Neal Augenstein, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – In the midst of an early flu season, a new delicatessen is selling many bowls of chicken soup.

“People think of soup as a comforting thing to eat when you’re under the weather,” says Brian Zipin, general manager of DGS Delicatessen on Connecticut Avenue below Dupont Circle.

Chicken soup’s healing powers begin even before the tablespoon enters the stock with all the “herbs and celery and carrots and onion,” says Zipin.

“As you’re eating it, you kind of sigh and feel like ‘Oh, I already feel better,” he says.

“Whether that’s clinical, medical, or just mental, it doesn’t really matter. It does make you feel better.”

Zipin says most adults remember a more carefree time when illness meant extra attention from a parent.

“You don’t have to be sick. We’d probably prefer you weren’t, he says. “But if you come in sick, we’ll take care of you and make you feel better.”

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