的斑点；鱿鱼腿像蛇一样弯曲。 | 
