JAKE DE PAUL: LOUD BARKING DOG BEHIND WINDOW ADDED TO THE SCENE >>>

JAKE DE PAUL: A REASON TO VISIT REGENTS >>>

The Poppy Seed Café in Fircrest has a new owner. Six weeks ago a lovely women from Kent bought the joint.

I dropped by this morning for their lemon poppy seed waffle.

Yum.

The moist, muffin-like waffle with the aroma of lemon and a heavy sprinkling of powdered sugar arrived with two dollops of raspberry butter. I enjoyed the crunch of poppy seeds baked inside. And the flavor, of course, is dominated by lemon.

I will be back â€" maybe this Saturday for their “dessert sampling” special.

[The Poppy Seed Café, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, 616 Regents Blvd., Fircrest 253.460.4101]

MICHAEL SWAN: TODAY’S HAPPY HOUR DISCUSSION TOPIC >>>

Discuss but don't mimic the above video over happy hour at:

El Toro

1128 Broadway Plaza, downtown Tacoma, 253.722.5196

Happy Hour: 3-6 p.m. daily

Drink Specials: well drinks $3.75, domestic beer $2.25, house margaritas $4.50

Food Specials: burrito, nacho or taco are free

LINK: More South Sound happy hour

JAKE DE PAUL: FOOD MATTERS >>>

Craft Cocktails: 1022 South debuts its fall menu tonight.

Great Breakfast: The Milton Tavern has re-opened its doors for breakfast, which includes a breakfast pizza.

New Menu: The Tempest Lounge has rolled out its new fall menu featuring curried mussels, sautéed mushrooms, penne pasta and more.

Plan Ahead: Babblin' Babs Bistro hosts "A Southern Night with the Chef" reservation only chef’s dinner Sunday, Oct. 25. Chef William will transfer you to the South for $75 per person.

Food For Thought: Did the movie Cocktail help or hurt bartending?

LINK: Weekly Volcano’s Eat & Drink section

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: South Sound Happy Hours

LINK: Wine and beer tastings

JENNIFER JOHNSON: NEW BREAKFAST AND LUNCH SPOT IN TACOMA >>>

Downtown’s newest addition opened mid-September and seems headed in the right direction with quickly prepared, fairly priced, affordable fare. Open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, Penuel Café focuses on breakfast and lunch.

The menu tops out at $8: breakfast runs $3.50-$4.99, sandwiches $5.50-$5.99, salads $4.99-$7.99.

Order a crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside cook-to-order waffle of the Belgian variety ($3.50). It’ll liven up a standard bagel/muffin morning.

Stuffed spinach or sun-dried tomato breakfast wraps are offered as well as cinnamon rolls, cookies, espresso, teas and canned and bottled soda and juice. 

Soups, salads and sandwiches full of fresh ingredients have lunch handled.

Looking for something heartier? Sausage, hot dog and bratwurst are cooked to order on an outdoor grill and are offered solo or on toasted roll.

Plus: breakfast is served all day.

Minus: very sparsely decorated, cafe ambiance is non-existent. Take-out might be your best bet.

[Penuel Café, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, 744 Market St., Tacoma, 253.640.5470]

STEPH DEROSA: SOUTH SOUND HAUNTED HOUSES >>>

I'll be brutally honest here: I have yet to find a haunted house in the South Puget Sound that will make me poop my pants like the huge ones down in Texas did. Even back in the '80s we'd drop a cool $20 on admission into a three-story deserted warehouse turned death house. You should count your blessings that you're here in your safe, humble surroundings of evergreens and vegetarians. Here, admission is usually at a fair price, and the haunting is done in a controlled, well thought out environment. 

Are the haunted houses here scary?  Are they worth the money?  Do those adult-sized diapers really hold? These are questions only a haunt doctor can answer. Aren't you in luck? Dr. Steph DeCapitated DeRosa at your service right here.

MATT DRISCOLL: ROSE MELBERG IN OLYMPIA TONIGHT >>>

Honesty is what it's all about. It carries an artist or band farther than talent alone ever will. Listeners know when they're being duped, and they know when they're getting the real deal - and Rose Melberg is the very definition of the real deal.

An alum of the Olympia and Portland scenes - think Tiger Trap and Go Sailor and the Softies - Melberg's honey-drenched voice and songwriting skills have long been on display, both solo style (as her show at Northern in Olympia will demonstrate) and in group settings - where she's worked with the likes of Neko Case and Elliot Smith.

Melberg's latest solo effort, Homemade Ship, was released in September by K Records. Those already familiar with the record no doubt have Melberg's Northern show circled on the calendar - and those who aren't now know what to do.

Rose Melberg deserves your ears.

[Northern, with Kellarissa, Calvin Johnson, Thursday, Oct. 22, 8 p.m., $6, all ages, 321 Fourth Ave., Olympia, olympiaallages.org]

MICHAEL SWAN: THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 2009 >>

1. Tacoman Erik Hanberg invites the public to check out his fellow brainiacs’ “secret” wizardly technology works-in-progress from 6-8 p.m. at SiteCrafting.

2. At 4 p.m. nationally renowned educator and social justice speaker Jim Keady will discuss “Behind the Swoosh: Sweatshops and Social Justice” in the Trautman Union Building at Saint Martin’s University.

3. Do you love to “network?” Do you love to mingle with local business owners and “talk shop?” Most importantly, do you love extended happy hours? Well, if you answered yes to any of those questions, check out Go Local Tacoma’s Tacoma Shop Talk from 5-7 p.m. at the Varsity Grill.

4. Tacoma Little Theatre is staging the ghost story The Woman in Black at 7 p.m.

5. Billy Z Productions presents Naomi’s Birthday Bash featuring All The Hellbound, Sex & Violins, Psycho 78, and McMonster The Devastator at 9 p.m. inside Hell’s Kitchen.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

ALEC CLAYTON: JOE FEDDERSEN RETROSPECTIVE AT TAM IS A MUST SEE >>>

I was knocked right out of my socks when I walked into the Joe Feddersen retrospective exhibition at Tacoma Art Museum. The first thing to catch my eye - and how could it not - was a monstrous wall-size print of multiple overlapping zig-zag patterns in brilliant colors and textures comprised of 500 square panels that seemed to frantically dance across the wall. And I'm talking a big, big wall. The piece is called Okanagan IV, and it goes ceiling to floor and stretches across 58 feet of wall space. And, as if that were not enough, there's a similar but somewhat smaller piece on the opposite wall that's merely 90 panels and only 20 feet long.

The beauty of these, beyond the sheer size, is due to the vibrancy of the patterns within patterns.

This is a must see show. Read my review on the Weekly Volcano Web site.

MICHAEL SWAN: TODAY’S HAPPY HOUR DISCUSSION TOPIC >>>

Discuss the above video over happy hour at:

Goldfish Tavern
5310 N. Pearl St., Ruston, 253.759.7474
Happy Hours: 4-7 p.m. Monday-Friday
Drink Specials: $2.50 domestic pounders, $7.50 pitchers

LINK: More South Sound happy hours