Paris Baguette does it all, from pre-order cakes to danishes, muffins, quiches, mochi doughnuts, and mini pizzas. | Paris Baguette Plus wine-fueled ugly Christmas sweater parties, Perry’s turns 40, and tamale time at Karol G’s fave D.C. spot A South Korean bakery chain spread across the DMV, with eight locations in Virginia and one in Rockville, opens its new outpost into Germantown on Saturday, December 14 (21040 Frederick Road Suite G, Germantown, Maryland). The owners of the Paris Baguette location, brothers Michael and John Canterino, tell Eater that this is just the beginning and they are already developing three to four more locations in the area. “Our expansion is targeted towards the D.C. metro area, some of it overlaps with the Baltimore area a little bit,” Michael explained. Paris Baguette The Canterino brothers hope the Germantown bakery will become a space where diners will feel comfortable enough to stay all day. The quickly expanding brand differentiates itself from other bakery chains by baking its pastries onsite at every location and franchising out locations specifically to local owners that have insight into the community. The Canterino brothers saw the bakery as “a sustainable brand in its prime” that could fill a hole in Germantown’s bakery market. The 5,000-square-foot store is one of the largest in the world and has plenty of specific perks that the brothers hope will bring in the work-from-home crowd, including free Wi-Fi, plenty of outlets, and lots of free parking. They said that customers were already excited during the soft opening. “All of our guests have been saying, you know, ‘we’re really happy that you’re here. We’ve been waiting for you guys. We have nothing like this here,’” John recounted. The grand opening will feature plenty of music (including Christmas caroling), a sketch artist, and free pastries for the first 50 guests. “Also, in addition to that,” says Michael, “I’ll probably just do random giveaways. Maybe every 100 or 200 customers we’ll give a cake out too.” A $40 pre-fixe menu to celebrate 40 years at Perry’s Dixie D. Vereen for The Washington Post via Getty Images Mushroom fried rice with onsen egg at Perry’s This beloved Japanese spot celebrates being open since 1984 by remembering some of its biggest accomplishments, like throwing the longest running drag brunch in the city and chef Masako Morishita’s big 2024 James Beard Award for emerging new chef. Diners can mark the anniversary with a three-course tasting menu that comes with a complimentary cocktail, glass of wine, house sake, or beer. Course options include a winter crab cake with warm dashi broth, wagyu steak donburi, a sushi omakase with a salmon avocado roll, and warm miso cookies with vanilla cream. Reservations are available on Resy. 1811 Columbia Rd NW Where you can don an ugly Christmas sweater and sip wine this Sunday The Eastern hosts an ugly sweater wine class ($65, tickets available here), with the theme “The Island of Misfit Wines,” this Sunday at 1 p.m. (360 7th Street SE). Come dressed in your ugliest, mismatched Christmas sweater to impress the wine bar’s staff and you could go home with a prize. And if you miss that one, Primrose also hosts an Ugly Sweater Jolly Hour with a wine tasting from owner Sebastian Mutant’s Virginia vineyard: Lightwell Survey. There is no cover or tickets for the tasting, and the attendee in the ugliest sweater gets to take home a bottle from Lightwell Survey’s fall lineup (3000 12th Street NE). Gingerbread house building, hot chocolate, and more at Cork This 14th Street NW wine bar brings back its annual gingerbread making classes this Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon or 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. with free-flowing hot chocolate, hot cider, and holiday sweets throughout the decorating party. Tickets are $60 per gingerbread house and at-home kits are also being sold for $50 each. Wine and more food will also be available to order. 1805 14 Street NW To-go and prix fixe tamales at the Royal D.C.’s Latin-leaning hot spot that just designed the food and drink menus for pop star Karol G’s Medellín restaurants throws a tamale navideños holiday luncheon on Tuesdays through Thursdays this month. Influenced by ownership’s Christmas tradition of building tamales, the first course includes a mango and citrus-filled kale salad and the third course a carrot cake layered with pumpkin seed granola, papilla caramel, and cream cheese frosting. Diners can book the three-course meal ($48) on Resy, order the tamales frozen ($48 for 4), or order 10 tamales hot and ready to eat ($110). 501 Florida Ave NW The Royal The tamale navideños come with chicken or vegetable fillings, plus grilledcabbage, cheese, and aji sauce.