Takumi Izakaya Bar will replace Sushi Paradiso at 826 J Street, according to a notice posted on Wednesday.

Based on shared names and addresses in Takumi Izakaya's liquor license application and filings with the Secretary of State, it appears that the new restaurant will share ownership with the popular Bonzai Sushi, located in Sacramento's Pocket neighborhood.

There's not much else out there about the restaurant at this point, but I'll keep you updated. A true izakaya (an informal Japanese drinking establishment that serves food to accompany the drinks, per Wikipedia) would be a great addition to the neighborhood near the arena.

Previously: RIP Sushi Paradiso, closed in late August or early September.

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Tea-riffic: Panna cotta, Kru - One of the most memorable bites was the green tea panna cotta served with a bit of fresh mandarin. Elegant. Sweet. Seasonal. Garrett McCord in Sac News & Review.

Feast Q&A: Sacramento sports bar Joe Marty’s cleats up for a new century - The classic neon “sculpture” says “Joe Marty’s,” complemented by a big new banner proclaiming, “Back in the game.” Both signs perch above the 2.0 version of Joe Marty’s sports bar, with its polished concrete floors, industrial lighting, eight big-screen TVs and a museum’s worth of vintage photos and baseball memorabilia. It’s an homage to Sacramento baseball. Allen Pierleoni in the Sac Bee.

Dunkin' Donuts planning third location in Sacramento region - Two new drive-through restaurants, Dunkin’ Donuts and Taco Bell, are proposed for south Sacramento. According to the application filed with the city, each restaurant would be about 2,300 to 2,500 square feet, on what is now empty land at 7310 W. Stockton Blvd. Ben van der Meer in Sac Biz Journal.

Peach - This organic, vegetarian breakfast and lunch spot is scheduled to open mid-January in Historic Folsom, replacing The Black Rooster Café, which closed in November. Chef Cillian Spain, a prep chef at Karen’s Bakery and Café who owns the new eatery with his wife, Sue. In Sactown Magazine. (Third item.)

Tinder for Food - What can’t you do with an app these days? Three app-based companies new to Sacramento deliver restaurant food right to your front door. Here’s a look at what each company offers. Featuring Postmates, Caviar and FoodJets. Jordan Venema in Sac Mag. 

Cask & Barrel seems to have done the impossible - be a successful restaurant in a space where so many others have failed. Rick Kushman tells us how, in Comstocks Mag.

Cask & Barrel has 40 seats, and has been averaging about 75 people a night. The duo says there is a list of advantages that come with a smaller size, starting with the obvious: A slow night causes less financial damage.

First, it means fewer people on the floor and in the kitchen. When they opened in February, Cask & Barrel ran with two people cooking. Now they’re up to three. All are experienced chefs who’ve worked with Glasier before...

Second, the smaller size addresses a huge factor in any restaurant’s success — managing food costs. Cask & Barrel projects within a tighter range, and that slow night doesn’t leave crates of food spoiling in the walk-in cooler.

The menu is either small bites or shared dishes — no traditional entrees — which Flores says makes their costs more predictable, gives prices the air of affordability while actually driving the average check up, and keeps customers satisfied with the variety those dollars provided.

Read the entire story in Comstocks Mag.

Disclosure: Cask & Barrel advertises on Cowtown Eats. I also find the owners Gabriel Glasier and Kristel Flores a delightful couple and chose their event space to host a baby shower. If you haven't given their restaurant a try, you NEED to go. At a minimum, check out their happy hour.

Cask & Barrel is located at 1431 Del Paso Blvd. and can be found online at http://caskandbarrel916.com/.

For those who (like me) find Rick Kushman insightful, he also hosts a successful podcast Bottle Talk with co-host Paul Wagner. This is how they describe their show:

Wine does not have to be a mystery. It doesn’t need to make you feel you’re being tested to join some secret Skull & Bones Society. The stuff is, after all, wine. All you really need to know is how to get it open and which end of the glass to drink from. (We’re pretty sure it’s the open part.) Most of us drink it because it’s fun.

Learn more at RickandPalWine.com.

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Boiling Avenue - Arden-Arcade’s newest neighbor might just be the hottest thing on the block—literally. Open since September, Boiling Avenue specializes in personal Taiwanese hot pots. Antoinette Ranit in Sac Mag.

Device’s collaboration beer a reflection of Sacramento’s reputation - When Device owner/brewmaster Ken Anthony was at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver in September, he met San Diego-based Alpine Beer Co. co-founder Pat McIlhenney. Anthony earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in structural engineering at the University of California, San Diego, and has been a big fan of Alpine’s beer. “Alpine was one of the breweries I really looked up to and I went there quite frequently,” Anthony said. “When I met Pat at GABF, we struck up a conversation and he said, ‘We should do a collaboration.’ I told him, ‘Don’t tease me like that,’ but he said he was serious.” Blair Anthony Robertson in the Sac Bee.

Counter Culture: Tiny T.M. Noodle is big on choice and quality - Such a customer-friendly price-to-portion ratio is rare in our travels ($5 to $11, with one seafood-based dish at $17). Factor in the quality of the ingredients, and you’ve got a bargain. Catch it while you can. Allen Pierleoni in the Sac Bee.

Sacramento's Chipotle-ization of slices and pies continues - I hate on Pieology as much as the next person. But that doesn’t mean I think a Chipotle of pizza business model can’t work, just that Pieology is lame. Enter Sacramento Pizza Co. (2700 East Bidwell Street, Suite 500, in Folsom), a local business capitalizing on what has become a very popular concept nationwide: customizable, made-to-order personal pizzas. Choose crust, sauce, cheese, toppings, then wait a few minutes and eat. Janelle Bitker in Sac News & Review.

Forget the PSL: Ginger Mocha, Yellowbill Cafe and Bakery - I'm a ginger junkie, but I never thought coffee and ginger could be a thing. A quick Google search reveals that I'm uneducated, though, because that's definitely a thing, and it's done real well at Yellowbill Cafe and Bakery with its Ginger Mocha ($4.25 for 12 ounces, $4.75 for 16). Anthony Siino in Sac News & Review.

Comedian Hannibal Burress, probably best known for rekindling the rape allegations against Bill Cosby, brought his act to Sacramento earlier this year.

While in town, he stayed at the Best Western and took time to shoot a video reviewing Blue Prynt, the restaurant in the Best Western's parking lot.

Here's a transcript from the end of the video where he sums up his experience:

We just finished up at here at the Blue Prynt restaurant in Sacramento, CA. And you know what, this shit was good. Do not judge this place by the fact that it is located directly next to a Best Western.

I feel like Jay Z. would really enjoy this restaurant. Beyonce would too. Blue [Ivy, Jay Z and Beyonce's daughter] would love the calamari. The soup was good, and we got a nice salad to start off with.

For the main course, we shared steak. We shared the pasta and the swordfish. The steak and pasta were amazing, but then the swordfish was so-so. So I would say the steak was Batman, the pasta was Robin and the swordfish was the Penguin. It was trying to destroy everything we worked toward for this meal.

But overall, it's a good spot, man. I feel good. I feel full and slightly energized. I don't even want to take a nap. I just want to go do something.

If you're on a date and you're trying to close up the deal, the Blue Prynt is probably the spot to go. Have some drinks, and then safely walk over to the Best Western.

Watch the entire entertaining video above. (Warning - some foul language.)

Blue Prynt is located at 815 11th St and can be found online at http://bluepryntsacramento.com/.

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Taj Bar & Grill: Don't look back - Overall, the food is phenomenal at Taj and I promised myself to come out again. By and far, it’s probably some of the most flavorful Indian food I’ve found in the region, and certainly some of the best priced. Just a bit over $80 and we had more than enough food that everyone at the table took home leftovers for days. If you know what to order, then Taj offers some of the best Indian food for the best deal. Gather your peeps, make the trek and you won’t look back. Garrett McCord in Sac News & Review.

When fads collide: Craft cocktails and healthy juices coexist on the grid - A craft cocktail and a bottle of cold-pressed juice walk into a bar. It's not a joke. It's a trend. Two seemingly opposite offerings -- craft cocktails and healthy juice -- are redefining the local beverage scene, particularly in downtown and midtown Sacramento. Sonya Sorich in Sac Biz Journal.

Put these five new food and drink destinations on your list of places to try - Recent additions to the Sacramento region's dining scene range from sweets to French cuisine. Expand your culinary horizons with these five new businesses. Featuring ABout a Bite Bakery, Broadway Coffee, Le Charenton in Folsom, Ramen House Raijin and Texas Roadhouse in Citrus Heights. Sonya Sorich in Sac Biz Journal.

Donut Madness: Sacramento gourmet doughnuts from Psycho Donuts founder - The founder of Psycho Donuts—a hotspot in Silicon Valley for its crazy gourmet doughnuts and crazier decor—will launch a new fried dough concept in Sacramento next month: Donut Madness. Instead of Psycho Donuts’ kitschy take on a mental institution, Donut Madness gets its imagery from horror movies. But there will still be plenty of kitsch. Janelle Bitker in Sac News & Review.

Gather Food Guide - When you’re hot, hungry, and in a hurry to grab something, you can’t be bothered walking around the entire scene scoping out the offerings. We’ve Scouted out three menus catered just for you: The “I’m trying to go light tonight” Menu, The “I’m here to get down” Menu, and The “I’m a picky eater” Menu, each complete with an entrée, a beverage, and a dessert. Michelle Labi-Klonecke in City Scout.

Track 7, the Curtis Park-based brewery, quietly opened its Natomas location on Friday.

The craft brewery had hoped to open their second location by New Year's Eve, but a rain-soaked December delayed construction. Give the team behind Track 7 credit. When they announced the new location in July 2014, they predicted a December 2014 opening. They only missed it by a couple weeks, which is very good.

The location is still a work in progress, but apparently, they've done enough to start allowing the public to come to events.

This weekend, they'll be open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with food trucks to feed the masses.

The new facility will open with a capacity of 8,000 barrels of beer, compared to their 2013 production of just 1,200 barrels at the Curtis Park facility. The original location will be used for pilot batching and sour beer production.

Their new Natomas warehouse and tasting room is located at 826 Professor Lane.

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Dine Downtown: 4 recommendations to experience Sacramento restaurants - But for those restaurants that are part of the line-up, Dine Downtown is a great opportunity to win over folks and expand their reach. Here are a few good bets, based on my visits (not for the latest special menus, which I have yet to try). Featuring Hook &  Ladder, Biba, Grange and Ella. Blair Anthony Robertson in the Sac Bee.

VIDEO: Dine Downtown in Sacramento focuses on Farm-to-Fork movement - Chefs in downtown say Dine Downtown weeks is a win-win for restaurants and customers. Melinda Meza on KCRA.

VIDEO: Dining Downtown at the Delta King - Chef Julian Vasquez previews the Delta King "Dine Downtown" menu. On KCRA. Lisa Gonzales on KCRA.

VIDEO: Dine Downtown Week partners with Food Literacy Center - Amber Scott discusses how this week’s Dine Downtown event benefits the Food Literacy Center. Lisa Gonzales on KCRA.

VIDEO: Dine Downtown at Blue Prynt - Enjoy a 3 course meal at a discounted rate with Dine Downtown, featuring Blue Prynt. Lisa Gonzales on KCRA.

Every Wednesday from today through the end of August, the Downtown Partnership has organized its annual Cap City Sips event, where restaurants all over the downtown grid offer $2 Beers, $3 wine and $4 cocktails from 3 to 7 p.m.

Participating restaurants include:

Sometimes, the most entertaining restaurant reviews are for restaurants that aren't just awful, but ones that have all the tools to be good, but aren't. Sac Bee restaurant critic Blair Anthony Robertson provides the entertainment, in a terrible review of Dawson's, the restaurant inside the Hyatt.

[F]eel free to extend me your condolences nonetheless for having dined – and dined again – at Dawson's, a restaurant that woefully overpromises, dramatically overcharges and pathetically under-delivers in nearly every fundamental way.

It wasn't fun. It wasn't entertaining. There was no energy or excitement to the room, and the only thing interesting was the temerity of the whole thing, like charging $38 for $18 worth of middling seafood cioppino, asking $35 for a $15 pork chop and, worst of all, luring us into this dreamlike world in which a subpar chicken dish is suddenly worth $29 instead of $6.50.

What do I mean by underdeliver? That pork chop may be extra-pricey, but the kitchen will make up for it with all kinds of razzle-dazzle with vegetables and accoutrements and mind-boggling technique, right?

Wrong. Veggies are extra.

Read the entire review in the Sac Bee.

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Chef Mike Thiemann to leave Sacramento, become culinary director for Tyler Florence - Just about a year to the date which Mike Thiemann took over as executive chef for Ella Dining Room & Bar, he will be leaving Sacramento in early February. Thiemann has accepted a job as culinary director for Tyler Florence, the Food Network celebrity chef who oversees restaurants, a line of cookware and authors cookbooks. Before Thiemann came to Ella in early 2012, he served as Florence's chef de cuisine and helped him open restaurants and develop recipes. Thiemann will serve as Florence's right hand man in many facets of his food empire. Chris Macias in the Sac Bee.

Dine Downtown 2013: Blackbird Restaurant & Bar: a Field Mark of Sophistication - Sacramento’s Dine Downtown Week is now in full swing and it has been so much fun so far! Andy and I have had the privilege of trying out three different menus from a list of nearly 30 restaurants, and last night’s trip to Blackbird Restaurant and Bar was incredible! I am only disappointed it took me this long to discover them. Since their opening in April last year, I had heard so many great things about the food and the atmosphere, the art on the walls, and so on. I kept reading Blackbird’s menu and wanting to go because almost everything on it was paleo! Now that I have a few more hours a week (since my work commute time has been drastically cut), it’s fun to be able to spend a little bit more time with Andy and hit some new-ish places like this one. Kristy DeVaney on Cavegrrl.

This Summer, the Downtown Partnership has put organized 20 Downtown restaurants who will offer happy hour every Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. through the end of August.

Each of these 20 restaurants will feature $2 beers, $3 wine and $4 cocktails.

Participating restaurants include: