No Joke

Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal yesterday to win the 2011 U.S. Open, making it his third major title of the year. Djokovic took down Nadal in four sets and maintained his firm grip on the top spot in the tennis rankings. Not only has Djokovic established himself as the best player in the world, his performance in the U.S. Open cemented a place as one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of men's tennis.

A few years ago, the only topic of conversation in men's tennis was the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. And even that wasn't particularly interesting for a variety of reasons. It wasn't a major rivalry because the two like each other too much. They were both dominant on different surfaces - Nadal on clay and Federer on grass. Things really only seemed to get exciting in the big matches on hard courts. Insert: Novak Djokovic.

This Serbian brings a different dimension to the elite level of men's tennis. Djokovic has transformed himself from being a talented player with work ethic and other mental weaknesses, into a confident player with the ability to hit any shot on any surface. No one ever questioned his talent or his shot-making skills. People doubted him because of his tendency to withdraw from matches due to mysterious injuries or just mail in his performance once he would trail. I think he's dealt with that in the easiest way you can - don't trail in matches.

"Not Djokovic again!"

With his win Monday, Djokovic brought his 2011 record to 64-2, which is absurd. His only two losses of the season have come at the hands of Roger Federer and Andy Murray, two of the top players in the game. He won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and now the U.S. Open in 2011 - along with SEVEN other tournaments. Before losing to Federer in the semifinals of the French Open, Djokovic had a 43 match winning streak. His play this season has been nothing short of dominant. He even has a chance to finish the season with the best record in the modern era - John McEnroe went 82-3 in 1984 but only won two major championships.

The craziest thing to me about Novak Djokovic is he seems to now be entering his prime. At 24, this is his time to shine. Federer is on the downside of his career. Nadal has trouble staying healthy with his violent and aggressive style of play. And Djokovic now seems to be in Rafa's head. While Andy Murray seems to be the new Andy Roddick - big game but can't finish in the majors. Djokovic is the most complete player in tennis. He is the model young players should be using to perfect their strokes. Great server. Beautiful ground strokes. Amazing returner of serves. And solid around the net. If he can stay healthy, he has all the talent to win many more major championships.

Before, opponents used to think they can get in The Joker's head. Now, he blocks out any of the distractions and can't hear the criticism. Maybe he can't hear it because he's too busy polishing his championship trophies.

Andale-jandro's

Nicole's parents came to visit over Labor Day weekend and it was the first time they'd been to Roanoke. I had this grand idea of planning the weekend with unique activities in the area and trying to act like the perfect local tour guide. As a way to kick off the weekend, I thought everyone would enjoy going to Catawba Mountain for a Saturday morning hike up McAfee Knob. The weather was nice, the views are amazing, and I thought it would only take a couple hours and have us ready to enjoy lunch somewhere in downtown Roanoke. Five hours later, when were exhausted and still hiking down the mountain, I realized it didn't work out the way I was hoping. Starving for food and wanting something cold to drink, we found the closest parking spot we could find to the restaurant and limped our way to Alejandro's.

From what I've read and the people I've talked to, Alejandro's seems to be the most popular Mexican restaurant in Roanoke. We had been one time before for lunch and remembered it being good - and it's always crowded - so we decided it would be a good place to take Nicole's parents, who love Mexican food. The restaurant was about half full when we arrived, but I was surprised they were even half full since it was around 4:00. We loaded up on chips and all the different types of salsa from the salsa bar and attempted to re-hydrate after our trek on the Trail while we looked over the menu.

I'll admit that I'm a weakling when it comes to handling levels of spice/heat, but I had a hard time with most of the different types of salsa. I can normally handle medium and mild salsas from most restaurants, but I was struggling with every flavor from Alejandro's except for the creamy salsa (almost dressing) that reminded me of El Rodeo. Even the Pico de Gallo tasted like it was loaded with jalapenos. I'm not sure if it depends on who makes the salsa on a given day but someone was a fan of adding extra heat.

Photo courtesy of The Roanoke Times.

For an entree, I decided to order the California style burrito. The burrito was filled grilled chicken, black beans, rice, pico de gallo, chipotle taco sauce, cheese, and guacamole. It was good and very filling - but again with the spice! The pico and the chipotle sauce had me pounding water during the entire meal. For $7.25 for a burrito and bottomless chips and salsa, it's not a bad deal. However, I'd say the flavors and ingredients of the burrito from Alejandro's can't hold a candle to a burrito from Chipotle.

Nicole's parents loved everything about Alejandro's. They were excited about being able to enjoy some cold beer, chips and salsa, along with tacos and nachos. Nicole's dad was a big fan of the chili lime tacos and her mom really liked the nachos. And since they like spicy food, they thought everything had great flavor.

In all, Alejandro's accomplished the goal I was hoping for. It was a local restaurant in downtown Roanoke with reasonable prices and good food. Nicole's parents enjoyed their dishes, the atmosphere, and that we were able to relax after the brutal hike. Personally, I think I'll need to return again and order something else to get a more definitive opinion. For now, I'd consider myself 'undecided.'

Week 2 - Let's Go!

There are some very interesting match-ups this week in college football. I like that some teams are taking the challenge and playing some good non-conference opponents. Here are three games I'm most intrigued by this weekend:


Brigham Young vs. No. 24 Texas - Austin, TX - Brigham Young won an ugly game last week at Ole' Miss to get their first win as an independent. Now, they face a legitimate college football team. Playing on the road against Ole' Miss means a lot of beautiful women get to see you play. Playing on the road against a Texas team that is looking to bounce back after a down year will be a new challenge for Bronco Mendenhall. It'll be interesting to see if BYU can match the athleticism of Texas and if the Longhorns can limit their own mistakes.

It's put up or shut up for the O-line.

No. 12 South Carolina vs. Georgia - Athens, GA - For Mark Richt, this is it. There's really no other way to view this than a must-win game for Richt and the Georgia program. After all the talk of major offseason changes and a new attitude and commitment, the Bulldogs took a hard face-plant against Boise State. The offense showed glimpses of life in the second half against Boise State, but the offensive line needs to be much more physical to hold up against the South Carolina defensive line. As is the case with most SEC games, this one will be decided in the trenches. Can the Georgia defensive line put pressure on Stephen Garcia and neutralize Marcus Lattimore? And can the Georgia offensive line protect Aaron Murray from the great pass rushers of South Carolina. One thing is for certain - the winner of this game gets the inside track to the SEC Championship.

Utah vs. USC - Los Angeles, CA - I love this match-up. Could there be more of a contrast between the culture of two programs? USC is one of the most high-profile, flashy programs in the country. Utah goes about their business with very little national attention. USC has a young, arrogant coach who is disliked by most of the country. Most college football fans around the country can't even name Utah's coach. Both teams picked up wins against mediocre opponents last week, but this is a great way to kick off the new Pac-12.

Kick it Off!

It's time for another season of college football! One of the things I missed about not being in the U.S. last fall was the ability to watch football on Saturday afternoons. Because we were in Switzerland, I would stay up and try to follow games during the middle of the night and see if I could find any websites that were streaming games. I know this is hard to believe, but it wasn't quite the same. After losing last year, I'm definitely excited about getting this season started. Here are 3 games I'm looking forward to this weekend.

Will LaMichael James run wild?

#3 Oregon vs. #4 LSU - Cowboys Stadium - 8:00pm ET.
This is the game that is receiving all the hype. And with two preseason top 5 teams, it should be the one receiving the hype. ESPN's College Gameday will be set up in Dallas, and all the story lines surrounding LSU over the past few weeks have made this game even bigger. I'm looking forward to seeing the match up of Oregon's blazing offense against LSU's ferocious defense. And I'm interested to see which uniforms the Ducks break out. However, if this game ends up being lopsided and doesn't live up to expectations, I don't think the media should blame the losing team. Blame the media for screwing up with the USELESS preseason rankings.

#5 Boise St. vs. #19 Georgia - Georgia Dome - 8:00pm ET.
As a Georgia fan, this game brings some nervous excitement. I'm excited because I hope this is the beginning of a turnaround season for Mark Richt and the Bulldogs. I'm nervous because I'm worried Georgia might continue to struggle and be the first team from the SEC to lose to Boise State. It's a definite possibility. Boise State jumped all over Virginia Tech to start their opening game last season and the Hokies were unable to recover. I'm hoping Georgia will be the more physical team from the opening kick and be able to impose their will against the Broncos. I also hope Georgia's defense will be able to constantly put pressure on Kellen Moore. And please, NO STUPID PENALTIES!

#14 TCU vs. Baylor - Waco, TX - Friday, 8:00pm ET.

Can TCU stop Robert Griffin III?

If this game is anything like last season, it won't be exciting at all - TCU won 45-10. This year, they are playing at Baylor and the Horned Frogs no longer have Andy Dalton leading the team at quarterback. Instead, Baylor will be the team with the best quarterback and might have a dark horse Heisman candidate in Robert Griffin III. You know Gary Patterson will do a great job with the TCU defense so it'll be a fun match up to see how they handle Griffin and the duel-threat ability he provides. One amazing stat about TCU - they haven't lost a regular season game since 2008! Unbelievable.

Bad Form

Earlier this week, my dad and I decided to have lunch at Formosa. Normally, we head to Wasabi's for sushi, but wanted to change it up and give Formosa a shot. Formosa is located downtown on Campbell Avenue, between Alejandro's and Mill Mountain Coffee.

When we arrived around noon, the place was nearly empty. Business started to pick up about 30 minutes later but it was still nowhere near as busy as Wasabi's or some of the other popular downtown lunch locations. They offer outdoor seating as well as a dining room and sushi bar. The interior is very modern and clean looking - and I think they might become more of a lounge and club later at night.

The service was very good, which shouldn't be too difficult when there are so few people in the restaurant. Our waitress brought us hot towels as we looked over our menus and was friendly and prompt with everything during the meal. After the meal, she brought us hot towels and chocolate mints - a nice little touch.

All the extracurricular aspects of Formosa make it a nice place - but I wasn't impressed with the food or the prices. They have a nice selection of lunch dishes with different choices for sushi or cooked dishes like rice or noodles. I decided to have the Sushi Special with miso soup. The sushi special is a six-piece California roll and 4 pieces of nigiri that are selected by the chef - my four pieces were tuna, albacore tuna, flounder, and salmon. The soup that came out before the entree was good - served hot with plenty of flavor and not too salty, which can be a problem with miso soup. However, the sushi was a disappointment. The California roll lacked flavor because the crab meat in the roll tasted very pedestrian. The pieces of nigiri were very small and the rice began to crumble apart as soon as I would pick up a piece. Overall, the entire plate of food was small. The flavors were okay, but I found myself thinking, "that's it?" after I finished. Actually, the best part of the meal was the drink my dad ordered. If you haven't heard of bubble tea, you really should give it a try!

I'd compare the entire sushi experience to something similar you could get from the sushi counter at Kroger or Publix. And for $10.50 for the Sushi Special, I didn't think there was anything very special about it. I'm glad I gave Formosa a try because I'd been curious about how it compared to Wasabi's. Now, I know. Now, I appreciate Wasabi's even more.

The Raging Bull

Last Friday, Nicole and I made our way over to Lynchburg to have a date night dinner at Bull Branch. Nicole ordered a Groupon for Bull Branch a few weeks back and we needed to get over there before it expired. After clearing the schedule and getting the reservation, last Friday night was our chance.

Prior to Nicole getting the Groupon, I'd never heard of Bull Branch and couldn't find much information about it online, since they don't have a website. The extent of my eating in Lynchburg has been in the strip around Liberty University (Moe's, Five Guys, Cracker Barrel, etc.) and I'd never really spent any time downtown. The restaurant was located downtown and it's one of the only things the center of Lynchburg had to offer. There wasn't much happening or many people out, which is unfortunate for a downtown, especially on a Friday night. Though I don't mind having an easy time finding a parking spot.

When we arrived at the restaurant, it was full of people. However, that is relative. This place is a tiny dining room with around 10-15 tables tightly positioned in different spots across the room. Not much space at all. There is also a small bar as you enter the door. If I could use one word to describe the atmosphere/layout/ambiance of Bull Branch it would be...weird. The layout is weird. The lighting and art is weird. The concept is weird. Even the front door is weird. It feels like they are trying to create an urban, modern, artsy, hip atmosphere, but most of it came across as forced and tacky to me. And since I'm quickly becoming an 80 year old grouch, I didn't like that it was too dark to read the menu and too loud to be able to have a conversation with Nicole. I'm awaiting my AARP card.

The service was also a bit weird. Although we had reservations for 8:00 and arrived on time, we were told our table would not be ready for another 15-20 minutes and that we should just wait at the bar. No offers for drinks or appetizers and no real interest from the bartender. I was confused as to why we made a reservation? After we were seated, our waiter did a relatively good job. Aside from the awkward greeting of, "Do you guys want some booze?" He was friendly, knowledgeable and provided good service.

The food is what won me over to Bull Branch. We weren't too interested in any of the entree selections, so we decided to share a variety of appetizers. We ordered the wagyu kobe beef burger with fries, seared sea scallops, goat cheese & tomato salad, and the baked goat cheese with tomatoes (we went a little overboard with the goat cheese & tomatoes). 3 of the 4 appetizers were delicious. The burger was cooked to a perfect medium well and was juicy and flavorful. The melted cheddar on top of the burger was excellent as well. The scallops (although small) had a nice, peppery crust and were very tender. And the baked goat cheese with tomatoes spread wonderfully on the small crostinis, similar to a bruschetta. I wasn't a huge fan of the goat cheese and tomato salad because I thought the cheese was overpowering and really took over the pallet.

In terms of value, I have mixed thoughts. For us, the value ended up being good because we were able to use a Groupon. We paid $20 for a $40 coupon, and then paid for tax and tip. Without the coupon, I don't know if I would return. The food was good, but I don't know if it would justify paying $12 for appetizers or $12 for a burger. Again, it feels like Bull Branch is trying to be a hip restaurant in a big city and price themselves accordingly, which just doesn't seem to fit in this region. Overall - not great, but not bad. And definitely weird.

I Want Seconds!

The Roanoke Rescue Mission is one of the most successful and respected organizations in the Roanoke Valley. They are the first name that comes to mind when people talk about charitable groups that support the community and provide for the needy. From a ministry standpoint, they serve as the blueprint for how to effectively use funds to make the greatest impact on people. Another great example of their stewardship and business sense is the decision to open a restaurant - 2nd Helpings Cafe.

2nd Helpings Cafe is only part of what the Rescue Mission offers at their property on Williamson Road. Along with the cafe, they also feature an art gallery and shop. The art gallery has some beautiful drawings, paintings, and photographs, with many of them focusing on the Roanoke Valley. The shop offers a variety of items, but I'd compare it to a nice Goodwill store. I especially liked the art gallery and would encourage anyone to check it out when stopping by the Cafe.

I was surprised at the size of the cafe. They offer patio seating out front, and also have a substantial dining area with booths and regular tables. The interior is full of light from the windows and other various lights, which gives the restaurant a warm, friendly vibe. You place your order at the counter and are then given a buzzer that goes off when your food is ready, similar to Panera.

2nd Helpings serves breakfast and lunch. I haven't been for breakfast but they appear to offer standard fare: bagels, eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, toast, etc. However, they do have a large variety of bagels, which are also used for their lunch sandwiches. They have a number of different sandwiches and serve Boar's Head meats and cheeses. I had the Fourth Street Chicken (grilled chicken, bacon, swiss, romaine, & mango chutney) on an everything bagel and really liked it. The portion was VERY generous and the mango chutney really added a nice sweetness to the meat and cheese. The sandwich also came with a side of bagel chips. Nicole had a salad that she really loved and I've also heard very good things about the soups.

To make the meal even better, it's hard to beat the value. For a huge sandwich with a side of bagel chips, it cost $6. All the sandwiches are $6, salads $7, soups $3, and a variety of other things. And 100% of the restaurant's profits go toward the goal of the Rescue Mission: to provide shelter, food, and clothing for the homeless. A great place to eat for a great cause. 2nd Helpings is truly unique and shows why the Roanoke Rescue Mission continues to deserve the support of our community.