Z AND Y RESTAURANT

As with many Chinatown establishments, the menu at this Sichuan restaurant can be daunting, with more than 100 dishes from which to choose. Fortunately just about everything Li Jun Han prepares is worth ordering. Han has worked for two Chinese presidents and also owns Chili House in the Richmond District with his wife, Michelle Zhang. She’s often in the front running the show and orchestrating the efficient service. He stays in back and continues to think of ways to add spice to more dishes, such as in the justcreated chicken in a clear soup with chiles and peppercorns. Han has a knack for balancing fiery, numbing Sichuan peppercorns and other chiles with just about anything, including whole fish, beef tendons, frog legs, pigs’ feet and sliced pork. Han is also an expert at vegetables: Cabbage steamed with garlic, stir-fried Chinese cabbage with chiles, eggplant in garlic sauce and the nightly seasonal special. The interior has the standard red banquet-style chairs and lanterns hanging from the ceiling, but the food is anything but typical.

Cuisine Chinese | Specialties Chicken with explosive chile peppers; cumin beef; whole fish in spicy sauce with hand-pulled noodles; steamed soup dumplings; steamed chicken soup with Chinese herbs; bitter melon with honey; stir-fried Chinese cabbage with chile peppers; seasonal vegetables | Seats 80| Prices $10.95-$29.95 | Noise rating | Parking Street, difficult

Vitals 655 Jackson St., San Francisco. (415) 524-7222. www.zandyrestaurant.com 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, until 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Beer and wine. Reservations and credit cards accepted.

The numbingly spicy beef tendons at Z and Y Restaurant in Chinatown.