If it's Japanese anything, I'll eat it.

I'm not a big fan of the P.F. Chang chain of restaurants. It's basically overpriced Chinese food that I could get for $5.00 a pint at a smaller, local place. But I could certainly get down with this:

The company's chief executive officer, Rick Federico, said Taneko will fill a niche for authentic Japanese cuisine that isn't sushi or prepared teppanyaki-style. Much of the food at Taneko will be prepared on grills and in ovens fired by a special hard-oak charcoal. Federico said the technique will help Taneko become a category-defining restaurant.Look for dishes such as salt-grilled chicken, saki-braised pork ribs and Kobe steak. The menu also will include sushi.The average check per guest at Taneko is expected to be $30. That's higher than P.F. Chang's average of $18 to $19 and Pei Wei's average of $8 to $9.

So I'm assuming they're going to test this "concept" restaurant in the Scottsdale, AZ area first. If anyone knows of a similar place in San Francisco or the rest of the Bay Area, help a sista out and leave it in the comments. Your girl loves her some grilled meat.

Am I outraged at the whole bastardization of Asian cuisine by huge restaurant corporations? Annoyed, yes, but mostly ambivalent. When it comes to Asian cuisine, if it's good, I don't care who makes it. But I will say - I have yet to find a place that makes Filipino food as good as the way my dad makes it.

Quite possibly a niche that will never be filled.