1. Dog deal.

The musician and cultural critic Brian Eno once coined the term “scenius” to describe the burst of collective creative energy that occurs when you put the right people together in the right place at the right time. There was scenius in Florence, Italy at the end of the 15th century, and in the expat bars and cafes of Paris in the 1920s.

The sea: Home to fish sticks and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. Also: TERRIFYING SEA MONSTERS.

Okay, so the economy’s improving, but it’ll be a long time before we’re all eating gold-dusted moneyburgers like we were before the bust. In the meantime, our fifth annual DEALicious Meals is here to tide you over.

$7-$12 savory stuff at Chocolate & Spice Bakery Of course the pastries, custom cakes and artisan chocolates are sublime at Megan Romano’s neighborhood sweet spot; no surprises there. The shock comes when you stop in for lunch and realize 1) the basil tomato soup, roasted vegetable frittata, heirloom tomato and mozzarella napoleon and honey maple ham on brioche are as good as it gets, 2) that everything is between seven and 12 bucks and 3) this place still hasn’t been discovered by the west side masses.

Why are former Las Vegas journalists finding such success in Washington D.C.