September Sunrise Sandwich Spree, Day 12: Bagel and Cream Cheese

Bagel and Cream Cheese with Tomato

Java House 1645 Q Street NW Dupont Open daily from 7:00 a.m. $3.35

My first apartment in D.C. was a shoebox-sized, ground floor studio on a sleepy block in Dupont East best known as the location of the original Hank’s Oyster Bar. Though mostly residential, the 1600 block of Q Street NW abuts a bustling strip of 17th Street NW. Near that intersection sits Java House, the kind of neighborhood coffee shop that has a small, loyal clientele of residents of the adjacent blocks but is relatively unknown otherwise. While living there I met a woman who lived in a nearby building, and in the mornings we often picked up bagels and ate them on the steps of the Masonic temple at S Street and 16th. The toasted wheat bagel with cream cheese and tomato, the twelfth entry in our month-long September Sunrise Sandwich Spree, was actually my now-fiancée’s order. It’s not the most exciting breakfast sandwich, I’ll admit, but it’s at least marginally less damaging to my overall health than many of our recent entries. Much more importantly, though, it’s a reminder that setting and context is as influential, if not more so, than any other factor in determining how a sandwich is enjoyed and remembered. The bagel and cream cheese with tomato from Java House will always be special to me, and not because it’s the best bagel or the ingredients are the freshest in town. It costs less than $4, and it tastes like falling in love.