Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

Sakura Japanese Steakhouse in Christiansburg hits the spot!

I have had my eye on the new Sakura Steakhouse in Christiansburg ever since it opened, but I had not found time to drop in for a meal until a few days ago. I was really impressed with the food and the service and will make this a frequent stop from now on.

I had the Bento Box with steak for lunch. I received excellent service and the food was perfectly prepared and efficiently served.

As I recall, the price of the meal was six dollars and change, so I was surprised when the meal included a bowl of excellent onion soup (I thought it was Miso at first) and a crisp tasty salad

This was an ample lunch and there was enough tempura and steak left over to ask for a take home box which I shared with my wife Gretchen later.

I have eaten Japanese food all over the US in all sorts of restaurants and I would recommend this restaurant and its current menu to anyone.


The food is far better than the decor would indicate. The restaurant looks like an ordinary diner. It is not an upscale Japanese steakhouse where you would take clients you want to wine and dine. You take clients here who appreciate good food.


I appreciate good food and I appreciate people who care about their products and service. I hope they do not change anything as they seem to have a winning combination.

Cheeburger Cheeburger - Good eating at Tanglewood

I was looking for a place to have lunch at the Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke and I struck it rich today.

I discovered Cheeburger Cheeburger, a burger place that offers better food than my previous favorites: In-N-Out Burger and Five Guys. In fact, I like the food better than Red Robin and it is about half the price, which suits me just fine.

But, when I wandered in the door, I wasn't sure just what kind of food to expect. Here was this 50's looking diner with lots of neon and stainless steel and cutouts of celebrities. I really didn't know what to expect. Was this going to be another Johnny Rocket Hollywood diner with instantly forgettable pre-fab burgers and malts?

I was bracing myself for a 21st Century version of a 50's diner when I was greeted cheerfully by Bain, a young man in a Cheeburger T-shirt who made me feel right at home.

It took only seconds to realize that this was "real" burger joint, with Black Angus burgers cooked to order and a choice of twenty eight toppings. I also could have any of nine different cheeses on my cheeburger.  By the way, it actually is "Cheeburger", that's not a misspelling.

I ordered the "Semi-Serious Cheeburger" with cheddar cheese and a few seconds later the girl in the kitchen put my cheeburger on the grill and good things started to happen.

While my cheeburger was being prepared, I read the menu and discovered that Cheeburger Cheeburger was started on Sanibel Island back in 1986. It has since spread to more than sixty locations, but I had never heard of them even though they have been in the Tanglewood mall for about a year.

When my "Semi-Serious Cheeburger" arrived, I fell on it and enjoyed one of the best cheeseburgers I have had in many years. The Black Angus beef was excellent and the service was cheerful and fast.  I plan on visiting Cheeburger Cheeburger often when I am visiting Roanoke. It offers fine burgers at affordable prices and the staff makes you feel welcome.

I think that says it all.

If you haven't done it already, check out their website. You can even order online.

Natasha scores with curried salmon

This is curried salmon, as prepared by Natasha Shishkevish for the fortunate patrons of Oddfellas Cantina in Floyd, Virginia.

Two huge strips of salmon filet in a roasted curry sauce were accompanied by a pyramid of fragrant rice and sliced carrots. Indescribably delicious! Not at all what I expected of a curry dish.

I have had salmon at Oddfellas many times and this was the best version ever.

Natasha is a well-known chef in the Floyd County area and I have had the pleasure of sampling her offerings before. This was the first time I had the presence of mind to take a picture before eating.

As you can tell from my unbridled enthusiasm, I am not a food editor/ reporter/ critic or anything like that. I love good food and feel that excellence is best rewarded by promoting it widely.

I just have to keep telling myself, "shoot first - eat later". Fortunately the camera jumped into my hand and I got off several shots before hunger took over.

Kudos to Natasha! May good fortune follow you in all your endeavors.

Another reason to visit the Floyd Country Store

Woody Crenshaw, proprietor of the Floyd Country Store, has expanded the food offerings at the Country Store to include an entire selection of simple country foods.

After sampling them thoroughly, I think he has raised the bar considerably on what I have long considered "comfort foods".

To launch the new venture, Woody invited a few people to a "taste test and kitchen exercise" to help test the menu and the food service before opening it to the public.

The taste testers had a great time greeting old friends and ate everything in sight. As you can see, Woody, Jackie and a host of helpers behind the counter were very busy keeping up with the eager taste testers.

The menu contains a variety of simple foods prepared with great care. Woody and his wife Jackie have spared no pains to make every menu item memorable.

If you can imagine grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon on home baked buttermilk bread, you can get an idea of the attention to detail that went into every menu item.

The classic fifties-style sandwiches range from Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato as shown at left to pimento cheese sandwiches to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Wonderful homemade soups included country style pinto beans served with chopped onions.

Their new menu included such specialties as Chicago Style Hot Dogs with choice of toppings, Buffalo Sloppy Joes, and Classic Carolina Style pulled smoked pork barbecue.

This hot dog connoisseur was highly appreciative of the five different toppings available on the hot dogs.

Homemade desserts and five ice cream specialties like their Grasshopper provided the ultimate temptation. The Grasshopper contains mint chocolate ice cream, hot fudge sauce, crushed chocolate mint cookies and chocolate pieces. It was dubbed a raving success by the happy taste tester shown below.

I went back today and had lunch at the Floyd Country Store and it was every bit as good as it was the night before. I enjoyed a Classic BLT and their homemade Cream of Tomato soup and used their high speed WiFi service to good advantage.

Their menu offerings fit in a niche that was not being served by any of the other restaurants in town, inexpensive and carefully prepared comfort food in a casual atmosphere.

You will have to try it to fully appreciate what Woody and Jackie have created here. I think this will be very successful.

UPDATE: I didn't make it clear that the Floyd Country Store is only open Friday and Saturday for now, but will be open all week after June 22nd. See you there!

I have taken on an assignment to redesign the Floyd Country Store website so that it will fully reflect the expanded offerings of the Floyd Country Store. The website needs to provide answers for prospective visitors so that they know who is performing, what special events are planned, where to stay and what else to see while they are in town. There will also be more information on the musicians who perform at the store and how to contact them.

One last bit of information: I heard that Woody plans to sell Carhartt Work Clothes in the retail shop inside the Floyd Country Store. That's great news for Carhartt fans!

Doug Thompson has more photos of the taste testing on his weblog.

Simple pleasures are the best...

Stopping for lunch at a favorite place for comfort food and conversation is life at its best, especially when you are on the run and have more tasks to do than time to do them,

Sally Walker's Cafe Del Sol in Floyd Virginia offers home made soups that hit the spot. I enjoy their sandwiches and salads every week, but it is the soups that bring a smile to my face and restore my sense of harmonic balance.

Sally prepares these soups from scratch and her friendly staff makes sure that we get served with care. The net result is comfort and contentment.

Saturday's special soup was roasted red pepper with Gouda cheese. It was as tasty as it looks. Life should always be so good!

Keep up the good work guys!

The Last Hurrah, or was it?

On Friday night, Gretchen and I joined a goodly crowd of regular patrons at Tom Ryan's Over the Moon Cafe for a last celebration of our favorite end-of-the-week entertainment and foodfest.

Michael and Kari Kovick and Phil Woddaill kept the music coming while patrons swapped stories and had the usual good time. Tom's food and hospitality have kept us coming back week after week and it was a shame that it was all coming to an end.

According to what Tom had told me earlier, the new owners were going to reopen the Over the Moon after a short closing for redecoration.

While I was writing this article, I was told by a reliable source that the deal has not gone through and we may have a few more hurrahs left to celebrate. According to the latest news, Tom will reopen after a short vacation and we can expect more Friday night parties and weekday service from the deli.

I hope this works out well for all concerned. The Over the Moon Deli and Gallery are favorite destinations for visitors and local citizens alike.

Floyd County Food and Entertainment

Conventional wisdom says that Floyd closes down after Christmas, but the recent warm weather has brought more tourists down the Blue Ridge Parkway than anyone expected. We may still have a few more weeks before the town begins its annual hibernation for repairs and revitalization.

For those who are new to Floyd, I have created a website which contains my articles on the fine food and entertainment that you can find in Floyd.

In this Floyd County Food & Entertainment website, you will find pictures and stories of many places Gretchen and I have personally visited and can recommend to visitors.

I still have a few more sites to add, so don't be concerned if your favorite establishment does not appear on the site yet.

Bookmark this website and send it to your friends so that when the weather warms up and the roads to Floyd open again in the Spring, they will have all of the food news in one place. The link also appears in the right sidebar under Other Useful Sites.

UPDATE:For those who enjoy late breaking news, Doug Thompson has the latest scoop on which venues are closed as of today. Read his article Not This Month.

Indigo Farms Seafood Night at the Over the Moon Cafe

This was a Saturday night to remember. I am sure that  people will be talking about it for weeks. The Over the Moon Cafe in Floyd, VA, was jammed with happy customers for the first-ever Indigo Farms Seafood night.

Scott Perry played a masterful set of blues and roots while  owner Tom Ryan and his staff hustled to serve Indigo Farm's marvelous seafood to a horde of eager customers.

Within 10 minutes of opening the doors, customers were lined up at the counter and the overflowing crowd was spilling into the adjacent Over the Moon Gallery.

This bowl of spicy boiled shrimp is just one example of the food we enjoyed. For the full story and a menu, go to Floyd County Live which includes a photo album of food and gallery images. Enjoy!

More Floyd food...

I keep telling Sally Walker of the Cafe del Sol that she could do amazing things to her business volume if she would just make her Sausage and White Bean soup a regular part of her daily menu.

This soup does wonders for your disposition when you have had a hectic morning and are running on empty. It warms the heart and soul in addition to making your hungry body very happy.

Paulina is back at Oddfellas Cantina

Ah, mercy! This swordfish was amazing! It was unlike anything I have ever eaten.

Paulina pan-seared this swordfish and finished it with olives, capers, and a light marinara sauce according to the menu.

Since it tasted nothing like the usual marinara sauce, I had to go into the kitchen and ask how she achieved that result. Paulina explained that the sauce is more like a puttanesca sauce.

For instance, anchovies were crushed into the olive oil until they disappeared, then she added a little wine and lemon and a few other ingredients...and there you have it, perfection!

This was the first time the dish was served and it will stay on the menu until next Wednesday. If you are withing driving distance of Floyd, I strongly suggest that you take advantage of this dish while it is still available.

Reservations are necessary because Oddfellas Cantina is packed solid every night from now til Sunday. Call 540-745-3463

Full Disclosure: Many thanks to Sally Walker for letting me photograph her swordfish dinner. She joined us after I had fallen on my swordfish and eaten it. One of the minor problems with food-blogging is you have nothing to photograph by the time you discover the dish is unusually delicious!