As you know, we've got fun branded clothing and goodies in our Cafepress store, but we now also have an Amazon A-store which is filled with Japanese cookware, foodstuffs, and other junk. Check it out here

If you've been living in a cave, or living in Austin, you probably missed SushiMasters 2006, the mega-spectacular sushi-making contest in Sacramento, California, the heart of the U.S. sushi rice industry. No matter, we've got many photos for you to salivate over.

The (old) news that Austin may get a swanky "W" Hotel has heated up recently with news that their reps have been "talking" to various local sushi restaurants about partnering on the in-house sushi bar for the hotel. The "W" is expected to be built on Block 21 of the 2nd Street district.

And speaking of the 2nd Street district....that sign next to Taverna announcing the new Sushi Sake location is still in the window, but nothing seems to be happening in the space. Any ideas? Let us know.

Uchi is going to expand their current location with a sister restaurant (separate entrance, sushi bar, etc) that will be reservation-only and have about 40 seats. Name to be determined.

We're happy that our friends are happy. And we mean Dishola.com. Find the sushi and other dishes fast! Congratulations to our favorite (other) food site. :-D

New sushi bars are here......

Tomo, at 4101 W. Parmer Lane (phone: 512-821-9472), and Maru, at 4636 Burnet Road (phone: 512-458-6200). Post your reviews in our forums.

The Austin sushi landscape is leveling out these days with some old sushi bars leaving while others are breaking new ground.

Mimosa and Jade are gone while Sushi Sake and Origami are expanding. Origami has opened Origami Express at the Northwest corner of Burnet Road and Anderson Lane, while Sushi Sake is opening a second loca

The August issue of Consumer Reports magazine exposes the treachery of salmon wholesalers who try to pass off farm-raised salmon as wild salmon. The article linked here cites both health and cost concerns, as well as mislabeling:

"Of 23 supposedly 'wild' salmon fillets we bought last November, December, and March, during the off-season for wild-caught salmon, our analysis found only 10 that were definitely caught in the wild."

Farm-raised salmon, it turns out, has higher concentrations of pollutants than wild salmon, so wholesalers want to pass off their salmon as wild whenever possible.

Still, America loves salmon, apparently, and it's good for you too:

You got it right. Today, June 30th, 2006, at Maiko, 311 W. 6th Street, from 5:30-7:00pm, AustinSushi.com will have a little happy hour to celebrate our victory over the forces of evil. We've been busy re-creating the number one, totally free web site that exists solely to pimp sushi and Japanese food in Central Texas. Seemingly pointless, yet fun! Come hang out and enjoy Maiko's happy hour prices!

We're back with a more succulent venue for spewing forth your pithy diatribes.

The good news is that, if you previously had an account in the old AustinSushi forum, that same username is already working on this site. You just have to click on the Request A New Password link. Your old password will not work.

If you're new user, you can sign-up for a free account by clicking on the New User link.

The NEW AustinSushi.com has got some branding love! Our sushi-crazy designer has created a store full of designs to captivate lovers of our clean, contemporary new look. Like, check out these samples:

D.K.'s Seoul Sushi bar now has a revamped web site featuring pictures of his ongoing bawdy Monday night karaoke gig. The gig is notorious for its mix of Sake Bombs, sushi, verbal shenanigans, and, on occasion, breasts. Joe Bob says check it out.

www.dksushi.com (http://www.dksushi.com )

Also, one of our favorite freelance sushi chefs now has his own web site. Nat Sawatphadungkij can turn your party into a festival of fish flesh at surprisingly affordable prices.

www.natinthekitchen.com (http://www.natinthekitchen.com )