Brian Vasile and Andy Seligman, the owners of Brickside Food & Drink in Bethesda and Grand Central Bar in Adams Morgan, were lunching in the District awhile back, mulling their next project, when the New York natives started reminiscing about how much they missed the neighborhood Italian delis of their youth. Seligman was particularly enthusiastic about a place called V&S Italian Deli in Boca Raton, near where he attended college at Florida Atlantic University.

The conversation turned into a trip down memory lane for Seligman when the restaurateurs hopped on a plane, ate at V&S, and met the owners, brothers Salvatore and Vincent Falcone. Smitten with the old-school formula, the Washington operators asked if the siblings could help them re-create the feel of their shop in the District.