You're doing it wrong. Tabasco's most substantial quality is that it is made in the United States of America. Otherwise, it's a bland and tired way to spice your meal. You need to also carry, at the very least, the superior-in-every-way Tapatío sauce—it's also made in the United States of America, has a fuller flavor, and is a bargain anywhere it's sold. What's more, it's made in the West, and we all know the West is the Best.

• Kelly O
• This is Lucy Damkoehler. Look at how much love is in her eyes as she gazes at that dripping chocolate.

But Hot Cakes is so much more than the name suggests. There will also be "classic desserts (think bread pudding, crème brûlee, salted butter toffee), cocktails, and boozy milkshakes." Yum!

And the news gets even better! Lucy Damkoehler, formerly of Mistral Kitchen, has joined their team as kitchen manager. I wrote a love letter to Lucy's desserts here. She's wonderful. She makes innovative desserts out of classic flavors. I can't wait to see (and by "see" I mean "eat") what she brings to their menu. Now, instead of whining about yet ONE MORE dessert shop opening in Seattle, I'm going to be outside Hot Cakes, tapping on the glass and chanting "open open open" until they finally let me in.

Also worth noting: Jill Severson will be the new pastry chef at Mistral Kitchen. Severson was an apprentice for Jacques Torres at his Chocolate Haven shot in Manhattan, and, more locally, she's worked at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, the Essential Baking Company, and she also worked under Neil Robertson, Mistral Kitchen's first pastry chef, who just opened the completely divine Crumble & Flake Patisserie on Capitol Hill (go there, get the chewy-o, thank me later).

It's a good day for dessert lovers in Seattle.

People are CA-RAZY about the Indian food at Vij's in Vancouver, BC. Now the owners have signed a lease on a space at Republican and Terry in South Lake Union to open a sister restaurant called Shanik in November. (Shanik is the name of the daughter of Vij's cofounders Meeru Dhalwal, who cofounded Vij's with her husband, and Vikram Vij.)

Fnarf says, "OMG! OMG! The best restaurant in the universe is coming to Seattle!"

Press release with more details after the jump.

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I'm going to shut up about the neatest sushi thing that's probably ever happened in Seattle soon, I promise, but meanwhile please enjoy this photo of Shiro (left) and Jiro (right) and some guy they worked with (middle) on a day-off hike outside of Tokyo in the early 1960s. It's from Shiro's wonderful memoir Shiro: Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer (sold out everywhere except the Book Larder until the new printing comes in).

• Photograph courtesy of the collection of Shiro Kashiba. From Shiro: Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer (c) Chin Music Press, 2012

• shimasushibar.com
• Super Dave, still goofing, now in Wallingford.

First there was this*...

Now Dave Nakamura—a.k.a. Super Dave—has been located behind the sushi bar at Wallingford's Shima (along with Taka Sasaki, who worked at restaurants in Kobe for 13 years before coming to the U.S.). Before moving here for high school, Super Dave grew up in Hawaii; Shima has the same owners as Hawaiian Breeze around the corner, and also serves "ono-licious" Hawaiian food.

Super Dave used to be at J Sushi in the I.D., then he did a brief stint at the get-it-all-under-one-roof Pinto Thai Bistro & Sushi Bar on Broadway (which always makes me think of this). From there, it looks like he worked at Daimonji in Georgetown and also Japanese Gourmet downtown—now he's apparently been at Shima since last fall.

Super Dave's probably the funniest guy you'll find behind a sushi bar anywhere. He's bounced around a lot, but he knows his way around a piece of fish. (More over here.) If his photo on the Shima website is any indication—see above—Super Dave's sense of humor remains intact.

*I still can't get over how completely wonderful the interview is—on their part, not mine—or how great Kelly O's photo is... eeeeeeee!