Look Out, Sushi!

And forget about it, tapas.

Chaat are coming—Indian street snacks, "'a steeplechase for your mouth,' with different sensations galloping by faster than you can track them." They're the latest craze from Jackson Heights to Jersey City, and have just been transplanted to Manhattan.

Prepare, O America, for the mushroom field of franchises that will be springing up along your interstates by about 2006.

I can just imagine the names. Mumbai's. Vishnu's. The Chaat House. Bombay Frankie's. The Delhi.