Flushing According to Jason Wang

Xi'an Famous Foods and Biang! are run by David Shi and his son Jason Wang.  Biang! is the most recent recipient of the Wells treatment, having earned one star in last week's Times review.  The Xi'an mission is to reintroduce the world to the unique flavors found in the ancient city of Xi'an in the western region of China.  The XFF website invites you to "Forget what you think you know about Chinese food, and join the true experience at Xi'an Famous Foods!"

Despite a busy schedule, Jason joined Max Falkowitz of Serious Eats on a food tour through Flushing.  Max writes, "Their business couldn't be a better immigrant success story, or a better father-son story, or a more inspiring account of the power of good food to break down cultural boundaries and let outsiders in to a foreign cuisine and culture."  The journey covered bubble tea, dumplings, lamb noodles, and talk about the changing landscape of Jason's Chinatown home in Flushing, Queens.

Biang Biang (You Shot Me Down)

Wells takes his palate to Flushing this week and files on Biang!, an extension of David Shi and Jason Wang's Xi'an Famous Food stalls.  "Biang! is essentially a cleaner, brighter, more modern sit-down version of Mr. Shi’s food stall inside the Golden Shopping Mall."  The restaurant opened in May this year and serves food similar in both flavor and price to its Xi'an brethren.  The word biang comes from a local dialect spoken in Xi'an, China and refers to the sound noodles make when they're whacked on a table as they're being formed.

"Before they arrive in the dining room, the biang biang noodles, a specialty of the house and its namesake, are punished in ways that might have unnerved the Spanish Inquisition. They are repeatedly swung up and down through the air, slapped on a table, ripped right down the center and then dropped in boiling water."

Biang! is the first restaurant in the Xi'an family with table service.  It's a work in progress.  "The servers’ notions of what it means to clear a table may not coincide with your own."  Wells has hesitations about the decor as well, but nothing on the menu is more than $10 and his handful of recommended dishes suggest the trip to Flushing is worth it.

Jason Wang is Working on Making his Food More Famous

Xi'an is a western Chinese city that continues to inspire Jason Wang, 24, and his father David Shi. They are trendsetters of region-specific Asian food responsible for bringing Xi'an cuisine to New York with their chain of Xi'an Famous Foods. It is a quickly growing empire with storefronts at 67 Bayard Street (the only location with a bathroom), 81 St. Marks Place, and 41-28 Main Street bsmt #26 in Flushing, Queens.

Biang! is the latest project from the Xi'an team and it recently opened in Flushing, up the street from the original Xi'an. The restaurant serves the same Xi'an inspired food as the other locations, but does so in a chic venue with waiter-service.

In an interview with papermag, Jason talks about possible expansions, the commissary in Brooklyn that makes food for all the Xi'an locations, and his forseeable future, "It'll be harder to work when I'm older so I might as well suck it up now and take a break later."