"all anyone really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich"

Look at this sweet fella, enjoying the Jewish deli.  Guys, I know I am really late to the game on this one, but:  the Reuben (a real one, by the Jewish folk, not the kind you get most everywhere else with cold cut-style sliced pastrami) is a beautiful thing.  

We had a little family "date day" a few weeks ago and both decided that we were in the mood for a good sandwich.  I ascribe to the Liz Lemon view on sandwiches: “Can I share with you my worldview? All of humankind has one thing in common: the sandwich. I believe that all anyone really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich.”  Oh, and what a mighty fine sandwich it was.  Made all the better by the great second-floor private window seat we scored because, baby.  And nobody wants to take a chance on a baby in their restaurant, it seems.  (Every time we've gone back since we've been seated in the same window seat, far away from all the other customers.  So we're pretty sure that this really is the baby seat.)  

So we shared our delicious reuben, along with an order of crispy brussels sprouts with shallots and roasted grapes (?!-yes!), an order of pierogis with bangin' cucumber mint yogurt, and a chocolate eggcream, for nostalgia's sake.  Oh, and dessert, because we got the eggcream for free, so why not dessert, too?  It was an okay chocolate babka bread pudding with salted caramel ice cream. (I used to be a devoted fan of the salted caramel, but these days it seems a little tired to me.  My vote was for a banana split, because I've never had one, and that just feels wrong.  I really want to try one this summer.)

So, DGS Delicatessen in Dupont Circle is a yes.  Also, that little photo above, on the right, is of their super-cool artwork.  Can you tell from the photo that they had transferred old photographs onto the backs of baking sheets?  Very cool, we thought.  

Additionally, we all visited a winery in northern Virginia a couple of weeks ago for Jon to play a gig.  (Wineries are not the same as vineyards, I was a little disappointed to realize.  But it was still beautiful.  We don't get to see this much grass in one place too often these days.)  After Jon finished playing we all ate pizza and tasted wine together.  A nice, relaxing night.