Gingerbread season is here, and there are plenty of ways to get your festive fix. Check out these elaborate hotel displays and hands-on decorating workshops, or just grab a make-at-home kit.
Hotel and Restaurant Installations
Willard InterContinental
1401 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
The Willard’s annual gingerbread display features pastry chef Gianpier Flores’s six-foot-wide recreation of the historic hotel and its neighboring restaurant the Occidental. The edible showpiece will be on view in the lobby throughout the season, and the hotel is also hosting holiday afternoon teas and nightly caroling.
Fairmont Hotel
2401 M St., NW
This hotel’s life-sized gingerbread house sits in the lobby, and you can even step inside the 12-by-12-foot structure. Executive pastry chef Lyndsey Barton and her team used 300 pounds of powdered sugar, 350 pounds of flour, 70 pounds of candy, and 460 eggs to create the over-the-top display.
Limani
670 Wharf St., SW
The Wharf’s airy Greek restaurant leans into gingerbread season with private, heated gingerbread house-style dining booths and clear igloos on a rooftop overlooking the water. Each enclosed setup seats six to eight and includes full-service dining with holiday menus, prix-fixe options, and food-and-beverage minimums ranging from $100 at weekday lunch to $300 on weekends. Reservations require a $100 deposit and include one hour and 45 minutes in the gingerbread booths or two hours in the igloos. Make a reservation here.
The Roost
1401 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
At this Capitol Hill food hall, check out a 100-square-foot gingerbread village crafted by Guinness World Record–holding artist Jon Lovitch. Lovitch spent a year making the display using thousands of pounds of candy; it is free and open to the public daily through Saturday, December 27. Guests can also join Lovitch’s gingerbread-house classes (December 13, 22, and 27) and partake in a gingerbread giveaway on Sunday, January 11, when parts of the village will be gifted to the community.
Classes and Workshops
Viceroy Washington DC
1430 Rhode Island Ave., NW
Create your own candy-covered cottage at this Logan Circle hotel on Saturday, December 13. For $65 per person (add spiked hot cocoa for $12 more), you’ll get everything you need: a pre-built gingerbread house, icing, and plenty of sweets. You can take your creation home and enter a decorating contest for a chance to win a $50 gift card to in-house restaurant Dovetail.
Gaylord National Resort
201 Waterfront St., Oxon Hill
Decorate your own gingerbread house (or cookies) at this sprawling National Harbor hotel’s Christmas Village, which runs through January 2. Each $46 kit comes with frosting, candy, and more. When you’re finished creating, you can meet Nutmeg, the gingerbread mascot.
Cork Wine Bar and Market
1805 14th St., NW
The 14th Street wine bar/market keeps a holiday tradition alive with its annual gingerbread decorating workshop on Saturday, December 13. Each $60 kit includes a pre-built house for two adults (or two adults and one child) plus icing and candy. Festoon your house while sipping hot chocolate and cider, then take your creation home. Wine and extra food are available for purchase.
The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner
1700 Tysons Blvd., McLean
The luxe hotel that adjoins Tysons Galleria mall hosts a kid-friendly gingerbread house workshop on Saturday, December 13 at 10 AM and 2 PM, and Sunday, December 14 at 2 PM. Expect tons of icing and candy, plus guidance from the hotel’s pastry team. Each house is $145. Make a reservation here.
Salamander Middleburg
500 N. Pendleton St., Middleburg
Create your own candy-covered cottage at this bucolic resort’s workshops on Friday, December 12 (5:30 to 7:30 PM) and Tuesday, December 23 (10 AM to noon). Guests are provided with frosting, candy canes, gumdrops, and other sweets to design a festive take-home house. Houses are $95 each.
DIY Kits
Ginger’s Breadboys
Don’t want to leave home? The locally owned Ginger’s Breadboys ships DIY kits for $64.95 that let you bake, assemble, and decorate two full-size houses right from your kitchen. Each kit includes dough mix, cardboard bases, royal icing ingredients, and a variety of candies and tools.
Pastries by Randolph
4500 Cherry Hill Rd., Arlington
This long-running Arlington bakery sells a $59 make-at-home gingerbread house kit with pre-cut six-inch gingerbread panels, fondant windows and doors, a chocolate Santa, mini gifts, star cookies, white and red royal icing, and more. Also included: a piping bag, cardboard base, and display tray.
