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Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 63: Do All Doctors Want to Be Food Writers?

Posted by Ed Levine, April 17, 2009 at 8:25 AM

Or Is It Just the Ones I See?

Yesterday I was at doctor number six's office in my quest to find out the source of my chest tightness (my worry is that acid reflux is not the only explanation). I was telling Dr. X (I am hiding his identity to protect the hungry), a cardiologist, about what I was experiencing when he interrupted me. "All right, let's see if we can find out why you're feeling this way," he said. "By the way, I must say that you have my dream job. I love to eat."

Dr. X, like five other doctors before him that I've seen in the past year, wanted to talk to me about food and restaurants. In the process of our lengthy discussion we did discuss my possible cardiac problems, but I think like many doctors that have come before him, Dr. X's heart is almost as much into food as medicine. He turned out to be an excellent doctor, one who I would recommend to anyone, but, man, the doc is one serious eater.

What does Dr. X like to eat? Hint: He's not a vegan. And do all serious doctors end up talking to their patients about the pleasures derived from eating? Or is it just me?

Nope, it turns out that Dr. X loves pizza. He grew up in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, and Slice readers probably know where I'm going with this story.

Yup, that's right. In high school Dr. X's go-to slice place was Di Fara. Every day he and his friends would marvel at the way Di Fara owner Dom DeMarco would take out pies with his bare, asbestos-like hands.

We talked about Di Fara at some length, and we talked about Chicago pizza. He had spent some time in Chicago, and he said that he had come to like and appreciate Chicago pizza. I told him what I had said in Slice of Heaven, that at best Chicago pizza is a good casserole. (Needless to say, Chicago pizza lovers are not my biggest fans.) Dr. X said he liked the crust, and I told my new cardiologist that was because they use so much oil. He nodded knowingly at this turn in the conversation.

Dr. X told me to keep playing squash and to keep losing weight. He didn't tell me to keep eating pizza, but then again he didn't tell me not to. So when I left his office I had a slice at nearby Ultimate Pizza, which many serious eaters have raved about. It was a solid, crisp, thin-crust slice that could have used a lot more salt in the dough. I decided that maybe Ultimate Pizza didn't use salt in its dough because of its proximity to so many cardiologists' offices.

That 5 p.m. slice was the last thing I ate last night. I was preparing for my weigh-in and I was trying to stick to my gastroenterologist's advice about not eating after 7:30 at night if possible.

The Weigh-In

Here we go: 221. Down another pound. I consider this one-pound loss a victory for pizza-loving cardiologists everywhere. Thank you, Dr. X., for all your enthusiasms.

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