Staci LaRue sits her baby upon a stool along the marble-topped bar. Chubby and blond, August Miller wobbles a bit and stands up, examining everything with the keen eye of first interest. LaRue supports him with one arm as she pops the top on a small glass container of homemade chicken puree with a free hand and begins to feed him.
August's father and LaRue's husband, Jason Miller, pulls a rack of glasses from behind the bar and starts to wipe them down with a clean bar rag.
"It was either this or law school," Miller said, picking up another glass and peering through it.
August, now 10 months old, isn't quite as old as The Wine Kitchen, "which isn't exactly how we planned it," LaRue said. "But we make it work."
Considering the couple is simultaneously raising a new business and a new baby, the young 30-somethings are trim, fresh-faced and healthy-looking. LaRue attributes their good health to the family business: healthy, organic and locally grown food.
The two have immersed themselves cup and spoon in the flavors of Loudoun County since they moved to Leesburg in 2006, including as many organic locally grown products as possible in their daily menu, both at home and at this small restaurant in the heart of Leesburg's downtown.
The Wine Kitchen hones in on American bistro cuisine with a healthier twist, incorporating fresh organic ingredients into every plate and providing a well-rounded list of local and international wine flights for the sophisticated palate.
"You know everything that's in there," LaRue said. "And that's the food that we've always enjoyed."
At home, the focus is on complete nutrition from local, organic sources. As a certified holistic nutritionist, Pilates instructor and personal trainer, LaRue firmly believes that diet and exercise are the missing components that leave so many people obese, unfulfilled and ill. Personal experience, she said, has taught her so.
"I was sugar addicted and white flour addicted," she said. "I was dancing and doing personal training, but I couldn't get rid of this weight and I didn't know why."
Through a long process of self-education that included returning to school to gain her certification in the field of nutrition, LaRue started to change her diet and began to drop the weight. It took about three years, but since she's changed her lifestyle she has not bought clothes in a new size. Even after the birth of August, she's returned to the weight she's maintained since 2004.
"I know what it's like," she said. "I grew up with Shake 'n Bake and blue-box mac and cheese. It was only in my 20s that I woke up."
Since that rude awaking she's begun working with overweight women seeking to improve their lives through proper nutrition and exercise. She now works with Loudoun Holistic Health Partners in Leesburg on Fridays and teaches Pilates Tuesdays and Thursdays.
When working with clients at Loudoun Holistic Health Partners, the first thing she does is take a health history so she can create a plan to treat each person's specific needs. She also asks them to drink more water, get a good night's sleep and read label ingredients. "If there's more than five I'm skeptical," she said. "And you must recognize each ingredient." According to LaRue, the three most important things to avoid are high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats and oils.
At home she uses minimally processed sugar for baking, blackstrap molasses, and Rapadura, a form of sugarcane juice used as a sweetener.
If there is such a thing as a peaceful warrior, Dr. Rangappa Rajendra is one. 
patients in the chemotherapy chairs. If they do not see the person they are accustomed to seeing in the chair beside them, the doctor noted, they instantly voice concern. Where is he/she?" they ask. "Are they alright?"
