"There's nothing better," said author and restaurateur Kevin Roberts about enjoying a big plate of Buffalo wings. "But it's all about the flavor. You don't want it so hot that you can't taste the food."

In the heated argument over hot sauces, Roberts represents one side. Don't call his side unmanly, though - at least not in Roberts' hearing. His new hangout, East Village Tavern & Bowl in San Diego, is a testosterone-enriched haven for sports fans.

Besides, Roberts has a point. Thermonuclear sauces incinerate everything in their path, including the food's flavors. That's no fun.

Or is it?

On the other side of the hot sauce issue is Robin Rosenberg, chef de cuisine at Jake Melnick's Corner Tap in Chicago. Before ripping into Rosenberg's wings, diners must sign a waiver: "These wings are gonna be really H-O-T, and I hereby declare that the terms of this waiver and release have been completely read, and I totally get and voluntarily accept that I have no right to whine about anything that happens to my mouth after I accept the challenge.

"I am psyched. I am proud. I am ready.

"So bring 'em on!"

Time to pick a side.

FLAME ON

There's no debate about the origin of Buffalo wings, except for one tiny detail. Everyone agrees they were invented in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y., where the son of the owners arrived one night with a pack of famished friends in tow.

The boy's mother deep-fried a batch of chicken wings, soaking them in a "secret" ingredient. The secret? Depends on whom you ask.

Frank's RedHot sauce, said the New Jersey manufacturer and Roberts, who appears on radio and TV as RedHot's celebrity spokes-chef.

The Anchor Bar doesn't explicitly reject this claim, but ads for its Anchor Bar Sauce raise doubt. "The Original Sauce that made Buffalo chicken wings famous," the ad maintains. "Accept no imitations!"

Cayenne pepper, the spicy backbone of both sauces, was once considered a real tongue scorcher. In recent years, however, there has been an explosion of hot, hotter and hottest sauces: Dave's Original Insanity Sauce, 357 Mad Dog, Wanza's Wicked Temptation, Caldera, Blair's 16 Million Reserve.

That last sauce's name hints at the science behind this culinary madness. Heat - specifically, the amount of the chemical capsaicin within a particular pepper - is measured on scale created by a pharmacist, Wilbur Scoville, in 1912. Bell peppers have zero Scoville Units; Frank's Original RedHot contains 450 Scovilles; Dave's Insanity, about 80,000.

Blair's 16 Million Reserve is pure powdered capsaicin, with a blistering 16 million Scovilles. The company recommends diluting one crystal in a large vat of otherwise-mild sauce.

These gates-of-hell sauces tend to be bought by diners less interested in flavor than in sheer, out-of-control, China Syndrome nuclear power. In other words, men.

"This is something that guys get into with each other," noted Roberts, whose tavern stocks some of the hotter sauces for unchecked testosterone outbreaks. These showdowns are entertaining, but Roberts doesn't recommend them for guys eager to impress a date.

"You're sweating, your colon is on fire - that's not exactly a great look for the ladies," he said.

CHILI HEADS

"Hot sauces have really taken off," said Richard Gardner, a retired anthropology professor whose research trips exposed him to a wide range of chile sauces. Most "chile heads," as Gardner calls hot sauce aficionados, experience a mild sense of euphoria from the capsaicin, which stimulates the body's endorphin production.

Pure capsaicin, though, can cause the opposite of euphoria: "If you did ingest it, it would definitely do damage to you," Gardner said. "It could actually burn your innards."

In Roberts' kitchen, the goal is to make not the hottest wings, just the most flavorful. His standard Buffalo chicken wings have a kick, but with a smooth tartness; the spices do not overpower the grilled chicken flavors. His simple recipe relies on Frank's RedHot and melted butter, and the wings come out of the kitchen with the traditional accompaniments, celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.

Nicknamed "The Food Dude," Roberts learned cooking from his mother and grandmother. "I started hanging out in the kitchen at the age of 5," he said, "but didn't really start to cook until I was 8."

In college, Roberts noted that his fellow students loved to eat - but their cooking skills were limited to microwaving leftover pizza. He devised a series of simple, tasty menus that later became the basis of 2004's "Munchies: Cook What You Want, Eat What You Like" (Storey, $12.95). The book was a hit on campuses, where Roberts remains a popular speaker, and led to last year's "Kissing in the Kitchen: Cooking With Passion" (Northland, $16.95).

Roberts' talent has opened more than restaurant doors. Two years ago, he left Los Angeles and moved to San Diego, where he established his tavern-cum-bowling alley on Market Street last year. He's now expanding, from six lanes to 12.

He's often on the road. Several times a month, Roberts flies to New York City for appearances on Fox's "The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet" and to develop a "food reality show" for cable.

"I can't talk about it yet," he said. "But there should be an announcement soon."

He hopes that the show will be hot and flavorful.

CHEESY BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing

1/2 cup Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

Celery sticks or other cut-up vegetables

Crackers

Yields about 3 cups or 12 servings.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place cream cheese into deep-dish 9-inch pie plate. Microwave 1 minute to soften. Whisk in salad dressing, Buffalo Wing Sauce and cheese until smooth. Stir in chicken.

Bake 20 minutes, or until mixture is heated through. Stir well. Serve with crackers or cut-up vegetables.

WEST COAST WINGS

1 (4-pound) bag frozen or fresh chicken wings (a combo of both wings and drumettes)

4 ounces (1 stick) butter, melted

1/2 to 1 bottle Frank's RedHot Sauce

Yields 4 servings.

Place wings in large pot of boiling water. Boil for 15 minutes. Drain. Grill wings on barbecue until crispy.

In large bowl, place melted butter and Frank's RedHot Sauce and mix well. Add wings to mixture and coat well.

- "The Food Dude: Munchies Cookbook" by Kevin Roberts (Storey, $11.95).

KEVIN'S SPICY ASIAN WINGS

5 pounds chicken wings

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup Frank's RedHot Chile 'n Lime Hot Sauce

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Yields 4 to 6 servings.

Combine wings, brown sugar, soy sauce, Chile 'n Lime Hot Sauce, honey, salt and pepper in large resealable plastic bag. Shake bag to mix well. Marinate for about 1 hour in refrigerator. Grill wings until crispy, or bake at 450 F for about 30 to 40 minutes, until well done. To make wings crispy, broil for last 5 minutes.

BAJA CALIFORNIA QUESADILLAS

1 small ripe avocado, pitted

2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons hot sauce, such as Frank's RedHot Sauce

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves

16 (6-inch) flour tortillas

1 cup shredded cheese

1 cup chopped red or green bell pepper

Yields 8 appetizer servings.

Scoop avocado flesh into food processor or mixer bowl. Add cream cheese and hot sauce. Process or beat until smooth. Blend in cilantro.

To make quesadillas, spread 1 tablespoon avocado-cheese mixture onto each tortilla. Sprinkle cheese and bell pepper over half the tortillas, dividing evenly. Top with remaining tortillas; press gently.

Grill quesadillas on a greased rack over medium heat until cheese melts and tortillas are lightly browned on both sides. Cut into triangles to serve.

- "Kissing in the Kitchen: Cooking With Passion" by Kevin Roberts (Northland, $16.95).