GAINSWave Therapy in Sterling, VA

No restaurant can be everything to everybody, but Local Provisions, a youthful addition to the dining scene in Loudoun County, comes closer to the bar than most places I’ve been to this year. In ways big and small, the family-run restaurant in the Cascades Marketplace in Sterling establishes itself as the ideal neighborhood roost.

After just one meal, I wanted to be a regular. This is a restaurant that (gasp!) answers its phone during service hours. Face-to-face encounters are memorable because whoever meets you at the door isn’t buried in a screen but ready to make sure you’re greeted like the guest you are. It’s a move initiated by Michael Stebner, who co-owns the place with his wife and chef, Ally, and makes a point to sign off on dishes as they leave the kitchen and chat up customers in the dining room, a light-filled place sprinkled with what Stebner calls “Easter eggs,” little treasures including a crocheted sign from his mom.

“The good life begins when we gather,” reads the framed message above the bar. To watch the restaurant light up at opening time, as the central small bar and two dining rooms fill, is akin to the frisson experienced when the curtain rises at the theater.

I haven’t even touched on the food yet, much of which is cooked on a charcoal grill. The menu marries trends (roasted cauliflower piccata) with comforts (chicken “cooked under a brick”) while slipping in some surprises. If you’ve never had lasagna soup, Local Provisions can remedy that.

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The more I visited, the more I wanted to know the owners’ secret to such a smooth-running operation. Lots of restaurants led by big-time chefs don’t run so easily right out of the gate. Clearly, Local Provisions, launched in January, wasn’t the Stebners’ first rodeo.

Michael confirmed as much when I called him after my last visit and he shared his work résumé, starting in 2003 with a restaurant called Region in San Diego, where he and his wife shared chef duties, and moving on to some impressive corporate brands: True Food Kitchen, where Michael was the chef at the original in Phoenix; Sweetgreen, the salad business launched in D.C. and relocated to Los Angeles, for which he served as director of culinary innovation; and most recently, the homegrown Cava, where he acted as a consultant.

The Stebners originally thought about opening a fast-casual eatery in Sterling; the pandemic gave them time and reason to rethink the plan. Locals let them know they wanted a place “to sit down and be comfortable,” says Michael. He and Ally thought such a place would better “feed our souls as chefs.”

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No surprise, the restaurant was named to reflect a reliance on ingredients from the area — some purchased (rockfish from the Chesapeake), others made on-site (pasta) — and the hope of becoming a gathering place for neighbors.

The appetizers alone make that easy. The reason you see so many flashes of orange and red on tables is because roasted slices of butternut squash and a shower of pomegranate seeds atop toasted bread slathered with tangy goat cheese is a mighty fine way to kick off (or even be) dinner. A thick drift of labneh “loaded” with cucumber slices, crunchy fried shallots and house-baked Italian country bread is just as pleasing. Our old friend cauliflower is treated like a cut of fish or meat:roasted over charcoal and splashed with lemon, garlic and capers. “How are the first few bites?” asks a young server. We respond with thumbs up and admiration for the multiple clever vegetarian compositions. Still, you should fit in fritto misto — lightly battered shrimp, calamari and zucchini slices — and grilled octopus splayed over cannellini beans tossed with salsa verde, an appetizer set off with shaved fennel. Like several other selections, the fried seafood gets a fist bump from what Michael calls “Lo-Pro” seasoning, a blend of nutritional yeast, granulated garlic and dried oregano that lends umami, a delicious complexity, to dishes.

As for the lasagna soup, it’s pretty much the strapping bowlful you imagine it to be and underscores the owners’ mind-set. “We don’t want to be that serious,” says Michael. Pasta layered in a crock with vegetable-sweetened ground beef, chicken stock and a cheese-topped crouton is thick enough to warrant a fork. Also the kind of thing a kid might concoct on a dare. Also, curiously tasty. The arrival of warmer weather tugs me in the direction of the salads, including kale tossed with quinoa, walnuts, goat cheese and apple. You may find yourself asking for uneaten first courses to be wrapped to go. The kitchen portions them as if two were sharing.

Lamb burgers are poised to join beef tartare and soft-serve ice cream as Dishes That Are Everywhere Now. Local Provisions’ sandwich is my current pick of the bunch. The goodness starts with ground meat from the esteemed Elysian Fields and is spurred along by pickled peppers, a shake of Lo-Pro and squares of sesame focaccia. (Like a lot of us, Michael says bread baking became a passion project at home earlier in the pandemic; customers profit from his experimentation at the restaurant.)

Pasta Bolognese is as easy to find on menus these days asservice fees; this version, warm with Calabrian chiles, demonstrates the wide, Taylor Swift appeal of the sauce. Lighter in all ways is a turban of linguine slicked with pesto and mixed with spinach, crushed walnuts and toasted breadcrumbs.

Michael calls the chicken “cooked under a brick” his favorite entree. A fact check reveals that the weight is actually a cast-iron skillet but confirms that the dish, set off with a zingy olive relish and splayed over sliced potatoes that absorb the juices, is the pick of the crop.

Get to know Jason McCollam. He’s the talent behind the bar and as good an ambassador for Local Provisions as the Stebners. “He gets mentioned in more Google reviews than me,” says Michael, without a trace of envy. “People think he’s the owner, the best compliment.” McCollam also shakes and stirs the kind of drinks that prompt a second round. “Dance Mom’s,” for instance, nicely balances tequila and grapefruit juice. The drinks taste like the class acts in Washington, at friendlier prices ($12 on average).

The spare, clean-lined look of the restaurant has more to do with the owners’ budget than any minimalist leanings, says Michael, who with Ally hung the brick veneer in one of the two dining rooms, saving themselves $12,000. (Daughter Flynn gets credit for whitewashing the brick.) The couple took an easier approach in the second room, wallpapered with an artsy series of sardine cans. Reservations can be made for parties of six to 10. Otherwise, it’s first come, first served.That way, says Michael, “you can make the decision right before you come.”

Diners are sometimes reminded that mortals are in the kitchen. I polished off a thick piece of rockfish, but not the fork-defying cannellini beans supporting the local catch, and my pork chop should have been plucked from the grill sooner to avoid overcooking. The chop arrived with what sounded like poetry on the menu (“wood roasted Brussels, apricot agro dolce, with walnuts & mustard seeds”) but tasted like a bunch of random things forced to make nice on the plate. The apricots were missing the tart-sweetness one expects of a proper Italian agrodolce.

I can forgive a few slips given the abundant scores here, including ample parking and a kids menu that embraces grilled steak and fries. A stack of booster seats near the restrooms reconfirms Local Provisions’ family-friendly status, although I can vouch for the restaurant’s suitability for date night and, based on observation, girls’ night out and single dad’s after-work pit stop.

Young as it is, the restaurant shares the warmhearted traits I associate with such convivial neighborhood destinations as Buck’s Fishing & Camping in the District and Ruthie’s All-Day in Arlington. The biggest complaint I can muster is distance. Why does something so near and dear to me have to be an hour from home?

46286 Cranston St., Sterling. 571-299-0789. localprovisionsva.com. Open for takeout, delivery, indoor and outdoor dining 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Prices: Dinner appetizers $9 to $14, main courses $15 to $34. Sound check: 77 decibels/Must speak with raised voice. Accessibility: Slight ramp leads to entrance; ADA-compliant restrooms. Pandemic protocols: Staff are not required to be masked or vaccinated.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) recently bought a vacant property in Sterling in what appears to be a data center play.

The tech giant acquired the roughly 14-acre parcel at 23540 Pebble Run Place for a little over $15 million last month, according to county property records. The property already has zoning that allows data centers by right. And it sits at the northern edge of a large swath of land running along the western flank of Dulles International Airport, which a land-use study last year from the county’s economic development department identified as having potential for data center development.

Asked about intentions for the property, a Microsoft spokesperson said in an email the company doesn't have "anything definitive to share at this time," but added it's "committed to supporting Virginia’s digital transformation with the Microsoft cloud.”

But it’s hard to imagine what else the acquisition would mean than a prelude to future data center development. The insatiable demand for data centers in Loudoun County, and increasingly elsewhere in Northern Virginia, is legendary. Indeed, Microsoft was among the recipients in December of a $9 billion hybrid cloud computing contract called the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability — an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to provide the Defense Department with cloud services.

At 14 acres, the property on Pebble Run Place isn’t especially big — not that a data center wouldn't fit on that acreage. Property records show Amazon Data Services Inc. has a 20,000-square-foot facility on just over three acres, for instance, albeit adjacent to a much larger facility on a much larger parcel.

But for comparison, Microsoft also owns more than 300 acres next to Leesburg Executive Airport, where it’s building data centers in phases, up to about 1 million square feet at buildout. It owns another 67 acres a few miles southwest of its present acquisition, where it’s pursuing half-a-million square feet of data centers. It also leases space in other locations around the county, though we don’t know how big those parcels or facilities are.

One source said Microsoft is generally interested in larger spaces, but for now is focusing on the Pebble Run Place lot in its own right, with nothing else pending in terms of a potential assemblage. The county owns a couple of big, vacant lots adjacent or nearby, but the source said the county isn’t currently thinking about selling them. A handful of properties where data centers could theoretically go sit just south of the Pebble Run Place parcel, between it and Old Ox Road, but they’re occupied already by warehouses, offices and a shopping center.

US data center firm EdgeCore is looking to develop multiple data centers in Sterling, Virginia.

According to a Loudoun County land development application summary, EdgeCore filed a site plan to build a data center in Sterling in February.

The plot is on Horseshoe Drive – reportedly 45925 – which is currently occupied by a number of office developments. 45925 last year saw requests for data center rezoning. The proposed data center specifications aren’t clear at this point.

According to Stewart Investment Partners, 45925 Horseshoe is a 136,000 sq ft two-building office development. The property was purpose-built for the anchor tenant in 2000 to serve as their North American headquarters. The tenant occupied 100 percent of the property until 2015, after which they reduced their footprint at the site. Stewart acquired the site in June of 2021 from a public REIT for $17.25 million.

The site is directly north of a Cyxtera-operated facility and east of a CyrusOne site. It is also adjacent to three buildings at 21660, 21670, and 21680 Ridgetop Circle; all of which AWS aims to demolish and build two data centers in their place.

The site is one of a number EdgeCore is looking to develop in the Sterling area.

The company is aiming to build a data center at 45865 Maries Road, less than a mile south of the Horseshoe site and adjacent to another CyrusOne facility to the east and two Digital Realty sites to the north. EdgeCore filed for rezoning permission last year. According to the company’s website, the Maries Road location will offer 348,000 sq ft and 54MW.

Earlier this year EdgeCore announced it was developing a data center at 1501 Moran Road, Sterling, in partnership with US real-estate firm Penzance. The site will house a three-story data center totaling 285,000 sq ft (26,475 sqm) and 36MW, taking the company’s Virginia footprint to 633,000 sq ft (58,800 sqm) and 90MW. The site plan approval process is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

EdgeCore previously filed to develop a four-building campus – known as Edgecore Dulles – in Sterling between Route 28 and Atlantic Blvd. Work is reportedly underway at the site, though not listed on the EdgeCore website.

Launched in 2018, EdgeCore has six data center campuses across the US in operation or development, spanning Phoenix, Arizona, Virginia, and Silicon Valley. The company was acquired by Partners Group last year with plans to invest up to $1.2 billion to fund the acquisition and build-out of existing and future data center sites.

EdgeCore recently broke ground on a new campus in Santa Clara, California, and has bought land in Mesa, Arizona from Meta. In 2021 the company submitted plans to build a data center in Berkshire, UK, on the site of a former HP office.

The part-time VA clinic is coming back to Sterling, and that’s just to start.

Officials from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Cheyenne, Wyo., were in Sterling Wednesday for a town hall meeting with local veterans. They addressed the future of VA medical care availability for northeast Colorado for a standing-room-only crowd of vets at the Logan County Courthouse.

The session, which lasted a little over two hours, addressed the recent suspension of the twice-weekly VA clinic on the Northeastern Junior College campus, and presented information on services that will be available going forward.

Paul Roberts, Medical Center Director at Cheyenne, started the session by announcing the return of the NJC clinic, one day a week at first, but expanding as staffing grows.

“On Feb. 15, the nurses are coming back out to NJC,” Roberts said. “We’re going to do a better job, even better than before the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re going to take (service to Sterling) to the next level.”

That next level will include in-home nursing visits for those who need it, Roberts said, and his staff is trying to recruit enough nurses to open a permanent, five-day-a-week clinic in Sterling.

For more information on health care options for veterans, go to the VA Medical Center in Cheyenne’s web site.

Roberts explained that the VA was hit hard by COVID-19, sidelining as many as 65 percent of the Cheyenne facility’s staff. That required Roberts to pull staffers into the hospital and regroup to keep that facility up and running. With the pandemic pretty much behind them, Roberts said, he and his staff are rebuilding their workforce to offer more and better care options.

“There’s a movie quote I like, it goes, ‘It comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.’ We’re getting busy living,” Roberts said.

Some of the options the VA is looking at are a full-time clinic in Sidney to augment Sterling, video links between Sterling and Cheyenne, using the new facility in Denver, and having the VA pay for care in the vet’s own community.

Roberts was accompanied by a phalanx of managers and directors from the Cheyenne hospital, and each in turn talked about changes being made in care levels. Many of the changes the VA hospitals are starting to offer mirror services already offered by private sector health providers such as online access and diagnostics, prescription tracking and remote medicine.

Most of the time was taken up with questions and comments from veterans. One idea that Roberts had floated – permanently setting up a mobile care van in Sterling – got little support from the crowd. One vet said he’d had too many bad experiences with breakdowns and cancelled visits to have faith in the van concept.

Roberts and his staff were able to clear up a number of misunderstandings and questions during the Q&A period, including getting VA-paid prescriptions for those on Medicare, local hospitals not getting paid by VA for veterans’ care, and local physicians giving poor service to veterans under VA care.

Prescriptions present a particularly thorny problem for the VA because many vets don’t understand their options. Veterans do not have to choose between VA prescription drug benefits and a Medicare prescription drug plan; they may have either or both. Negotiating the VA drug plan can be a challenge, however, and the Cheyenne staffers offered a number of suggestions for getting improved service.

After the formal town hall meeting, many members of the crowd met individually with Roberts and his crew to get assistance with specific problems they’re having. The staff members will take the information they got from the town hall back to Cheyenne and figure out what changes need to be made to address the concerns raised at the town hall.

Roberts told the Journal-Advocate afterward that even the Northeast Colorado Health Department wants to work with the VA to improve veteran health care.

“It’s really gratifying to see the local community respond like this, Roberts said. “Like we said in the Army, ‘One team, one fight.’”