It starts when Pablo over at Casa Café figures out that you can fold a tortilla into a box, with origami instructions, and plunk it in a fryer to make it hold the shape. Vasily from Salsalito’s works out how to do the little squeezy-openy-boxes, and the arms race is on.

Pablo gets the paper crane first; Vasily starts selling Enchiladas Tigres. They accelerate quickly to self-opening ikebana, then butterflies with wings fried to translucence. But Vasily’s katanatillas are open warfare.

Squads of taco ninjas sail over Fourth Street now, blackly sombreroed, their delicious shuriken scenting the air.