bilrus

I have to agree with Steve in a lot of respects on this one, although my opinion of the current Maestro is quite a bit higher than his. (Not that Steve ever needs anyone to express his argument for him or really cares if anyone else agrees with him.) First off - Maestro is by far my favorite restaurant in this area and ranks with my two or three favorites anywhere. My anniversary dinner there in late May was one of my all time most over-the-top experiences with our original seven course dinner turned into a sampling of nearly every dish on the menu and our order of ice creams and sorbets as a "light finish" turned into another sampling of eight different deserts in four more courses. But Steve isn't really denigrating Fabio's abilities, in fact he is saying that he has been held back a bit A.) at Maestro because it is in a hotel and that he expects the problem to continue or be even worse at B.) Fiamma because it is catered to a more mass audience and is not trying to turn out Washington Post or New York Times 4-star or Michelin 3-star food. I don't agree with his use of the term chain to describe Maestro, but we have talked here and elsewhere about chefs being tied down and limited because they are working in a hotel - see Wabeck and Power, both of whom have left or are leaving to get away from the hotel world. Granted, Maestro is several steps above Firefly and Corduroy and the Ritz is several steps above the Hotel Madera and the Four Points. But it is a fairly conservative hotel with a pretty conservative clientele. As for the "dumbing-down" of Maestro, I have admitted before to being a little intimidated by the original menu at Maestro. Now, that was partly due to my inexperience as a high end diner at that point in my life, but I do feel that the original menus, especially the Creazione, were maybe a bit more ambitious than they are now Not necessarily more experimental but more "unusual" ingredients and preparations. It could be argued that the new menu is more "accessible". Some might look at this as a negative while some might look at it as a positive. It is up for interpretation. I like Fabio's cooking and style and I hope that he succeeds in New York, although I do wish for selfish reason that he was staying in the area. But when I originally read the news I was surprised he would go to an established restaurant with a lesser reputation and lower aims than Maestro. I really do hope he is really allowed to turn this into his star vehicle.

I've still got a way to go until I get there. Thanks for the encouragement and positivity from everyone. So far it hasn't been too tough actually, although I know that will come eventually. Right now I'm having more fun with it than anything. A few people mentioned weight loss surgery. This is something that I have seriously considered and have met with a few doctors on it. A pretty convincing case can be made that it is the best, if not only, way to guarantee a large weight loss and keep it off. And in fact, the more I learned about it the more discouraged I was about my possibilities for success losing weight in a more traditional way. I'm doing this diet as a sort of "last effort" to avoid going that final step of taking a pretty drastic measure while I am still probably the healthiest person of my weight any of my doctors has ever seen. My goal is to lose as much as I can with this and attempt to keep it off as long as I can. If I don't reach a suitable weight or I start to significantly regain, then I'll probably revisit surgery. If nothing else the diet I'm on now would go a long way towards getting approved for the surgery and any weight you lose pre-surgery helps enormously in improving the chances for success of the surgery. But so far, I'm liking this route much better.

I thought this would be as good a place as any to update my progress on the fitness front and explain my absence from the dr.com discussions lately (if anyone is interested). The Fit for Summer Challenge and my less than encouraging results forced me to look at the way I was eating and dieting and to re-evaluate my efforts both past and present at losing weight. as you can see, my last post here was in March as I slowly lost interest as I strayed further and further from my plan. Our discussions here about finding a nutritionist who was more attuned to the specific issues of those with large amounts of weight to lose led me to doing some research and deciding to start working with a Bariatric Physician. The initial visit involved several tests to determine metabolic rate, body fat content, blood work for a number of different factors and a discussion about lifestyle and goals that all go into developing a customized plan. She took into account those factors and the fact that I do like to cook and still want to eat as well as I can. The plan she has me on has several components. On the food end the plan is very low carb (virtually none), low calorie and low fat with lean meats (6-8 ounces at lunch and dinner), green (or other low carb) vegetables, occasional nuts and eggs and olive oil along with any seasonings or ingredients that don't add significant carbs. This is supplemented by protein drinks twice daily and occasional protein bars. On the medicinal end, I get a weekly B-12 shot to increase metabolism, potassium and multi-vitamins to replace what is being lost, another supplement to help reduce fat build up and increase function in the liver and an appetite suppressant. And of course, moderate exercise is a part of any diet plan. There is also going to be a gradual re-introduction of some things after a significant loss occurs. If it sounds fairly extreme - it is. Although not as extreme as some of her patients who she has on strictly liquid diets. And it is a much more restrictive plan than an Atkins-type diet, avoiding high-fat or high-calorie foods and avoiding the "replacement" foods that Atkins made their money selling. It certainly isn't for everyone and it isn't designed to be. I have always been skeptical of both liquid diets and low-carb diets like Atkins. But the doctor was able to explain to me in a meaningful way why this type of diet will work best for me - maintaining consistent blood sugar and insulin levels to avoid hunger and/or crashing energy levels. Another aspect of getting my mind right for this has been trying to wean my way away from frequenting food boards as much as possible. That explains why I haven't posted here or any place else for the last month but I still do look more often than I'd like. It's tough to read about the great things people are eating and know that isn't on your plan and won't be for some time. So far the results have been encouraging. In the four weeks since I first weighed in, I have lost 43.5 pounds. It isn't all smooth sailing. I still want carbs. You'd be amazed how good something like even one measly Dorito tastes when you haven't had anything similar in weeks. I'm still having trouble getting my vegetables other than lettuce in. It is harder to eat out than you'd think without being one of those picky eaters we often complain about on here. But as time passes, the cravings become less and less and I am getting full more easily. I'm still working on avoiding boredom with the vegetables and slowly increasing the intensity and frequency of my activity. But so far, so good.

I think most of the readers here agree wholeheartedly with your company's philosophy. Unfortunately, we are in the minority in the community at large, and even more so, I fear, in Ashburn. Our comments on the other thread (or at least mine) were more focused on our hope that my neighbors in Ashburn who don't particpate on food boards or give much thought to what they put in their mouths appreciate it as much as we do and are willing to make the "investment" in it. As for the product - I've stuck very strictly to a no-carb diet for the last four weeks and I know that a few slices of your sausage pizza is going to be my first cheat (reward for continued success?). Hopefully I can hold off a while longer. Good luck. I wish I could be a better customer.

The Mother Mohawk sandwich is one of the few food items from my few years in Columbus that I really miss. Roast beef, chicken salad and horseradish sauce on toast. It may not sound like a combination that works, but trust me on this one.

Thanks JPW - I think I've had as many good wishes from my imaginary food friends than in real life so far today. Did everyone remember to get their birthday greetings in to our friend Fat Guy ? He's exactly one day older than sshorter and I.

Because sometimes that's all you've got?

That was a good trick when I worked at Pizza Hut (at age 16 my first and last restaurant job). "Accidentally" misorder a pizza for a table that happended to have exactly the toppings you like.

I think you're being a little defensive here. I live in Ashburn and have for five and a half years. A high median household income does not necessarily mean a high level of disposable income. And it doesn't mean that dining is a priority. As I've said before, there are exceptions. People from Loudoun County who are on DR.com are exceptions. More common are the people on the Broadlands message board who complained because Bonefish was too fancy and expensive. Hell, I'd like to think that our community is sophisticated enough to support a place like this. But my gut is that I'll believe it when I see it. Plus, the suggestions Joe and I made in the original thread woudl help that. And as for Mirchi, have you tired it? I couldn't believe I was reading about the same place I've been to when that review came out. Nearly flavorless or strangely flavored my initial reaction on sampling some of the dishes there.

I wouldn't have heard about it either and I live five minutes away. And they actually didn't even open in May - Friday was their first day of business. They do offer other canned sodas other than the Root Beer, but at something like $2 a can.

When talking about a community the only way to discuss it is to talk about its commonalities and make assumptions based on those. And, despite what you want to believe, in general the people that live around 2 Amys and Comet ARE different than the people that live in Ashburn. People who have chosen to live in the city do so because they want to be around the types of amenities that are offered there - including the restaurants. The people who live in Ashburn chose to live there because of the amenities that are offered there - and restaurants are not among them. Granted, there are exceptions - I live there because it is convenient to work and I long for better dining options which are slowly coming this way. But every time a new place opens up that is attractive to me, I worry about its potential for success because, as a double income, no child household, my wife and I are in the minority and a place that is targeted to our tastes isn't necessarily targeted to the tastes of the community at large.

And not too far off the mark either.

I went yesterday and lucked into being able to carry out two pizzas. Apparently they aren't planning on doing carry out as I was turned away by the girls working the door, but a woman who appeared to be one of the owners said they'd be willing since I was there at a time that wasn't too busy. Two more people arrived in the next five minutes asking for take out too. They may want to reconsider the policy or they are likely to lose a lot more business than just the people they turn away. It is a way to get people to sample the goods in an area that I'm sure consumes more carry out pizzas than eat in. The pizzas we had were very good - a mushroom with caramelized onion and one with the same mushrooms and onion with sundried tomatoes and a very good locally made maple and fennel pork sausage - sweet and smoky with a nice crust that could have had a little more "rise" in the edge of the crust that you can get from a really hot oven and maybe a little more salt in the dough. I was tempted by the special Joe H described but even I (who has been known to throw money at food in the past) balked at the price of $22 for what was described as a 12 inch pizza. It turns out that the pizzas are oval and bigger than a standard small Domino's 12 incher but the prices range from $13 for a basic cheese to $19 for the sausage with most in the higher end. Joe's right - Loudoun County may have the highest median household income in the country, but of my neighbors, most have several kids and not a lot of extra disposible income. They are going to be scared off from buying 2 or 3 pizzas for their family and spending nearly $75 or more for pizzas a salad and drinks. I hope they do well - I'm sure I'll be back regularly. This is already the best pizza in Loudoun County and could be the best restaurant in Ashburn. Also as a post script - two doors down from AF a new place is set to open called Calallo Cuisine. I tried googling but couldn't find anything about it, although the signage promises Caribbean cooking. Looks interesting.

Final Results # of active participants: 39 Total goal: 766 pounds Total lost: 323.7 pounds Percentage of goal lost: 42.3% Individual Results cjsadler ("Adam"): 14 pounds lost cucas87 (“Ahoy”): 8.5 pounds lost "Atlantic": 14 pounds lost, REACHED GOAL "Beach": 5.5 pounds lost lackadasi (“Bicycle”): 4 pounds lost Al Dente (“Book”): 4 pounds lost ustreetguy ("Chilly"): 11 pounds lost Yentruoc ("Court"): 4 pounds lost bilrus (“Defense”): 18 pounds lost “Ethanol”: 3 pounds lost TedE (“Fender”): 23.5 pounds lost, REACHED GOAL Tweaked ("Fiddle"): 4 pounds lost "Ingot": 4.5 pounds lost Scott Johnston (“Irmo”): 8 pounds lost "Jeep": 5 pounds lost Monique DC ("Knocks") 10 pounds lost "Kong": 4 pounds lost MMM (“M&M”): 9 pounds lost hm212 ("Manhattan"): 4 pounds lost “Marathon”: 18 pounds lost, REACHED GOAL "Mayor": 2 pounds lost deangold (“Oil”): 1 pounds lost Porcupine ("Ouch"): 12 pounds lost “Park”: 15 pounds lost “Perfume”: 6 pounds lost “Pinto”: 3.5 pounds lost "Puff": 1 pound lost "Short": 9 pounds lost “Soccer”: 13 pounds lost "Sommelier": 5 pounds lost Don Rocks (“Sonata”): 12 pounds lost ol' ironstomach ("Speed"): 5 pounds lost jm chen (“Superman”): 15 pounds lost Anna Blume (“Suri”): 14 pounds lost MeMc ("Thee"): 3 pounds lost ctay122 ("Thread"): 16.2 pounds lost REACHED GOAL Woodleygrrl ("Tiger"): 2 pounds lost "Victoria": 12 pounds lost purplesachi (“Violet”): 1 pounds lost Congratulations to everyone who participated, but especially ctay122, heather, TedE and "Atlantic" for getting all the way to the 10% mark. Of course a lot of these results are pretty old, so if anyone has any additional losses that aren't posted here, let me know and I'll make the changes to preserve it for posterity's sake.

My only visit to Old Angler's Inn is remarkable in that it remains the worst, most unpleasant office Christmas dinner we've had in my eight years at my job. And multiple people have gotten food poisoning at two subsequent dinners that we still look back on with more fondness.

So far we have four participants who have reported reaching their goal "Atlantic" down 14 pounds ctay122 down 14.7 pounds Heather down 18 pounds TedE down 23.5 pounds Almost as impressive - the thirty-nine members who have reported something have collectively lost over 300 pounds - 4% of our total weights. If anyone has any further results that you haven't posted or reported yet - get them in and I'll put up one last report.

I failed to post this update from 'Bear" a few weeks back - Keep up the good work, Bear.

I would like to post one more update before the big finale, so if you have been working at it at all - weigh yourself over the weekend and shoot me a PM so I can post it on Monday.

That's fine with me. How about you, Mike?

Sounds good to me.

I believe it is the next office park down from that one. How about Thursday? Who else is in? C'mon you know you want beef patties...

I've been wanting to try Jamaica Jamaica and I have an errand to run in the neighborhood sometime in the next few days. Anyone up for some Jerk (chicken, not company) any day this week other than Wednesday?

"We aren't nearly as bad as they say we are" isn't a really good marketing scheme, is it? How about "Don't believe the Washingtonian or just about anyone else who has ever been to our restaurant."?

I could see the pastries and desserts as being served buffet-style. Either way it sounds very good.

Beck's publicist now has the menu on her website in addition to the beer menu, if anyone is interested. I find it interesting that in a time when every 14 year old with a laptop has their own website, that restaurants that are predictably going to get a lot of buzz and that people are going to want to get information on - Beck's and Central both come to mind - don't have more than placeholder websites. And it isn't like these are shoestring operations. A lot of money went into building the physical plant of both places. Going by the crowds streaming to both places, I guess they don't need the help filling the seats, but it seems shortsighted to me.