And what’s this Derby place?

 

Perhaps the navel of the universe, if that title weren’t already claimed by Delphi in Greece, Cusco in Peru, Bodh Gaya in India and a handful of other places.  In reality, a neighborhood bar in Columbia Heights/Petworth, DC, latitude 38.94°N, longitude 77.03°W, whose essential founding principle was once explained to me as being, “A dive bar where you’re not afraid to use the bathrooms.”