The UK Observer's monthly food section includes an article on sushi's global takeover. The piece describes the origin of sushi -- not as a luxury item, but as street food, and introduces Yohei Hanaya, "sushi's Colonel Sanders," who discovered quite a long time ago (approx. 600 AD) that a simple combination of fish, which was cheap and plentiful, could be combined with vinegared rice for a quick, easy snack. References to the Earl of Sandwich and McDonald's founder Roy Kroc follow, which should tell you that this story is positioning sushi not as the expensive indulgence we've come to know it as, but as a convenience food poised to engulf the market.

(Image from the Wikipedia entry for sushi.)

The piece is largely about two restaurant chains, one high-end and one low-end. Nobuyuki Matsuhisa (Iron Chef Japan!) now has 15 of his elite Nobu restaurants. With the help of hip Hollywood, Matsuhisa coaxed sushi into the "fashion mainstream." Yo! Sushi is a British chain that has seen incredible success and has labored to subscribe squeamish Britons to the idea that raw fish can be tasty. They're looking to export their conveyer-belt innovations to the United States -- which is no stranger to sushi boats, but Yo!'s fast-food stylings seem perfectly adapted to the American market.

The sushi revolution has far-reaching implications, not least of all to the already depleted oceans. As demand increases, providers will likely turn to increased farming, wider distribution, and alternatives to fresh fish. As the piece says, "real sushi will in the end be only for the rich. Street sushi will increasingly feature what the industry unappetisingly calls 'seafood analogues' - imitation fish."

In a related story in the New York Post, Steve Cuozzo describes "New Yorkers' growing frenzy for Japanese cuisine." It's a piece about the about-to-open Megu Midtown, a Japanese chain that already has an outpost in Tribeca. There's no doubt that sushi is hot. Cuozzo points out that "since 2003, more than 1,000 new seats have come on line at Megu, Matsuri, Ono, En Japanese Brasserie, Nobu 57, Ninja and Morimoto." ("Come on line?" Come on. Must everything be so Internetty? Then, of course, who's throwing stones? I just called sushi "hot.")

Megu is more Nobu than Yo!, with a meal averaging well over $100 -- although the restaurant's president, Hiro Noshida, notes that they're looking to stabilize the experience at a "more accessible price point -- $60 a head."

Finally, an item applicable to you if you're male and in a car accident -- and if you've indulged in too much sushi: that spare tire might serve you well. In a not-surprising turn of events, the study shows ("for reasons that aren't clear"), that if you're a woman, a little bit of weight around the middle gets you nowhere.

I secretly want to be Dagwood Bumpstead. Seriously -- he sleeps on the couch, he's got those crazy-ass bangs that stand up seemingly without product or any other help, and he makes the most juicily extravagant sandwiches that are only complete when they've been crowned with a pimento-stuffed olive wearing a toothpick as a hatpin.

Sandwiches are my comfort food. Yes, I love the banks of thick mashed potatoes with gilded rivulets of burnished butter running down their carbilicious sides, and I frequently want to rub myself down with the Stouffer's mac and cheese, but there's just something about the sandwiches. They're sort of snacky yet they're also a meal. They can have layer upon layer of flavors -- a little chewy meat here, some tangy pickle there...oops, there's a sexy smidge of thyme mayo up top, contrasting fiercely with those clean, crunchy greens! -- and if they are made right, each bite is more interesting than the last.

As a kid I was totally addicted to grilled cheese sandwiches and didn't eat much else, but as an adult I've managed to broaden my sandwich horizons. In Cambridge, Mass, we had several favorite sandwich places to visit. Darwin's stacked their sandwiches thick and high and named them for the neighborhood streets (I usually went in for The Longfellow with ham, sliced apple, aged cheddar, lettuce, and tomato). Montrose Spa held my attention with their crispy grilled Cubanos, and a dreamy chicken sandwich called The Lady Grey that saturated tissue-thin slices of chicken breast with a creamy cucumber-dill dressing. When I got a craving (and I always got a craving when on a Television Without Pity deadline, or when it was late at night, or the middle of the day...or the morning...or an o'clock), I knew I had about two dozen sandwiches to choose from.

Replacing those sacred sandwiches has been an uphill battle since we moved to the Bay Area. I mean, there's great food, like, EVERYWHERE, but I have yet to find a neighborhood spot that can fill the stomach-growling gap of those sandwiches. I am, however, making great strides and I have recently made a point of stumbling repeatedly upon Arlequin To Go in Hayes Valley. Connected to both Absinthe Brasserie and Bar and Arlequin Wine Merchant, Arlequin To Go is a wonderfully warm little cafe that plates tasty mediterranean fare in the form of salads, sugar-crusted baked goods, and sandwiches. The roasted turkey sandwich with corn and tomato chutney is a winner, but I'm currently trading off addictions with the grilled pear, bacon, and white cheddar, and the grilled chicken breast with a glossy spiced onion compote, fresh greens, and aioli on focaccia.

You can take your minted lentil-quinoa salad and freshly built sandwiches home, (which is personally my choice because I get a hedonistic thrill out of unwrapping food that is all white-paper-packages-tied-up-with-string) or bare your skin and soul in the sun-soaked and surprisingly large patio out back.

Well played, Arlequin. Well, played.

Arlequin to Go
384B Hayes Street (at Gough)
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.626.1211

Monday-Friday 8am-7pm
Saturday 9am-7pm
Sunday 9am-6pm

Title: Chocolatier, Charles Chocolates
Hometown: Flint, Michigan

1. What's your vision for Charles Chocolates?
Part of the joy of starting this business is creating what I like and I want. The real vision is to create the world's best chocolates. I want to grow the company without losing sight of what it means to make great chocolates. Everything we do is in small batches, we only use the best ingredients, Straus cream and butter, all organic herbs and spices and we want to keep it that way.

Everything we do is from scratch, including roasting our own nuts. We're always looking for the best way to get from point A to point B while maintaining the individual flavor components along the way.

2. How has chocolate changed from when you made chocolate confections in the 80's until now?
Years ago there were only a few chocolates that we could use, and even companies like Valrhona had a very limited range of products. Now chocolate is available in so many forms and flavors, you can say 70% bittersweet chocolate and it almost has no meaning anymore because there are twenty 70% chocolates to choose from, each with completely different characteristics. Now we can use chocolate as a very specific ingredient which we couldn't do before.

I am using different chocolates for almost every product I make, sourced from all over the world, from companies like E. Guittard, El Rey and Valrhona. This is a huge advantage.

3. What's the worst thing about being a chocolatier?
There's nothing bad about making chocolate for a living! It beats almost everything. It's hard to have a negative reaction to a piece of good chocolate.

Possibly the hours, it is very hard work. But it's a great job. Feeding people chocolate is really great. It's a business and it has to be viable but the real pleasure comes from seeing people's reaction to the products.

4. You have some unusual chocolate flavors and combinations like Mojito and Earl Grey Truffle, how did you come up with the Pistachio Lemon Cluster?
Most of the products I develop are very selfish. I make things I like to eat. The Pistachio Lemon Cluster came about because I started playing with a technique of meringue coating nuts and liked the effect. The lemon is a nice counterpoint to chocolate and pistachio. I love citrus and candied peel.

Both chocolate and citrus and chocolate and nuts are two classic combinations. I love North African flavors too which includes pistachios and preserved lemons.

5. Why is chocolate so popular again in the Bay Area?
I don't think it ever went away, but it went away in the Bay Area. You can look at as first renaissance, second renaissance. In the first renaissance there was Alice Medrich, Joseph Schmidt and to a lesser degree my company Ativo who were creating a new industry of super premium chocolates. It had existed in Europe but not here in the US. It was pioneering work and everybody fell in love with it. When it faded away here it was picking up in New York. New York took the lead and in the last 10-15 years there have been great chocolatiers that are French trained pastry chefs like Jacques Torres for example.

Here in the Bay Area Scharffen Berger is in part responsible for the appreciation of premium chocolate and Trader Joe's too. Trader Joe's began carrying Valrhona bars which elevated people's understanding of what good chocolate is. Both Scharffen Berger and Trader Joe's raised people's awareness of what good chocolate can taste like. So now the awareness already exists and people are ready for chocolate like mine and Michael Recchiuti's, and a few others produced in the Bay Area.

Still hungry? Check out a recent box of Charles Chocolates and read about my visit to Charles Chocolates, here