A didactic tale

After a Verge Gallery tour, we headed over to Magpie Caterers Market and Cafe (1409 R Street, Suite 102; www.magpiecaterers.com) for dinner where our light meal turned into a not very light meal with an order of bean soup, a ham and cheese panini, and a chicken salad. The Niman Ranch uncured ham with Camembert cheese, served with pickled onions, the cutest little pickles you’ve ever seen and maybe the most delicious mustard on the planet, was a sandwich I could eat every night for the rest of my life. The green-lentil soup was hearty but a little bland, and cold. The waiter, apologetic, took care of it, and then presented us with free dessert: a plate of cookies, which is a great way to iron out a new restaurant glitch. Actually, that’s a good lesson for life in general: When you make a mistake, give cookies away for free. The end.