Scene: Spicy Talk Bistro

By Kathryn Robinson

Photo: Lindsay Borden

FINE SZECHUAN FOOD is a thing of rare beauty in these parts, and if it’s spotted at all, it’s likely the doing of chef Cheng Biao Yang, the Chinese expat who gave us Greenwood’s Seven Stars Pepper, then the International District’s Seven Stars Pepper, then Bellevue’s stunning Szechuan Chef. Now Yang is plying his delectable trade at a slick storefront in Redmond, painted somewhat bizarrely with foot- and handprints and decorated with all manner of hanging tchotchkes, but serving up the same extraordinary hand-shaved chow mein noodles, green onion pancakes, and fire-breathing Chong Qing hot chicken he made his name on. Spice aficionados will marvel that food this mouth-numbing can still carry real flavor complexity; Marymoor Park picnickers will just be happy the place is nearby.

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