Jeremy Lin fever reaches New York restaurants, bars

In the two weeks since New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin went from benchwarmer to global superstar, a wave of "Lin-spired" food and drinks has flooded New York City menus.

Bars around Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks play, are honoring the Taiwanese-American player with items like Lin-burgers and "Lings" — Asian-spiced chicken wings. Several bars have concocted "Lintinis," while the Shake Shack chain is offering a "Jeremy Lin-Mint," a chocolate and mint cookie milkshake. And BaoHaus, a restaurant near Union Square serving the Taiwanese dumplings known as bao, began selling one stuffed with a curry-spiked pork chop, pickled radish and carrots, and cilantro, a typical Taiwanese preparation.

"Being Asian, we're really excited about it," says Eddie Huang, a Taiwanese-American chef and hardcore Knicks fan whose restaurant walls are plastered with a shrine to Lin. "We feel a responsibility any time things are happening in the Taiwanese community to react, whether it's in the blog or the menu. It's a great opportunity to educate people about our food, our people."

Huang calls the new sandwich the "Taiwanese Te-Bao," a reference to Lin's devout Christianity and a play on the name of another high-profile Christian athlete, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.

Lin had already been dumped this season by two teams, Golden State and Houston, before being picked up by New York in December. With the Knicks stumbling to an 8-15 start and in desperate need of a spark, coach Mike D'Antoni gave Lin a chance — and the team hasn't looked back. The Knicks have now climbed back into the playoff race in the NBA's Eastern Conference with Lin directing the offense and doing whatever it takes to win.

Thus began Linsanity.

So what happens when all this dies down, when Lin cools off, or maybe even gets less game time once injured players begin returning?

"The sandwich is part of the menu," says Huang. "It's never coming off."

It's a... Linstitution.