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Main talking points for Mission Chinese Food: it's the spin-off of Danny Bowien's sensational Mission Chinese in San Francisco, where part of the sale of every dish goes to charity. Like its counterpart, the Lower East Side location looks like a dumpy Chinese takeout joint. Once your table is ready, you'll be led down a narrow hallway affording a view of the active, steaming kitchen; a parted curtain reveals a speakeasy-style, 40-seat dining room and bar with chairs hanging from the ceiling and the type of inflated dragons you see winding through Chinatown on New Year's. The Sichuan- and Xi'an-influenced cuisine is mouth-numbingly hot; options include chicken wings and crispy beef tripe under a shower of chilies, Mongolian long beans with roasted chilies and horseradish, and kung pao pastrami with "explosive" chilies. The relatively mild and smoky thrice-cooked bacon is a relief after all the heat.