holiday treats in District

Soho Tea&Coffee baristas may not have the Starbucks red cups (not to mention, wouldn’t dare offending Edward Gorey) but their Sausalito Spice Tea—kinda tastes like Chai—is festive enough for their standards at $2.45 a mug. In a couple weeks, they’ll have cold Egg Nog shots (65¢ each) to mix into any drink. Not bad for a coffeehouse run by two Jewish ladies who “don’t get too into the holiday spirit.”

CakeLove founder and owner Warren Brown has been getting enough press lately for his new Food Network series “Sugar Rush” and “Serve@Room Temp” campaign, but he still had time to whip together a Sweet Potato Cake for his U Street neighbors Polly’s Café. The basement bar will serve the root vegetable cake topped with a cream cheese frosting at $4.50 a slice.

For those addicted to the shopping bag look, come on over to my neck of the woods. Georgetown has everything you could ever want to wrap up in a big, red bow. Try the fresh-baked Gingerbread at Tombs (a Georgetown establishment, right next to 1789 on 36th Street), topped with whipped cream at $5.25 a slice. Or make the trek to Clyde’s (on M St.) and sink your two front teeth (remember when Santa gave you those?) into their Peppermint Chocolate Cake ($6.95 a slice). Starting mid-December, they’ll also have eggnog in the fridge, ready to serve.

Maybe you’re in the mood for something in a cup or waffle cone, perhaps made from a cow? Thomas Sweet will scoop you some Peppermint Stick Ice Cream—perfect for dates involving mistletoe for the after-dessert dessert. (No need for awkward searching through purse for gum.) Rumors have it that T.Sweet also has an Eggnog ice cream in the works.

Go a little farther up Wisconsin Ave. and Max (of Max’s Ice Cream) might just have his homemade Ginger Snap recipe on the menu. (He rotates the flavor with other cookie-inspired ice creams in his "cookie genre," so keep your fingers crossed.)

If your sweet tooth is lost somewhere in the tooth fairy’s junk drawer, you’re basically out of luck this season. The closest thing to a yuletide non-dessert is the butternut squash—the official squash of the winter season. With deep-orange flesh, perhaps the butternut will be a comfort for pumpkin addicts dealing with bereavement issues.

Afterwords Café at Kramerbooks in Dupont Circle serves a bowl of Butternut Squash Soup to bookies who need an intellectual snack—a bowl is $4.75. Something tells me Santa will be delivering plenty of elliptical machines this year— in other words, bring on the calories.

For the record, I have yet to find a place that serves Christmas plum pudding.