Monday, August 04, 2003

John Watkins, M.D.
221A Baker Street



Sunday, August 3, 2003


Dear Steve:

I noted your loss of weight the other day at Chelsea Piers; but there was something else I noted with some interest. I believe that it is the second time that I saw you place the unwanted portion of your food with deliberate neatness onto a certain part of your plate.

At Chelsea Piers it was the roll part of your hamburger. You took both sections and placed the top half over the bottom half after carefully removing all the meat and cheese. You moved the roll to a place slightly off center on your plate.

You ate everything else, every morsel of “Atkins-allowed” food, I guess. When you were done your plate was clean, the roll perfectly reassembled (though somewhat flattened by the weight of its absorption of juices and fats) in that slightly off center place on the plate.

A month before, when we ate at March I noticed the same behavior. A careful separation of wanted and unwanted food. And then, you created artfully what was almost a “presentation” of the food to be returned to the kitchen by the busboy.

I am wondering whether this curious behavior is intentional, a method of, perhaps, rewarding yourself for your improved eating habits, or whether it is unconscious. Are you aware of it? Has anyone else commented upon it? Does your plate-designing behavior precede Dr. Atkins’ diet?



Your obedient servant,

John Watkins

Dr. John Watkins, Holmes’ loyal assistant.