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AF has their Country Ham and Apple Flatbread again (Oak Spring Dairy's Sharp Yellow Chedder, Steve Baker's Country Ham, Organic Apples, Baby Arugula, and All Natural Mozzarella).

This combination is as good as it sounds - that ham is really something!

Forget everything I've ever said about chains when you walk into this delightful family-operated restaurant: American Flatbread is a oasis of humanity in an architectural desert. Last night was only the second time I've ever been here, and now I'm asking myself why.

The $24 Reserve Cuvee of Grand Veneur Cotes du Rhone (showed up on my bill as $19.99?) is well-worth getting, not the same wine that's poured by the glass, and half-price on Monday nights. Also, don't forget you can re-cork the bottle and take the rest home.

I asked the owner where they get their ciabatta for their bruschetta, because I have no idea where to find bread this good in the area. It turns out they make their own bread - I'm not sure what type of volume they could produce, but the potential is here to really make some dough.

Anyone up for a dr.com Sunday evening dinner here? Should be about $20 a person without wine. They can do large seatings in the center of the restaurant, and can bake six flatbreads at a time in the oven. Dan, want to organize? (Keep in mind the picnic is coming up in four weeks).

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This combination is as good as it sounds - that ham is really something!

Forget everything I've ever said about chains when you walk into this delightful family-operated restaurant: American Flatbread is a oasis of humanity in an architectural desert. Last night was only the second time I've ever been here, and now I'm asking myself why.

The $24 Reserve Cuvee of Grand Veneur Cotes du Rhone (showed up on my bill as $19.99?) is well-worth getting, not the same wine that's poured by the glass, and half-price on Monday nights. Also, don't forget you can re-cork the bottle and take the rest home.

I asked the owner where they get their ciabatta for their bruschetta, because I have no idea where to find bread this good in the area. It turns out they make their own bread - I'm not sure what type of volume they could produce, but the potential is here to really make some dough.

Anyone up for a dr.com Sunday evening dinner here? Should be about $20 a person without wine. They can do large seatings in the center of the restaurant, and can bake six flatbreads at a time in the oven. Dan, want to organize? (Keep in mind the picnic is coming up in four weeks).

i would be very interested since it's in my neck of the woods!

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Anyone up for a dr.com Sunday evening dinner here? Should be about $20 a person without wine. They can do large seatings in the center of the restaurant, and can bake six flatbreads at a time in the oven. Dan, want to organize? (Keep in mind the picnic is coming up in four weeks).
Great review, Rocks! And congrats to AF ;)

I'll be looking to put something together, probably in May, possibly for charity, pending a discussion with Janice.

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AF has extended hours now:

Mon thru Thurs 4:30-9:30pm

Friday 4:30-10:00pm

Sat and Sun 12:00-9:30pm

And some great looking seasonal specials coming up for Earth Day (Tuesday the 22nd):

Greek Salad

Organic Romaine Lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, Red Onions, Kalamata Olives,

sprinkled with Cherry Glen Farm's Local Chevre and finished with "Our Own House Made Organic Herb Dressing"

Strawberry Spinach Salad <= I am SO there!!!!

Tuscarora Growers Organic Spinach, Strawberries, Almonds,

Finished with "Our Own House Made Strawberry Vinegar Dressing"

Asparagus and Baby Spinach Flatbread

Tuscarora Growers Sherry-Vinegar Oven Roasted Asparagus, Cherry Glen Farm's Local Chevre,

Organic Red Onions, Baby Spinach, and All Natural Mozzarella

Herb Roasted Chicken and Cheddar Flatbread

Fields of Athenry Local Herb Roasted Chicken, Oak Spring Dairy Sharp Cheddar Cheese,

Organic Baby Spinach, Mushrooms, and All Natural Mozzarella

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My thoughts exactly on the pizza and beer after my first visit right before the holidays. We also had the previously mentioned bacon and potato pizza, but the sausage was much better.

We also shared a slice of the apple pie for dessert and they need to bake it longer. The crust is not flaky and tastes of uncooked pie dough, yuck.

Not normally venturing out to the wilds of Ashburn we were in the area and dropped in on Sunday mid-afternoon and the place was just about empty. Looking back at my original post I was surprised to see that we had the sausage that time too. The crust was perfectly cooked, but as was mentioned earlier the sausage was a bit dry and too finely crumbled. Not sure if it was normal variation in the amount of maple in the sausage, but the combination of that with the caramelized onions made the pizza way too sweet. It was not horrible, but I will certainly not order it again.

One pie and 2 beers, $30 before tip.

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Went tonight with my husband and rather incorrigible son. They handled us with aplomb, even talking with my boy about how hot the oven is. The three of us split the special Greek salad, with Cherry Glen chevre and some really good black olives, and then we shared the sundried tomato and mushroom flatbread. We hadn't been back since late last summer (for a lot of reasons having nothing to do with AF) and were pleased that the pizza was as good as ever.

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Had a very interesting discussion with George Schenk (founder of AF) yesterday during the Ashburn Hearth one year celebration (which was a total blast and PACKED - lots of great Loudon county farms to peddle their wares - picked up wine, ice cream beef, more beef, and some beef). This probably belongs in its own thread in Shopping and Cooking, but I'll start it here and leave it up to the admins if they want to move it.

Basically he talked about how food production is grouped into three categories:

Industrial (Safeway, CostCo, Giant, etc.)

Industrial-Organic (Wal-Mart now carries "organic produce")

Artisinal/Community/Local Organic (i.e. farmer Bob up the road)

I think most foodies will agree that #3, while the least uniform, is also the best tasting and best for you. We talked about how one of the hurdles to making community agriculture mainstream is that for most consumers it's frequently cost-prohibitive. He believes that part of the problem is the concept of what a meal is: typically the plate is centered around a large protein with sides or grain and vegetables. Meat by its very nature is more costly, so by making that the showcase of what we eat, it's going to make our meals more expensive.

He advocates a shift when thinking about meals so that meat functions more like a condiment - flavoring the base of healthy, natural, quality, community, small farm plant products. Just look at the pizzas they sell to see what he's talking about: fantastic crust based off of quality flour, sprinkled liberally with cheese and herbs, and then just a few small pieces of TOP NOTCH, FLAVORFUL meat that are so good they can speak for themselves and don't need to be massive (and therefore expensive) to work with the dish.

I think that's just a wonderful thing to think about, and if more people start to think that way hopefully we'll see more mainstream adoption of people sourcing the constituents of their weeknight dinners from local farms.

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Not sure if they have any left, but as of last Thursday AF was serving up a great Alain Jaume rose for $14.99/bottle. Refeshingly dry for a rose and perfect for the weather, it went great with pretty much everything on the table.

The Virginia County Ham-Apple & Cheddar flatbread has found a permanent place on the menu, so everyone who's been holding out can now check it out.

Also, in addition to the usual specials (tomato or chevre/olive bruschetta, greek salad, etc.), they've got an upbeat potato skin on a pizza:

Potato Bacon & Cheddar Flatbread

Steve Bakers Bacon, Oak Spring Dairy Cheddar, Local Organic Potatoes,

Carmelized Onions, All Natural Mozzarella & Chives

It's those classic flavors elevated in the way only a wood-burning oven can do.

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Here: "Have you ever had anything at AFB that you thought was less than stellar?"

I was wondering the same thing.

Well, I can tell you, I haven't tried a damn thing because they are never freaking open when I am in Ashburn and want to go. I tried a few times and gave up. I just can't be bothered to haul my butt down to Ashburn at night when I can make perfectly good pizza at home. (And have picked up some tips from Dan's blogs, thank you.)

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Have you ever had anything at AFB that you did not think was less than stellar?
Well, yes!

Still not a HUGE fan of the apple pie. If you're lucky, though, they'll have strawberry pie for you which is good hot or cold or warm or... whatever temperature, as long as it's in your mouth (that's what she said).

The pies (pizza pies), though, especially the weekly specials, are the main attraction.

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I know that it is hard to view a restaurant you love with a critical eye, but does acting as its de facto PR guy really help people understand why it is great, or simply diminish the value of your posts? It is obvious what you really love, but that is only forms half a picture of someone's tastes and expectations (one slight critique of the apple pie hardly does this). Being critical does not require that you have to be negative, but it does require that you take an honest eyes-wide-open look at the meal that you are eating.

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I know that it is hard to view a restaurant you love with a critical eye, but does acting as its de facto PR guy really help people understand why it is great, or simply diminish the value of your posts? It is obvious what you really love, but that is only forms half a picture of someone's tastes and expectations (one slight critique of the apple pie hardly does this). Being critical does not require that you have to be negative, but it does require that you take an honest eyes-wide-open look at the meal that you are eating.

[i'll step in and defend Dan here. There's no "mission or duty" to be militantly objective or critical on this website - there's plenty of room for people to cheer on their favorites, as well as for people to scrutinize with a laser knife. Whatever each individual is comfortable with, that's okay by me. If Dan was being paid by the restaurant to act as their PR rep, that would be another matter entirely, but he's not.]

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There's no "mission or duty" to be militantly objective or critical on this website - there's plenty of room for people to cheer on their favorites, as well as for people to scrutinize with a laser knife.

Doesn't that mean that someone can scrutinize someone's lack of objectivity as long as it is not a personal attack (which I tried very carefully to steer away from)?

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Doesn't that mean that someone can scrutinize someone's lack of objectivity as long as it is not a personal attack (which I tried very carefully to steer away from)?

[Yes (and it also means someone can scrutinize your scrutiny). :lol:)]

error 314 : imbalanced parentheses

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[if Dan was being paid by the restaurant to act as their PR rep, that would be another matter entirely, but he's not.]
The only payment I need is a full stomach and $500,000 in unmarked, non-sequential bills sent to Ambassador Donald R. DeChico of Micronesia.

<soapbox>

Sthitch, to answer your concerns: I believe very strongly in what American Flatbread is doing. Not just in the quality of their food but also in their philosophy (a touch of which is described by me here). It's not just about promoting a restaurant, it's about getting others involved in what I feel is something important to hold on to in this age of preoccupation and apathy (Step 1: Cook Food. Step 2: Check Blackberry. Step 3: Insert Food into Body. Step 4: Check Blackberry.). Would you hold it against me if I went to a politics forum and continually posted the virtues of my favorite candidate?

Take a look at the Please Introduce Yourselves thread. We've got a lot of new people coming in, and it's important to me for them to know that this place is out there.

Part of the appeal of AF is that they're constantly offering new specials based on what local farmers are offering. Every once in a while (you'll notice I don't post weekly, which is how often new specials come in) I like to make the community aware of what I feel is an exemplary pizza: toppings that are so fully flavored on their own as to require only a sprinkling onto the pie, crust that is both crispy and mouth-wateringly chewy, and a sense upon leaving (no matter how many slices you had) that your body feels good.

</soapbox>

Now you've gone and made me all hungry...

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Would you hold it against me if I went to a politics forum and continually posted the virtues of my favorite candidate?

Yes, especially if you were to pronounce something as being perfect that is imperfect I would question the validity of those posts. And while standing on a soapbox one should expect a rotten tomato to be hurled your way from time-to-time.

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In Dan's defense, I think American Flatbreads really is all that and a bag of chips. I spend a lot of time in Loudoun County and I would like to see this type of restaurant thrive in the Land of Stripmalls. I might feel differently if I still lived in MoCo and had easy access to all those other pizza places--Comet, 2 Amy's, etc. I'm not convinced it's worth a special trip from inside the Beltway for this reason. But it is very, very special, particularly given what else is available in its area, and I don't think Dan's comments overstate the case.

I suppose one could argue that the only useful barometer for measuring a restaurant in the DC metro area is to compare it to other eateries around the DC metro area. That's not always effective for people like me who live on the rural edge of suburbia. I live pretty far out, I am married to a "non-foodie" and I have a young child, so my tolerance for schlepping all over to get the best pizza is pretty limited. Where a restaurant is situated affects my interest in trying it, and my judgment of its offerings. Fortunately, DR accepts both viewpoints.

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Sthitch - I am not sure if you are aggravated about Dancole42 being such an obvious fan and therefore in your opinion not providing an "objective" opinion on his reviews of American Flatbread, or if you are really interested in commenting on what you feel are "imperfections" with American Flatbread.

I can tell you, we would certainly appreciate and value your comments if you feel your experience had "imperfections" -- I would hope that you could be candid enough to mention them so we can take the time to respond and fix whatever was "imperfect" with you experience.

In regard to Dancole42's posts - it is nice to have such an avid fan, and I agree with you - that someone that is on a soapbox may have rotten tomatoes thrown at them from time to time - robust and candid communication is encouraging (hopefully they were sustainably produced - i.e locally grown or organic) but I guess my real point is: post something in your argument that is tangible for us to chew on, rather than just saying "imperfect" - otherwise aren't you compromising the validity of your posts, by stating a vague opinion for other readers?

Clay Westbrook

American Flatbread

clay@americanflatbread.com

802.496.8856

Yes, especially if you were to pronounce something as being perfect that is imperfect I would question the validity of those posts. And while standing on a soapbox one should expect a rotten tomato to be hurled your way from time-to-time.
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Clay,

My annoyance was focused more at an over-bearing fan, and I made an effort to not demean your restaurant in doing so. Was my lunch there perfect? No, but I have had very few perfect meals in my life, and perfection is not really what I seek in a meal, especially one at your price point.

The most glaring issue I had at American Flatbread was the horrible texture of the sausage. It might have been an aberration, but what I had came across as a fat free version of Italian sausage that was dry and crumbly and lacked any real pork flavor.

To my original point about Dan’s comments, by asking you realize that issues can exist, and if all someone says is how great you are, you or other diners will never know what those issues might be.

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Thanks for looking out for us, man, I thought Dan was g*d until you pointed it out. Damn you Dan, having an opinion and stating it! Damn you! :lol: Ooops, just let me duck: duck.gif Guys, guys, time spent fighting is time NOT spent eating, kissing, and drinking. Go forth and sample all the pizza.

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Steve,

Thanks - I didn't assume you were demeaning our restaurant. I appreciate your feedback on the sausage - we had noticed the same problem and have worked on our supply of local pork as the fat to pork ratio was too lean, it is not our intention to be a "low-fat" sausage.

I understand your usage of the word "perfection" to be used sparingly - and appreciate your critical eye.

We are not discriminating on feedback, so if something we are doing is wonderful and if Dancole gets excited about it, more power to him and us for creating a win-win experience. At the same time we appreciate candid feedback from anyone that has had an inferior experience.

Clay,

My annoyance was focused more at an over-bearing fan, and I made an effort to not demean your restaurant in doing so. Was my lunch there perfect? No, but I have had very few perfect meals in my life, and perfection is not really what I seek in a meal, especially one at your price point.

The most glaring issue I had at American Flatbread was the horrible texture of the sausage. It might have been an aberration, but what I had came across as a fat free version of Italian sausage that was dry and crumbly and lacked any real pork flavor.

To my original point about Dan’s comments, by asking you realize that issues can exist, and if all someone says is how great you are, you or other diners will never know what those issues might be.

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I know that it is hard to view a restaurant you love with a critical eye, but does acting as its de facto PR guy really help people understand why it is great, or simply diminish the value of your posts? It is obvious what you really love, but that is only forms half a picture of someone's tastes and expectations (one slight critique of the apple pie hardly does this). Being critical does not require that you have to be negative, but it does require that you take an honest eyes-wide-open look at the meal that you are eating.

Fuck that. Have an actual counter point?

Dude's a groupie. A persistent and almost shrill groupie. Nothing opaque about it. But he is persistent enough that I made Ashburn a meal destination.

The specifics of the meal aren't important. What I remember is watching high school kids coming to their part time job. Normal suburban high schoolers acting the way they should - taking the world in. They all stood around a big oven and tasted something. A few heads bobbed yes. When I asked my waitress where something came from she told me. "Down the road." I worked at a place in high school that was a local favorite. When the "Chef" ran out of the yellow goo the food was cooked in he'd look up at the ceiling and roar, "more jizz!" Then I'd run the stairs to get a new jug. If anyone had asked me where it came from I would've said "the basement".

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Fuck that. Have an actual counter point?

Dude's a groupie. A persistent and almost shrill groupie. Nothing opaque about it. But he is persistent enough that I made Ashburn a meal destination.

The specifics of the meal aren't important. What I remember is watching high school kids coming to their part time job. Normal suburban high schoolers acting the way they should - taking the world in. They all stood around a big oven and tasted something. A few heads bobbed yes. When I asked my waitress where something came from she told me. "Down the road." I worked at a place in high school that was a local favorite. When the "Chef" ran out of the yellow goo the food was cooked in he'd look up at the ceiling and roar, "more jizz!" Then I'd run the stairs to get a new jug. If anyone had asked me where it came from I would've said "the basement".

I agree. Until someone comes in with a negative food review, there really is no valid counterpoint.

One can always choose not to read if they are bothered.

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I agree. Until someone comes in with a negative food review, there really is no valid counterpoint.

One can always choose not to read if they are bothered.

Um, I think that there have been some negative comments above. While decent the place, IMHO, is not at the lofty level that some folks think it is.

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Yes, that's right, another glowing review from Dan of this week's AF specials! There's a new guy working the kitchen (Dave), and that means some exciting new things are coming out of the oven:

House Made Tomato Jam Bruschetta, Sprinkled with Parmesan

This was very different from their usual tomato bruschetta with herbs. It's tomato season, and this is a clear-cut example of how sweet and complex real ripe tomatoes can be off the vine.

Bacon and Blue Salad - Baby Arugula & Romaine w/ Red Onions, Bacon, Toasted Pine Nuts & House Made Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

Plentiful on the bacon. 'Nuff said.

Braised Kale, Walnuts & Bleu Flatbread - Local Organic Kale Braised with Red Wine, Toasted Walnuts, Bleu Cheese, Caramelized Onions and All Natural Mozzarella

As a carnivore, I don't usually get pies without meat on 'em, but this may be one of my new favorite specials. The walnuts were lightly crushed, and so the entire pie had a great crunchy texture and deep nutty flavor (as opposed to running into a few abrupt whole nuts here and there). The bleu cheese ran throughout, and was so aromatic (without being pungent) and flavorful that I couldn't help but gorge myself.

Local Organic Chocolate Tart w/ Walnut Praline

Continuing on the walnut theme - this was great. The chocolate was well tempered and melted in my mouth, and the crust was sweet and delicious.

Chocolate Sorbet

No, I didn't get two desserts. :lol: My wife had this. It was one of the most chocolatey things I've ever tasted, and managed to be so without being sickeningly rich. That's one of my favorite parts of AF - no matter how much I eat, I never feel unpleasantly stuffed.

My one complaint was that had I come there to try one of the other weekly specials (Black Mission Figs stuffed w/ Local Chevre wrapped

w/ Steve Baker’s Ham drizzled w/ Balsamic & Extra Virgin Olive Oil), but they're out of figs until tonight! Booooo!

If I've piqued your interest, I'll be heading out there next week for their awesome-sounding wine dinner...

Oh - Don punned upthread that they could make some serious dough selling their dough. Now they do: $4 a loaf when I was there last night.

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Local Organic Chocolate Tart w/ Walnut Praline

Continuing on the walnut theme - this was great. The chocolate was well tempered and melted in my mouth, and the crust was sweet and delicious.

Sounds pretty good. Was the filling more like a mousse or ganache? Is the chocolate really made locally? If so, where is it from?

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Sounds pretty good. Was the filling more like a mousse or ganache? Is the chocolate really made locally? If so, where is it from?
Like a ganache but lighter (in mouth feel, not literally - that WOULD be a mousse) and firmer.

Didn't ask about the chocolate. I think maybe it was the tart itself that's made locally??? I dunno.

Oh, and there was a peach and blueberry pie on the menu, too - didn't get a chance to try it, but it sounded (and smelled) fantastic.

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Last night was only the second time I've ever been here, and now I'm asking myself why.

Because it's a half a tank of gas and $8 in tolls away from DC?

I had a conference out at Dulles at the beginning of this week and figured that now was as good a time as any to give AF a try. I was enticed by a few of the specials Dan listed above (figs wrapped in bacon!) so I gave them a call to place an order. Unfortunately, they were out of 2 of the 3 things I wanted to try (figs and peach & blueberry pie), but this menu had plenty of interesting sounding plates, so I figured I would be all right.

I'll start with the things I really loved about this place; the service and the House Made Tomato Jam Bruschetta, Sprinkled with Parmesan. I had originally placed my order for carryout, but after experiencing the warm welcome at the bar, I decided to order a bottle of wine and an app while I waited for my call-in order to come through. I did not find the bruschetta to be as good as described above, as it was sliced way too thin for my taste. But that jam was just awesome. Very fresh tasting and the right amount of sweatness/acidity. The wine I chose, an 04 La Doga, I would have been happy with at its original price of $30. At $15, I was ecstatic. I had a great conversation with the busy bartender and a woman who I think was the owner, both of whom were very engaging and seemed genuinely pleased to have people in their restaurant. Since I had a to go order and wound up ordering when getting there, they wound up processing my check a couple different times, something which makes servers in some restaurants groan and complain. Not here; the bartender did it with a smile on his face.

The pizza, the Virginia Ham-Apple & Cheddar, was good, but not so good that I would drive an hour to get it. I don't know if my time spent at the bar along with the drive back to the hotel hurt this one a bit, but my pizza sounded a bit different than the ones described above. For one, there was no char at all on my crust. I was a little disappointed by this because, after all that I have read, I was really looking forward to a crust similar to the one I had at Pepe's a few months ago. This one, while good and not soggy in the middle, was quite different. I will say that I was a little skeptical at first about the idea of cheddar on a pizza, I thought it worked with the salty ham and sweet apple slices on the pie. The turn-off for me was, as mentioned above, the price. I totally understand that it costs more to get the quality of ingredients that AF is bringing in, but this was still only a $17 pizza, not $22. If I hadn't had the bruschetta at the bar plus the appetizer that I had already ordered for carry-out, I easily could have plowed through 3/4 of this pizza by myself. I think it would be nice if they offered this in a smaller size at $10 so one could do this, an app, and a beer for around the same price as the large, but I don't know the feasibility of this scenario. Either way, it is just too hard to justify spending this kind of money when I feel like Comet, RR, Bebo et al are putting out a product as good or better, but proximity plays a part in that as well. I'm sure if I lived in Loudon or even further out in Fairfax County, it would be a somewhat different story.

My other appetizer, House Made Garlic Oil, Grana Padano and Asiago Cheese Blend, Organic Fresh Herb Dip w/ House Made Bread, was disappointing for me. I don't know if this had to do with me carrying it out back to the hotel (the bartender did tell me that it was a bit strange to pack to go), but I didn't understand this dish. What I came upon when I opened it up was basically a cup of garlicy tasting olive oil with some grana and herbs resting at the bottom with 4 very thin slices of bruschetta on the side. Maybe my expectations needed to be managed here or this needed to be eaten in a shallow bowl right after it was prepped. I don't know. It just missed the mark for me. The other food item that didn't work on Monday night was the Apple Pie. I remembered reading about it being disappointing on this thread, but I was in the mood for pie and disappointed about them being out of the peach, so I figured I would give the apple a shot as a replacement. I found it doughy and lacking flavor, with only a tinge of cinnamon showing through. Also, I wish I had seen the slice before I plunked down $6 for it. It was quite small, although I will admit that I didn't need any more to eat by the time I had gotten to it :lol: .

Overall, my first experience at AF was good, although not quite worthy of the $50 pre-tax price tag of the whole thing (this would have been creeping up on $70 had it not been half price wine night!). I can't tell if my expectations were set too high by the glowing praise heaped on the restaurant on this thread or I ordered the wrong things or what. It might be that I will have to give it another try if I am ever back in the area to see if my experience was an anomaly.

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Congrats to American Flatbread on their Zagat rating. 25 in food!!

Stuff I had this week:

Roasted Chicken, Bacon & Sauteed Leeks Flatbread

Fields of Athenry Chicken, Steve Baker’s Bacon, Local Organic Leeks, Roasted Red Peppers, All Natural Mozzarella, Asiago & Parmesan

Roasted Shallot, Portabella & Chevre Flatbread

Balsamic Roasted Shallots, Local Organic Portabella Mushrooms, Local Chevre, Arugula and All Natural Mozzarella

I had both at the recent wine tasting. The chevre typified everything I love about goat cheese: the cream, the tang, and the earthy connections. Paired with the mushrooms and the herbs, plus a little smoke from the oven, and it went to a whole new level. The chicken pie had bacon. 'Nuff said.

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We stopped by on Sunday after doing some green bean and tomato picking out at Great Country Farms. We split the Evolution Salad to start, We tried the following:

Evolution Salad

Organically grown sweet leaf and mesclun lettuces tossed w/organic carrots and celery, arame seawee, toasted sesame seeds and a fresh ginger-tamari vinaigrette flavored w/our homemade fruite vinegar.

This salad was a great way to start the meal. It would have been even better except for the heavy-handed pouring of the dressing.

Teriyaki Chicken, Shallots & Sesame Flatbread

Fields of Athenry Chicken in Teriyaki Sauce, Shallots, Local Organic Chard, Sesame Seeds & All Natural Mozzarella.

This flatbread was one of their specials. While the shallots provided a nice flavor, the teriyaki sauce was almost non-existent, resulting in a fairly dry flatbread. The flatbread could have used a couple more minutes in the oven to brown the crust better.

New Virginia Sausage

Woodtrail Farm Naturally Raised Bluemont Pork in a homemade, nitrate-free maple-fennel sausage baked w/ sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, mushrooms, three cheeses & herbs.

This flatbread was cooked perfectly and had a nice char. Unlike previous reports, the sausage was not dry, and there was a nice balance between sweet and savory. While the mushrooms were plentiful, they did not overwhelm the flatbread. This one was definitely a winner.

Organic Whole Milk

While we didn't exactly get clear verbal confirmation, it appeared that our 1-year old daughter enjoyed this.

Service was great, which it should be since we were the only people in the restaurant. I love the concept and the commitment to local/organic ingredients. While I can't see making a special trip to come here, I do see us making frequent stops here on our way to/from the farm.

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Chicken B.L.T. Flatbread

Fields of Athenry Chicken, Steve Baker’s Bacon,

Local Organic Arugula, Local Organic Heirloom Tomatoes & All Natural Mozzarella

Fire Roasted Peppers Flatbread

Roasted Local Organic Poblano Peppers, Local Organic Yellow & Red Bell Peppers, Sweet Onions, Cherry Glen Chevre & All Natural Mozzarella

How can you get better than a BLT? Tomatoes are still in season, and I can think of no better interpretation of this American classic than to put it on a pie. I'm consistently amazed by the depth of flavor that Fields of Athenry gets into their chickens. It's not a sponge for other flavors - it tastes like chicken!

Also, $4.00 for a loaf of their amazing bread.

And yes, it's been over a month and a half since I last posted about AF.

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Bowing to pressure I've held off on posting about my last three visits to AF, but this I feel I had to share:

Ham, Grapes, and Gorgonzola Flatbread

Steve Baker’s Country Ham, Grapes, Gorgonzola & All Natural Mozzarella drizzled with Balsamic

I was skeptical at first at the thought of grapes on a pizza, but they played perfect double duty: tang through gorgonzola's cream and sweetness through ham's salt. I ate almost an entire pie.

The price of organic flour has been shooting way up, but AF has not raised their prices - instead trying to just do more with what the have. I think they're succeeding!

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BIG NEWS.

American Flatbread will be opening a new location in Clarendon sometime in 2009. So all of you who have been daunted by the distance to Ashburn will finally have the chance to sample some of the best local ingredients NoVA has to offer.

Usually I only go to AF when they have new specials, which tends to be a couple of times per month. This time, though, I headed back twice within the same "Special Cycle" because they're so good:

Cranberries & Brie Flatbread $19.99

House Made Organic Maple Chipotle Cranberry Sauce w/ Brie, Local Organic Baby Arugula, Red Onions, Toasted Almonds & All Natural Mozzarella *Add Fields of Athenry Chicken for $2.00

Roasted Butternut Squash Flatbread $19.99

Local Organic Butternut Squash w/ Roasted Garlic & Sage, Cherry Glen Chevre, Caramelized Shallots, Arugula & All Natural Mozzarella

BBQ Pulled Pork Flatbread $21.99

Steve Baker’s Pork Shoulder, Local Organic Kale, Roasted Organic Poblanos, Sweet Onions, Housemade BBQ sauce & All Natural Mozzarella

The cranberries and brie pie is like Christmas in a can... all the flavors I associate with this time of year on hearth baked flatbread. I would get on Santa's naughty list just for a bite of it.

Two pies (one that's half squash and half pork and the other that's half cranberries & brie), an order of mission figs and chevre wrapped in ham, an order of olive and sundried tomato bruschetta, pecan pie with vanilla ice cream, a peppermint ice cream sandwich (holy Christmas, Batman!), and two glasses of wine came to $96 with tax and tip. Given that the leftovers will be dinner for an additional night, that's $24 per person per meal. Not bad if you ask me!

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Chicken,Bacon and Ranch Flatbread $21.99

Fields of Athenry Oven Roasted Chicken, Tuscarora’s Organic Baby Arugula, Steve Baker’s Bacon, Red Onions, Finished with Housemade Buttermilk Ranch & All Natural Mozzarella

I really don't think I can provide a better review than that. The ranch is the perfect balance of tang, spice, and cream.

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So where did the other chef go?
When the expression of your theme is through fresh, local, delicious ingredients brought out only the way a wood fired oven can, rather than on finessed classical preparations, the identity of the man in the white hat becomes less important.

Seriously, try the Chicken Bacon Ranch.

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