Wednesday is food day here on the newspaper side of the Projo. As I work on those print pages, I try to squeeze in every last bit of news. But there are always some interesting tidbits that come in past deadline. Until this food blog, I had to wait a whole week for that news to emerge.

But we don't have to wait anymore do we? Here's the latest.

Two weeks ago I wrote a story about Tortilla Flats. This Mexican restaurant on Hope Street in Providence has new owners and one of them worked for former owner Stan Spencer for 15 years. As far as they knew, and as far as I could trace in the archives, his was the only name that came up associated with Tortilla Flats.

Yesterday, I got an Email from David Yates in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He wrote,

"Regarding some historical facts about Tortilla flats, and as we used to say in R. I., not for nut-in. Stan Spencer was actually the third owner of the Flats. It was opened originally by famous R.I. D. J. Davy Jones and his partner Al Paranzino in 1973. My two partners and I bought it from them in 1978 and sold it to Stan in 1989.
It's great to know that the Flats is still going strong and I wish the, sort of, new owners continued success.
Thanks for your article, it brought back lots of good memories."

So there you have it, the historical record for the flats.

In other news, I have two more restaurant openings to report:

Yokohama Hibachi and Sushi has opened at 300 Quaker Lane, Warwick. The Japanese restaurant has opened its doors with sushi chefs and hibachi experts from New York to create unique combinations such as grilled Chilean sea bass and ginger or snow crab and softshell crab with cucumber, avocado and caviar wrapped with soybean seaweed. Yokohama is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. For reservations and information, call (401) 826-8200.

New in East Providence is Hichigo Ichie Hibachi and Sushi at 5 Catamore Blvd. Hot appetizers include Crunchy Duck Rolls and Baked Mussels as well as gyoza and tempura. There are soups, cold appetizers and seaweed salad. Lunch specials include sushi and sashimi, bento box lunches and entres including eel over rice (Unagi Don).

Hibachi entrees are made for lunch and dinner and include soup, salad, rice, shrimp appetizer and vegetables.

For more information, call (401) 435-5511.