Tacoma auctioneer Randy Ehli, head of the reconstituted Ehli Auctions, said today that his firm will next week conduct an online sale of the fixtures and fundamentals of Il Fiasco Italian Restaurant.

The restaurant, located at 2717 6th Ave., will close this week, Ehli said. There was no one to comment at Il Fiasco Thursday afternoon and the news of closure had not been posted at their Web site.

Ehli said the auction will be conducted entirely online, with opening bids taken beginning on Tuesday and running a week, through 2 p.m. on Jan. 12.

Among the items up for …

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As we wrote in our 10-in-One series in August, Freighthouse Square restaurants are in a constant state of flux. Restaurants there come and go at a faster pace than even the rest of the ever changing restaurant industry. Even if your visits are a single month apart, you may find two or three new restaurants, or an equal number of closed restaurants.

Our most recent Freighthouse find this week is Little India Express. The small Indian restauarant replaces M and J’s Lumpia, which served Filipino food. (Also gone are Cyber Pasta, which specialized in inexpensive pasta and espresso; and Bochino’s Fine Sausage, the hot dog stand near Rosie’s Asian BBQ. No word on what will fill those now vacant spaces).

As for Little India Express, it’s a welcomed addition to the already eclectic mix of ethnic eats at Freighthouse. The menu is recognizable Indian fare, entrees in the $8-$10 range; vegetarian dishes are around $6-$7 each.

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You might smell the new Russian Piroshky bakery and deli in Milton before you actually see it. It was my nose and a delicious yeasty aroma that led me to the new take-out store that opened two weeks ago.

This is the first venture for Olga and Roman Grezhdieru, a young couple with a penchant for baked piroshky.

Baked piroshky? Yes, they only make baked piroshky.

“It’s true, most piroshky is fried,” said Olga when I asked about her recipes. “We asked people before we opened, ‘What what would you like?’ We went and asked our friends and family and everybody likes piroshky, but they said they’re too greasy. So we came up with a recipe to bake them instead of fry them.” Read more »

We’ll be taking off the next few weeks to burn off the last of our vacation time (gotta love those use it or lose it policies!). We’ll pop up with one or two posts, but expect us to return full-time with more dining reports the week of Dec. 27.

In the meantime, post anything and everything you care to share in the “Readers Dish It Out” thread (just click on it in the Categories list).

Today, we offer our fourth installment of 10-in-1: Meals by the Mile. In our series, we dine at 10 restaurants located in a compact area and report the sights and scents of the restaurant district. Our current installment takes at look at the Parkland restaurant district.

Parkland’s main drag is Garfield Street, the gateway to Pacific Lutheran University. But this street needs help. Buildings, many past their prime, sit among vacant lots and less than busy sidewalks.

One thing this stretch of asphalt doesn’t lack is restaurants. From the casual elegance of Marzano to the college vibe of the Northern Pacific Coffee Company, this area’s eateries appeal to many tastes. On Garfield Street, no one should go hungry.

These 10 restaurants, in no particular order, are within walking distance of each other….

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UPDATE 2012: THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED

Federal Way has one, so does Lacey. Tacoma’s Sushi Revolution is my favorite. And now Puyallup’s South Hill has its first conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Sushi Land opened last week, just a few doors down from the Rock Wood Fired Pizza on South Hill.

The concept is pretty simple – a sushi chef prepares fresh sushi, placing it on a conveyor belt that rolls all around the dining room, passing by diners seated at counters or in booths. Diners reach over and pluck off the belt whatever looks pleasing. The sushi is covered with clear, plastic containers to protect from airborne germs. Some call it conveyor-belt sushi, others call it sushi-go-round or kaiten zushi…..

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Don’t panic. The actual Bob’s Java Jive is just fine.
But the gingerbread house replica of the Tacoma icon – not so much. It was like a “worst moments from Food Network” scenario say those who witnessed the late-night collapse of the house that was intended for display with six others at the Tacoma Art Museum through Dec. 13.
Don’t worry, this story has a happy ending. The house is on display, as intended, but it took an all-night pastry rally to get it there.
Last Monday night, Pastry Chef Rachael Roberts, of Jonz Catering, was just about to secure the last ornaments of the house – mini fondant replicas of the monkeys Java and Jive – when Bob’s Java Jive completely imploded.
“It was like a slow quiet implosion, it imploded on itself,” said Roberts, who is quite good humored about her pastry collapse. “We were running around. It’s 11 p.m. the night before it’s due. I was trying to find Styrofoam and putting sticks on it, but there was no saving it at all.” Read more »

There is chewy pizza. There is doughy pizza. There is pizza that shatters like a cracker, and pizza as thick as a pie dish.
And there is pizza with a tender, pastry-style crust – a style I find particularly interesting. A pastry pizza crust can be at once tender, pliable and sturdy. The texture is contradictory to the more predictable chewy-thin or doughy-thick pies at the base of so many pies.

The Stonegate, a combination nightclub, lounge and pizza restaurant that opened in October on South Tacoma Way, delivers a crust with a tender crumble, like a delicate cracker with a subtle crunch….. Read more »