Since this is the first time I'm interested in the Super Bowl, I'm curious to know who you're rooting for -- and where you're watching the game.

Most of you already have a spot, but just in case you don't, here are a couple of restaurants to consider:

• Red Caboose Cafe: The pre-game party starts at 1:30 p.m. Your ticket Includes a tri-tip sandwich lunch, an appetizer buffet, soda or tea, and one draft Bud Light or Coors Light.

  Raffle prizes and a Nintendo Wii are part of the party. Advance tickets are $20; tickets at the door are $25. For more info, call (559) 297-9545.

• And since I'm a Who Dat girl, I couldn't resist telling you about this one: Sequoia Brewing Co. is showing the Super Bowl at both locations with a New Orleans-themed menu: crawfish pasta, jambalaya, shrimp gumbo, fried shrimp, oyster shooters and oyster po-boys.

  There's no cover charge. Call (559) 434-2739 for more information at the North Fresno location, or (559) 264-5521 for the Tower District restaurant.

UPDATE: In my column today, Wassabi owner K.C. Choi responds to complaints about the sushi roll names and the urinal in the men's bathroom at the original Wassabi.

For a look at that urinal, scroll to the bottom of this post, and read the accompanying description.

ORIGINAL POST: An interesting letter about the new Wassabi crossed my desk yesterday.

Mary Jo and George Stott of Madera, frequent shoppers at Fig Garden Village, stopped in the new Wassabi and were shocked by the names of some of the sushi rolls.

Click on the image at right to read the whole letter. Here's a snippet: "You can rest assure [sic] that we will not be eating at Wassabi and we will tell all of our friends about this gross restaurant who has moved into an upscale segment of Fig Garden Village only to try to lower its standards by outlandish and vulgar menu titles."

After the jump is a list of names they consider "crude, rude and disrespectful."

I know how much you 'hivers like a bargain, so here's the latest crop of cheap eats:

Pizza Fusion -- until 9 p.m. Sunday
Pizza Fusion has a deal for its e-mail club members until Sunday night. The details: Buy a regular or personal-sized pizza and get a second one free. (The second pizza has to cost the same, or less, than the one you buy. The offer is good for dine in, take out or delivery.)

Interested? Fill out a form at the restaurant or e-mail Pizza Fusion owner Mike Parisi at m.parisi@pizzafusion.com. If you're already part of the club, remember to print out the e-mail with the deal's details. Show it to the cashier or the delivery guy to get your free pizza.

Jamba Juice -- 2-5 p.m. Tuesday
Jamba Juice is giving away its new California flatbreads at participating stores for one afternoon. (Call ahead to make sure your store has 'em.)

There are four flavors. Three of them have really silly names: Tomo Artichoko, MediterranYum, Four Cheesy and Smokehouse Chicken. Warning: Some of the reviews of these breads have been pretty bad.

If you try one, feel free to leave your own review in the comments.

Wahoo's Fish Taco -- Nov. 21
All of Wahoo's locations are celebrating the chain's 21st anniversary by giving away free meals, gift cards, and more. Call the Fresno restaurant for more details.

The news of Pacific Seafood's upcoming closure has traveled far and fast, and some of you already have contacted me asking for the restaurant's recipes. In addition to the ones for house dressing and sauteed scallops, I also found the clam chowder in our archives.

Apologies for the delay in posting this; I've been tied up testing more Thanksgiving recipes for next week's food section.

Also please note that I have not tested the recipes below. They come straight from The Bee's archives.

Pacific Seafood's house dressing
Makes about 5 cups of dressing

1 cup wine vinegar
4 cups olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoons dry tarragon leaves
1 teaspoon salt

Blend the ingredients with a wire whisk until well blended.

This recipe was printed in The Bee on 8/7/1991.

If you haven't yet checked out the latest iteration of TasteFresno, please do. This web site aims to celebrate Fresno's diverse food, and it will succeed only if we submit sources for the best local eats.

My favorite idea is the community cookbook. TasteFresno is collecting requests for restaurant dishes from Fresno restaurants. Want to know the recipe for the fish tacos at the latest Guadalajara? Or the lomo saltado at Limón? TasteFresno just might get it for you.

As someone who collects recipes from local chefs for stories, I can tell you firsthand that the bulk of work will be in the editing and the cooking. (Case in point: This week's food section features The Vintage Press Restaurante's Thanksgiving recipes, which had me brushing melted butter on a turkey, drying sourdough croutons in the oven and straining pan drippings for gravy last week.)

So, good luck to the TasteFresno folks as they embark on this endeavor. Here's a recipe to get them (and you) started: the sweet potato fries that Roy Harland used to make at Harland's and Max's.

According to the latest restaurant rumor, The Chef's Table is about to shut down.

It's not true, says Mike Shirinian, who owns The Chef's Table and the Elbow Room in Fig Garden Village. Here's what is true: Executive chef Malachi Harland will leave The Chef's Table in 2010. Harland plans to spend some time cooking in Spain, Shirinian says.

That means fans of Harland's cooking should head to The Chef's Table soon for dinner or these events.

After Harland's departure, expect to see some changes at The Chef's Table. Shirinian is staying mum on the details until they're worked out. Stay tuned.

Above: Malachi Harland teaches a cooking class at The Chef's Table. Photo credit: Mark Crosse, The Fresno Bee

UPDATE: As promised in this week's food pages, here is the Valley's ultimate guide for the lazy Thanksgiving dinner. These supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and delis allow you to dine out -- or take out the entire meal.

Check out the story for the full list, then browse through the menus below. (I'll add more of them as they become available.) And if you have more places to add, drop them in the comments.

Supermarkets

• Whole Foods Market, Fig Garden Village


• Vons


• Save Mart


• The Market, Herndon and West avenues

With the arrival of National Pizza Month, it's time for us to share our favorite spots for pies or slices.

Are you a fan of Corsaro's in Kingsburg? Luna in Clovis? Mike's Pizzeria in Fresno? Or someplace else?

Tell us what you're eating and where. And watch out for these pizza-related events:

• Mike Oz has already told us about Me-N-Ed's pizza-eating contest at Victory Grill.


• Pizza Fusion is pairing pizza and New Belgium beers in a four-course dinner on Oct. 8. Here's the menu.

[photo source: zpizza]

If you're a beer lover, you'll want to check out my story for a list of fall festivals and events hosted by local brewers. They start this weekend with the Lindsay Brewfest and the Central Valley Craft Brewers' Oktoberfest.

As you well know, these aren't the only places to drink in the Valley. If you have a favorite beer-drinking spot, drop it in the comments -- and tell us what to order.

One place that should make that list is BC's Pizza & Beer in Clovis, where 22 beers are on tap, and about 80 others are in bottles.

Today is a good time to go there: In honor of Guinness' 250th anniversary, BC's is selling a commemorative pint glass filled with your choice of Guinness beers, and a T-shirt for $12. (Skip the T-shirt, and you'll pay $7 for the glass and the beer.)

Also ask BC about the current Oktoberfest special that lasts throughout October: $15 will buy you a T-shirt and a glass filled with your choice of 6-8 German beers. There also are a variety of glasses: a Pilsner glass, a half-liter stein and 20-ounce Oktoberfest glasses.

[photo credit: John Walker, The Fresno Bee]

Now that all of the weekend's food events are over, have any of you started on Restaurant Week Fresno?

We have until Oct. 9 to to try the three-course, fixed-price dinners at these restaurants. With prices at $13, $20 and $27, these are some pretty good deals.

It's a great idea, and I'm surprised our restaurants haven't done it before. Restaurant weeks are popular in many other cities, such as San Diego, Philadelphia, Austin, Palm Springs, Baltimore and Chicago.

New York started the trend. Back in 1992, New York restaurants offered three-course lunches for $19.92 during the Democratic National Convention. The meals were popular, and Restaurant Week took off.

As you try the different menus for Restaurant Week Fresno, please leave your thoughts in the comments. Do these menus excite you? Did you feel like the meal was appropriate, given the price? Did you find a dish you loved, or one you didn't care for? What about service and decor?

Hopefully, Restaurant Week Fresno will become an annual event. If you can think of anything that would make our Restaurant Week better, also share your suggestions below.

File this under British humor: Paul Crudden, a digital strategist in London, is invoicing companies for the time he spends waiting in their lines, shopping in their stores, eating their products and so on. (Check out a sample invoice here.)

And guess what? Some restaurants are paying up or giving him freebies. Pret A Manger paid him £62. Squat + Gobble sent this entertaining letter and a £5 customer loyalty card. He received £15 in vouchers from EAT. And £30 in vouchers from Little Chef.

Of course, he also gets rejections.