It isn't even the only new pan-Asian restaurant in town.

Also debuting is Zyng Asian Grill, in the shadow of Arco Arena, which should delight Kings fans who have had mysteriously few dining options in the Natomas outback.

The Sacramento Zyng is the first California link and the 12th overall for a small but ambitious chain based in Alexandria, Va. The chain originally was Zyng Noodlery, but tweaked its name as it upgraded its service.

The menu, inspired by the cooking ingredients and styles of Singapore, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Japan and China, focuses largely on a concept whereby diners pick from various kinds of noodles or rice, proteins, vegetables and sauces to create their own single-bowl meal, cooked on a flat teppanyaki grill. The bowls generally are priced at about $10, with appetizers, salads and soups running between $3 and $5.

The name "Zyng" is the chain's derivation of the Chinese sound "zng," which means "very good," explains Zyng spokeswoman Molly Brown.

Fields of Green

When your chef is named Green, you'd better be open St. Patrick's Day, and the sports bar Joey B's finally is up and running.

Byron Green, formerly of Black Pearl Oyster Bar and Pegase Restaurant & Art Bar, heads up the Joey B's kitchen. Also aboard is sous chef Brian Matlock, most recently executive chef at Seasons in Davis.

Initially, Joey B's will offer a limited menu and operate on a restricted schedule. That's to change March 29, when complete menus are to be introduced and hours are to be expanded to offer breakfast 6:30-10 a.m. Monday through Friday, lunch 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily, a bar menu 2:30-5:30 p.m. daily, and dinner 5:30-11 p.m. daily. The weekend breakfast schedule is uncertain, but service is expected to start at 9 a.m.

He didn't get it done during his first 100 days in office, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally has eaten at The Firehouse in Old Sacramento, a requisite stop for California governors over the past four decades.

Schwarzenegger, his wife, Maria Shriver, and five companions joined other guests in The Firehouse's central dining room one night last week.

Other members of the party ordered from the regular dinner menu, but the governor went for chef Irie Gengler's six-course tasting menu. And while the others drank a 1999 cabernet sauvignon from Jordan Winery in Sonoma County, the governor stuck with sparkling water and the wines paired with each of his courses, such as a 2002 chardonnay from Rombauer Vineyards in the Napa Valley with the sea bass and a 2000 cabernet sauvignon from Jordan with the cumin-dusted rack of lamb.

Cigars in the courtyard afterward? Nope.

Will he be back? He's got to return if he wants his portrait in the restaurant's extensive gallery of celebrity photos. Firehouse manager Mario Ortiz, not wanting to intrude on the intimate gathering, put off asking Schwarzenegger to pose until another day.