Yesterday the Champions Club restaurant served a delicious
champagne brunch to a packed house at the Mercedes-Benz Cup.
Brunch? Brunch!
Clearly the Mercedes-Benz Cup has this whole sporting event
thing figured out. Forget the peanuts ““ why not try some
roasted Yukon bliss potatoes served with fresh thyme, extra virgin
olive oil and sea salt?
Obviously the Mercedes-Benz Cup is no average sporting event. It
features great food, greater tennis, and the greatest corporate
sponsors. So last week I set out to learn about the aforementioned
culinary club of champions, the hyped group of young American
players in the tournament, and, of course, the mysterious
Countrywide, one of the event’s main sponsors.
I spent the first few days of the tournament wandering around
the Los Angeles Tennis Center and checking out the matches and the
ladies. But the Champions Club (which was set up adjacent to Pauley
Pavilion) still intrigued me the whole time. I was drawn by its
sweet aroma.
So on Tuesday I decided to do the one thing that felt right
““ ask for some food.
I know what you are thinking: There is no way they let him eat
there. He is rather uncouth and not fit to dine with a group of
champions. Nor can he afford it.
Well, they let me, and it was a tasty treat.
I dined with Roy Champawat, associate director of ASUCLA
restaurants. He has worked at UCLA for the past 18 years and he
“loves the mission of UCLA.” Roy and I sat at table 75,
talked about life, the Bruins and cous cous. I sampled much of the
restaurant’s fare, and here are my thoughts:
While I found the whole wheat penne (with broccoli, ripe grape
tomatoes and roasted garlic jus) to be a bit uninspired, the
pan-seared citrus striped bass (in thyme buerre blanc) was fresh
and delicious. I also enjoyed the savory prime rib. Overall, it was
a classy operation.
Now about this Countrywide. I have no idea what Countrywide is.
Do you? The name makes me think it’s a company that sells
cold cuts, like Butterball. Or maybe the name Countrywide just
reminds me of country-fried steak. Anyway, last week I tried to
figure out what Countrywide actually is.
The company had a kiosk near Strauss Stadium, so that’s
where I attempted to do some investigative journalism. On Wednesday
I found three Countrywide staffers sitting at the kiosk, but not
one was willing to tell me about Countrywide. Apparently, the
company has a strict policy that forbids regular workers from
talking to the media. The kiosk workers could only refer me to a
media liaison, who in turn referred me to a more senior media
liaison.
But I never got to talk to a Countrywide representative, so the
issue is still unresolved. Seriously, what is Countrywide? Maybe
it’s related to tennis? Does Countrywide make tennis racquets
or sliced ham? Which is it? Let me know if you’ve figured it
out.
Now about those new young American superstars. I was excited to
see the likes of Mardy Fish and Taylor Dent rip it up.
Unfortunately, yesterday’s final featured an all-German
matchup of unseeded Tommy Haas and Nicolas Kiefer. Third-seeded
Fish and No. 7 seed Dent failed to emerge from the quarterfinals in
a relatively weak field, so maybe the USTA needs a new marketing
campaign.
Yes, all because they did not fare well at the Mercedes-Benz
Cup. This tournament is the Mercedes-Benz of tennis tournaments.
It’s that big.
The best match I saw all week was Greg Rusedski’s
second-round 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory over Karol Beck on
Wednesday. At one point, a spectator heckled Rusedski a bit too
loudly, and Rusedski told the spectator to shut the hell up. It was
the most exciting thing that happened all week.
Besides the roasted mushrooms with roasted garlic and thyme
emulsion. That was delicious.
Jeez, Miller used a lot of parentheses in this column.
E-mail him at dmiller@media.ucla.edu to discuss this troubling
matter.