If you’re looking for a swanky little sushi place near the Arena District, I would definitely hit up Tyfoon. The setting is much nicer than Haiku, with a dark, intimate vibe that invokes the feeling that you’re going to break the bank to eat there, despite it being no more expensive than your typical trendy sushi joint.

Did the classiness of the atmosphere equal the sushi? I’m not sure. If I hadn’t gone to Haiku the night before, I might’ve been really impressed with the food, but the edge still goes to Haiku for me.

While the large portions pleased the competitive eater mentality in me, the excessive amounts of spicy sauce garnishing about half of the rolls left me wondering if if there was actually any fish involved. While I do enjoy sauces, I prefer them in moderation. I’m not into paying twelve dollars for a spicy mayonnaise roll. The rolls that didn’t have the spicy sauce drizzled over top were really good, though, and definitely saved the meal.

So, just as I would recommend staying away from rolls at Haiku that include cream cheese, I would suggest avoiding any sushi from Tyfoon that mentioned spicy sauce on top.

In the end, Tyfoon is where you take a date, with it’s tight vibe, cool décor, smooth lighting, and good food. Haiku is where you go for better sushi. Granted, these are probably two of the most trendy sushi places in Columbus – hence the reason they were both mentioned first when asking for recommendations – so I’m willing to wager that there are much better places in the Columbus area. I plan on finding more on my next trip to see the Crew in late April.

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of going to the Columbus Crew season opener versus Toronto FC. This was the third time that I’d made the trip to Columbus to see the Crew play, and it was by far the best experience.

Toronto brought an estimated 2,300 fans, which promptly filled the north end of Crew Stadium, and showed why they’re the best, and most devoted fans in the league (this is only Toronto’s second season in the league…amazing). They sang non-stop and really forced the Crew fans to get more involved in the game, and become more vocal than I had previously experienced. I’ve never seen a better vibe at an MLS game. If every game was like this one, you’d see soccer gain a much larger fan base. During the beginning of the game, a plane even flew over with a banner that said, “Toronto FC – Come on you Reds – RPB 2008″. You don’t even see that type of support for our beloved NFL and MLB teams.

Anyway, the game was pretty good. Unlike last season – when Ned Grabavoy stunk up the midfield with his slow pace, lazy effort, and awful touch, killing all creativity in the attack – the Crew came out with a purpose. The passing was much improved, and the effort was actually existent.

The Crew dominated for much of the game, scoring a beautiful goal in the first half, and putting the game away with a second later on. In between, though, Will Hesmer, the Crew’s goalie, had to save a penalty kick to keep Crew’s first half lead intact…which also deflated Toronto’s momentum going into the second half, and left little optimism for a comeback (if you’re a TFC fan).

When the game reached its conclusion, I had seen two nice goals, a penalty kick save, a header off of the crossbar, decent play, and I had experienced a great atmosphere for a soccer game.

Pre-game warm-ups

Toronto owning the north end of Crew Stadium

Midfield domination

As we were walking to the hockey game on Friday night from the hotel, we happened to pass by this giant outdoor advertising promoting “Coops Paints” and Nationwide Insurance. At first I just saw the paint advertisement, with the paint cleverly running down the wall and onto the cars in the parking lot. That was cool enough, but after scanning the wall, it became obvious that we were looking at a clever Nationwide ad, not a paint ad at all. In fact, Coops Paints isn’t even a real company.

It was a great bit of advertising that was guaranteed to catch your eye while not simply playing to the idiot in you. It was smart, mentally engaging (if for only a moment), and left me inspired as a designer.

After the uneventful Predators/Blue Jackets game, the goal was to find a sushi joint nearby. Someone had recommended a place called Haiku, so while exiting the arena, we asked someone, who told us it was pretty close by, and went on our way. About a mile later, in brisk temperatures, we arrived at Haiku. Please note that in Columbus, when someone says, “it’s only a few blocks over”, it actually means it’s about a mile.

Fortunately the payoff for the walk was pretty good. Haiku had a laid back, intimate vibe, but it wasn’t anything special. The dim lighting and tile floor definitely cheapened the mood. Maybe if the candles on the table had been lit, the setting would’ve been nicer. You could tell that this was one of those trendy places to go, but it didn’t affect my experience at all.

The sushi was delicious for the most part, but it was pretty expensive. While the rolls were large, the size was a bit deceiving, as rice accounted for much of the portion. I also would advise against getting any rolls with cream cheese. I’ve never been much of a fan of cream cheese with my sushi (Raw’s mahalo and philly rolls as the exceptions), so I guess I was a little sensitive to the massive amounts used in a couple of the rolls. It simply overpowered the actual sushi flavors. My recommendations – the kamikaze roll and the employee roll.

All in all, Haiku sated my craving for sushi on Friday. The service was good, the setting was decent, and the sushi was as good as I would expect for Columbus. I would put it on-par with Sushi Tomo here in Pittsburgh, which is pretty darn good…for sushi in Pittsburgh.

I took a trip to Columbus this past weekend for Saturday’s Columbus Crew home opener, and figured I’d go a day early to check out a hockey game between the Blue Jackets and the Predators, and extend my adventure a little.

First, Nationwide Arena is really nice. I guess I’ve been going to Mellon a little too often, inadvertently lowering my expectations of what an arena should be like these days. It was weird sitting in comfortable seats, despite being in the very last row of the arena. The seats were actually a little tight due to the cup holders, but they were fine for me. The staff at the arena were disturbingly nice as well (which seems to be the norm when the team that calls that location is awful). The lighting was really weird to me, though. I guess this is how modern arenas are lit during games, but at Mellon, the entire arena is bright. They’re not big fans of directional lights, I guess. Nationwide is dark everywhere except for the ice. At first I thought it was really cool and helped you focus on the game, but after a while, the insane contrast between the ice and the darkness around it made me feel like I was watching TV in the dark for 2 hours. It really started messing with my eyes.

Anyway, the game was awful. The Predators beat Columbus 2-0, but you could really tell the difference between a game between these two sub-par teams and any Penguins game. It definitely reaffirmed how good the Pens really are right now. Neither the Predators or Blue Jackets could pass the puck effectively, and all of the players seemed to be skating at half-speed. It’s just a shame to watch teams with nothing to play for. I went in hoping that both teams would be playing hard to at least not come off as the worst in the league, but neither team played with any passion (although there was a really good fight about 2 minutes in that lasted for about 2 minutes). Overall, the play on the ice explained why such a nice arena was only about 2/3 full (generous estimate), and why the Blue Jackets are the only team in the NHL to never qualify for the playoffs.

Aside from the actual game, the experience was fun. There were quite a few rabid fans there, which was nice to see, and I loved taking in a new arena experience. I’m also a big fan of the Blue Jackets new jerseys.

To offset my rant about Subway, I’d like to offer up support for another franchise that I frequent in my workout season: Rita’s Italian Ice.

I actually really like Rita’s, and when they’re open, I can’t seem to stay away from the mango gelati…with vanilla custard! Unfortunately, my favorite part of the gelati is the custard, which also doubles as the reason why one regular gelati reaches nearly 400 calories and packs 13 grams of fat. Ouch.

Now, that’s not exactly the worst treat when you’re eating a healthy diet the rest of the day, but Rita’s is now offering up a fat-free option that is actually more delicious than the original. Everyone say hello to the Slenderita! Although it has slightly more sodium and sugar, as all “fat-free” product tend to, it has literally no fat, taking my mango gelati down to just over 300 calories and 2 grams of fat. Of course, now I don’t even order the gelati. I just get regular Slenderita custards.

The breakdown of a regular Slenderita custard (in a bowl) based on the information that I had Rita’s send me:

Calories: 277
Fat: 0
Saturated Fat: 0
Cholesterol: 0
Protein: 9g
Sodium: 321mg
Carbs: 59g
Fiber: 1.7g
Sugar: 40g

Compared to a regular custard:

Calories: 385
Fat: 21g
Saturated Fat: 14g
Cholesterol: 125mg
Protein: 7g
Sodium: 210mg
Carbs: 43g
Fiber: 1g
Sugar: 37g

Not bad. If you’re going to eat the stuff anyway, why not eat something that ditches a lot of the bad stuff? The only problem is that you can only find this option at Rita’s locations that are willing to buy the machine to make it…a machine that, according to one of the managers of a Rita’s I frequent, costs $15,000. She’s not going to be getting one for quite some time, so now I’m stuck going to the location in the South Side. Oh well, it’s closer to work.

With soccer starting up soon, I figured I’d put down the delicious, but less-than-healthy foods I prefer, and get back to the low fat, calorie-counting lifestyle that I deal with every year around this time. Part of that traditional shift in diet consists of regular trips to Subway – a tradition that I think I’m completely over.

I went there today for lunch, and of course, 4 hours later, I still reek of “that smell”. The smell has been discussed endlessly by my friends and I, and the hatred for the Subway stench is easily found with a simple Google search of “subway smell”. Fittingly, the results that come up refer to the disgusting smell of the NYC subway system and Subway sandwich shops. I’m getting more and more annoyed as I sit here unable to escape the feeling that I’m stinking up the entire office. I’m truly at a loss if the franchise believes that this signature used toilet paper stench is a positive branding strategy.

I also wonder if Subways even screen applicants before hiring them. I’ve never been met with such blatant annoyance and disregard as I’ve been experiencing lately. Just today, three people were working at the store in Waterfront (I know, I know, it’s Waterfront). As I’m standing there waiting to order my sub, the guy who just finished making a sub, takes his gloves off, walks into the back, gets a soda cup, and proceeds to get himself a drink. Not only that, but he decided to drink it before getting back to work. Granted this is the lunchtime rush…you know…the ideal time for a break. Note…when I was leaving, he decided he had worked hard enough to earn himself a smoke break. Ah, the age of entitlement is upon us more than ever.

One girl was working the register (the only friendly one, too), leaving the other girl to make all of the subs while Mr. Whitebread finished his drink. She was just so chipper to do her job, as you can imagine. “Whatchou won?”, she asked with an attitude that hinted toward me interrupted something more important. Um, I’m sorry…were you more comfortable standing there ignoring me, and the ten people behind me? I’m sorry. Maybe we should all leave so you can get back to nothing.

“What do I want?”, I thought to myself. I want you to make my sandwich that way I used to when I worked at Subway years ago. I want it to look like it does on television. I used to do it. Unless it takes a superior talent, which I don’t believe I have in the sandwich-making department, there’s no excuse for the effort that these people put forth. You know what? No one told you to make whatever decisions you made to end up working at Subway during the workday. Don’t take your depression out on me and my sandwich. If you can’t work in the service industry, get out. Go work the suicide hotline or something. Pittsburgh is depressing enough. I don’t need every person I run into at an eating establishment to remind me. You’re supposed to be friendly and eager to help please me as the customer. Thanks for the attitude and the less-than-appealing sub you so kindly shoved into that bag!
I’d give you a tip, but you obviously don’t understand where that concept came from.

On the topic of presentation…When I worked at Subway, we didn’t work behind a large, clear window, revealing all of the toppings and meats. But, I can tell you right now – without any exaggeration – that our sandwich prep area was waaaaaay cleaner than I see nowadays. The cheap, processed meats are disgusting to look at, so I’m not really sure why they would show them at all. The vegetables are often scattered everywhere; tomatoes in the lettuces, olives in the onions, pepper sprinkled on the banana peppers, etc. It’s disgusting. Then, the lazy, angry sandwich employees refuse to put anything less than half of the bottle of condiments on my sub. My sweet onion sauce today practically covered an entire half of my sandwich. Yum.

We also had uniforms…and they had to match. We had to wear visors, and aprons. Now, if you just show up in clothes, you’re allowed to work. You can wear your hat sideways, not wash your hair, shave, or cover your prison tattoos. You don’t have to understand the English language or speak it, and you definitely don’t have to an IQ high enough to count 3 pickles per 6-inch sub.

The food quality at Subway has always been bad, but what’s happening there has completely turned me away from it. Like Starbucks, no two Subways make a consistent sandwich. It’s a shame that Subway has lost its way. It’s almost like the franchise is resting on the laurels of a man name Jared, and the diet sensation to carry their rapid cannibalization and sub-par, questionable food quality, to new lows…and high profits.

A few days ago, American Eagle’s clothing concept, Martin + Osa, finally launched its e-commerce site. I know most people don’t know anything about the company let alone the web site, but I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival an AE brand that ditched the over-the-top, “yeah, I’m obviously too old for this shirt” branding, for a more subtle, “grown up” style. M+O is AE’s answer to its aging demographic who’s now walking into the 15-25-year-old sunset and looking to shop with a J.Crew-esque mentality.

As an AE employee, I was able to test the site by ordering some items at a nice discount…which is about the only way a poor ol’ web designer like myself could actually afford to shop there. Even thought the clothes are not in my ballpark of reasonably-priced threads, I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with my first arrivals.

I ordered them about a week ago with the free shipping option and they arrived in a decent amount of time. The packing standard was pretty high, with each item individually wrapped in dark blue tissue paper and sealed with a small M+O sticker. I’m not sure if every order comes like that, or if they were just doing random packing tests (I have two more boxes coming, so we’ll see), but if it’s a regular thing, it definitely qualifies as a nice touch.

The clothes themselves are really comfortable and seem well-made. The half-zip cardigan simply fits awesome – even if it may have arrived a few weeks late weather-wise. The jeans that I bought should break in really well as they fit surprisingly well for never trying them on beforehand. I just hope they hold up better than some of my AE jeans, which have seen better days.

I know most of you reading this won’t shop there any time soon, but if you know anyone with money to burn who shops the M+O style, send ‘em over to the site. So far it’s been well-received, but I’d like to see the brand succeed for my friends’ sake who worked on it (the shop by outfit pages are pretty cool).

M+O may cost about twice as much as AE, but from first wear, it’s twice the quality. With the way I wear clothes to death, that should provide me with a reason to go back…even without a discount. Time will tell…

P.S. – I’m not actually involved in the M+O aspect of AE…

Nice packaging

Half-zip goodness

Nice denim makes Pittsburgh winter a little more comfortable

This is a few days late, but Favre’s retirement pushed this back…

Somewhere, in a galaxy far, far away sits a Steeler fan who possesses the one thing that I really admire in the rare sports fan – objectivity. He’s sitting in his Lay-Z-Boy recliner watching his QB throw 3 interceptions in a playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. As the game unfolds and his beloved Steelers lose, he gets up, says “Ben, you blew it”, and goes to bed.He doesn’t blame the Steelers porous offensive line, or the receivers for dropped passes. He doesn’t blame the defense for allowing the offensively-potent Jaguars to drive deep into the red zone in overtime and win. Nope. He simply looks at his quarterback, and shakes his head.

He’s been hit over the head with hand of reality, and chuckles at his inability to notice the obvious – that his franchise quarterback is simply not good enough. Three interceptions – all awful decisions gave the game away. Most Steelers fans are still complaining about the phantom holding call on the Steelers, and the “missed offensive holding” on Garrard’s game-sealing 4th down conversion, instead of thinking about how Ben killed three drives with his erratic decision making and errant accuracy.

In reality, Ben’s never been good enough. The Steelers won Super Bowl XL in the most unconvincing fashion…and with very little help from their second-year QB. Aside from the oft-debated rushing TD, Roethlisberger did everything that he could to lose the game. He’s the only QB to ever walk away from the Super Bowl with a ring and a passer rating of 22.6.

Fortunately for Ben, he was drafted into a ridiculously strong football organization with a stacked team. Let’s face it…that Steelers team could’ve won the Super Bowl with any average QB behind center, a concept very similar to the 2000 Ravens who won Super Bowl XXXV with Trent Dilfer.

Who gets the credit now, though? Ben Roethlisberger, that’s who. As Ben sniffs his $36 million in guaranteed money for signing his new 8-year, $102 million contract, he has to be thinking about how he’s benefited from the complementary blinders handed out to the Steelers faithful nationwide. Here’s a guy who lucked into a great situation. He came into a great team and just needed to not screw up. He did just that and won a Super Bowl, as well as most of his starts. Congratulations for that. Here’s a cookie. I’ll let you know when you’re worth $102 million, though.

When you’re capable of consistently winning games where you pass more than 30 times, that’ll help. When you learn how to find your open receivers quickly so you’re not making your offensive line work double-time to save your ass, we’ll talk. When you stop making awful decisions while in the pocket resulting in interceptions, you can at least suggest a number. When you limit the spectacular looking plays because you actually learn how to read a blitz and get the ball out of your hand, resulting in a quarterback style similar to those good QBs – you know…those guys named Manning, Marino, Montana, Unitas, Young, Favre, and Brady – I’ll talk to your agent about an elite contract extension. Until you learn how to throw to your “short” receivers over the middle without putting them in harms way with high throws, you can enjoy your rookie contract. Until you can do at least a few of those thing, keep your mouth shut about a big-money contract and your need for tall receivers.

Big Ben and the Steeler faithful have truly lost their minds regarding his new contract extension. It’s not like Ben has ever needed to take a franchise from the bottom and carry it back up to the top, like Peyton Manning, or even Drew Brees. It’s not like Ben has had Tom Brady-esque success in his first 4 years (insert jealous Steelers fan squeals of “cheating”).

Ben’s a good quarterback in a great system. He’s the king of the backfield screen pass that goes for 40 yards. He’s the master of elusiveness. Of course, he’s also the master of making more drama than necessary to make a simple pass. Oh, and he’s also the executioner of his receivers over the middle, too arrogant to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, and incapable of winning team MVP honors in a season where, in the words of the Steeler Nation, “he’s the only reason that the Steelers had a good year”. That award went to “Silverback”, James Harrison.

The same quarterback who was gifted a Super Bowl-caliber team and experienced gift wrapped success, has now received his second gift from the Steelers – one of the highest contracts ever for a quarterback.

Congrats, Ben. Now put your running shoes on, because that contract cost you your best offensive lineman. Be sure to wear your helmet!

Isn’t it amazing that, with all of the dislike that NFL football stirs up between fans of their respective teams, one team, and more importantly, one player, seemed to fly above it all?

I never wore foam cheese on my head, and would never claim to be a huge Packers fan, but I was a casual enough fan of the team that I never really wanted the Packers to lose. I sort of had that “if the Ravens can’t win it all, I hope the Packers do” mentality for so long, and it was all because of Brett Favre.

We all sort of grew up with Brett – through his ups and downs – and maybe that’s why so many people liked him. Everyone could relate to a guy who was so “real”. When he played you felt like you were watching some guy playing backyard ball with his buddies. Take this past year for example. While Brady was running the mechanically perfect (almost so perfect it was stale) offense for New England, Favre was making the game exciting with his gun slinging and unpredictable play…but he always did. His reckless, often over-powered throws were exciting to watch, and his celebrations were nothing but fun.

It’s going to be weird to not have that go-to icon in the league anymore. It’s going to be a lot like Michael Jordan’s retirement. Jordan was everyone’s favorite. When he left, he took a lot of air out of the NBA. We won’t know for a few more months, but I imagine the same is going to be felt in the NFL. Of course, this is Brett Favre we’re talking about, so we’ll probably see him on the field anyway next year…

This video is an awesome tribute: