EDIBLE: A D.C. adventure speaks to how life should work.

I hadn’t been in Washington D.C. since the place was full of things like Heat We Can Believe In hot sauce and The Audacity Of Hops InaugrAle and the 2008 inauguration drew millions of verifiable humans.

Until a trip last week, that is, to get my hands on Bub and Pops’ slow-braised brisket sandwiches and all-the-Ethiopian-I-could-eat at Dukem Restaurant and the brekkie burger at Duke’s Grocery and the scallop-bacon grits at CF Folks – oh, and to attend the national conference for the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN).

I noticed something while I was there. Things are a little different in D.C.

I’m not talking about what’s happening in the White House, though I did check to make sure it’s still there with my own two eyes. It is.

So is the William Thomas Anti-Nuclear Peace Vigil across the street, as it has been around the clock since 1981. Its hand-written signs say things like “Donald Trump, Jared Kirshner (sic) & Donald Jr.: Ignorance of the law is not a legal defense!!!” When I asked the guy in the beanie who was manning it at 7:30am how the team hangs in there 24/7, he said, “Live comedy across the street.”

I’m not talking about the command change at the District 20 Congressional office, though Rep. Jimmy Panetta now sits where Sam Farr did for decades. (Some things haven’t changed: Five built-in shelves still hold dozens of brands of Central Coast wine, delivered by the late Santa Lucia Highlands pioneer Rich Smith of Paraiso/Alexander-Smith.)

Perhaps the biggest difference: voter agitation. Last year, Farr fielded 41,000 correspondences from constituents. In just seven months, Panetta’s gotten 77,000. “The number-one thing we hear is, ‘Get something done,’” he told Weekly Editor Sara Rubin and me upon our visit.

D.C. things are also different in terms of climate, in more ways than one, and Washington even has a baseball team now.But I’m not thinking of that either.

I’m talking about The Hawk & Dove, the storied dive that welcomed folks like Supreme Court Justice William Douglass and Speaker of the House Tipp O’Neill and never confused party with a party.

It doesn’t feel the same. It’s moved next door, sterilized, less funky, less unique. Chandeliers and pricey pub food supplant $3 domestic beer. There’s still history in the ether, but it turns out there’s a new administration in place here too, after the landlord wanted more money than 40-year bar owner Stuart Long could do. Seems even the most time-honored – and time-tested – Washington pillars are vulnerable, at a price. I looked out into the summer rain and wondered, Is nothing sacred? What’s next? Democracy?

Then, on cue, came an answer of sorts. Because Rubin ordered a Fat Tire Citradelic Tangerine Ale, Fat Tire’s D.C. sales rep, Derrick Rozier, came by and dropped off a bonus pint and a T-shirt. And I got to ask him about New Belgium Brewing Company’s business culture.

It starts with their status as a B Corporation – as in beneficial – a for-profit company certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.

Then there’s this: On day 366 with the company, employees are automatically granted stock ownership and voting power. Buyout offers must ultimately pass muster with a majority of co-op shares, no matter seniority. (They haven’t come close to taking a vote.)

“I think it makes us all work harder,” Rozier says. “New Belgium got into the craft in the beginning, when it was small. We’ve grown a lot, and we like the culture of working for ourselves.”

Huh. Encouraging engagement. Deflecting the overtures of big money. Being accountable and transparent. Empowering voters. Plus, beer: Each employee gets a free beer after work and a 12-pack a week. #MyKindofAmerica.

The co-op approach hits upon something comic/emcee Haywood Turnipseed Jr. said at the AAN awards, after Trump started his war on the LGBT community. “Until we treat all people the same,” he said, “it’s all bullshit.”

That, in turn, got me to thinking about those in Monterey County’s food-and-drink orbit who do right by their workers. As this goes to press, restaurant leaders in Carmel including Anna Bartolini (la Balena), David Fink (Aubergine), Janet Elarmo (Cantinetta Luca), Kenneth Spilfogel (Flaherty’s), Tony Salameh (Anton & Michel) and Rich Pepe (Little Napoli) are meeting to figure out how to educate diners on why a back-of-the-house fee helps them take care of kitchen workers who, by California law, can’t receive a share of tips. Downtown Dining’s Tony Tolner will be there, bringing with him an approach to employees that has bred extended tenures at Montrio Bistro, Tarpy’s and Rio Grill, including a 401(k) program like the one Sand Bar & Grill just introduced. Places like Cafe Lumiere and Acme Coffee Roasting Company extend health insurance plans to baristas often overlooked elsewhere, because retention is a good thing. What a concept, Mr. Anthony Scaramucci, no?

It all reminded me of what the ranking House Democrat on the budget committee, himself a former AAN publisher, told us during a conference keynote.

“This is the most dysfunctional Congress in the history of the United States,” said Rep John Yarmuth, D-Kentucky. “The real action’s not in Washington. It’s in your communities.”