By new DCist Food and Drink Contributor Erin Zimmer

As legend has it, when a Waldorf-Astoria guest back in the 1940s forcefully requested the hotel's secret red velvet cake recipe, the hotel gave it to her—along with a hefty bill for the prized information. The miffed guest, whose lawyer supposedly advised her that she had to pay, apparently took revenge by spreading the recipe everywhere she could.

Whether the Waldorf-Astoria tale is real or no more than an urban legend, the red velvet tradition most likely has its origins in the Deep South—just south of the White House, where red velvet cake appeared a little more than a week ago on President Bush’s Christmas Day lunch menu alongside overplayed pumpkin and pecan pies.

Can't picture red velvet cake? Think sweet. Like southern sweet tea-sweet. Dye it red, and mold it into cake form. Coat it in a thick layer of cream cheese frosting because, hey, dental care becomes less of an issue the further south you go. Add a hint of cocoa, and you’ve got the Red Velvet Devil herself.

Days later, the luscious, sultry red has still got us all riled up. And we ask, other than the White House garbage disposal, where else does Red Velvet linger within the District's core and periphery? When someone Asked Tom where to find the cake at roughly this time last year, the current godfather of all Washington food critics himself was stumped. Caught a little off-guard, Mr. Siestsma replied with a decided “Hmmmm.” He eventually offered up the Majestic Café in Old Town Alexandria, but we’re still hungry for more answers. Unlike Dubya, we don't have our very own Cristeta Comerford in the kitchen—and we didn’t get our red velvet-fill during the holidays.

Let's get controversy out of the way right off the bat: CakeLove does not make red velvet cake. Indeed, CakeLove goes out of its way to justify its omission of the southern staple by coolly noting that it's an "all-natural bakery” that eschews “synthetic” red dye. And Georgia Brown's, that Southern Belle of the District's restaurant scene, even leaves us hanging. Diners (or take-outers) may special order a whole cake at $55 (we hope it comes with a secret recipe...), but they must do so at least 48 hours in advance.

That's where Red Sage comes to the rescue, should you want to get your red velvet fix on the quick. With other brick-colored dishes on the menu (organic red Romaine salad and roasted red chile pecan-crusted chicken breast, among them), its layered red velvet cake conveniently "just happens to be startling Red." Chrismukkah season or not, it serves a house recipe at $7.50 a slice.

The bakery at Fairfax Bailiwick Inn, a cozy Federal style home about ten minutes away from the Vienna Metro station, has four-, six- and ten-inch red velvet cakes at $12, $20 and $40, respectively. Place your order with Jackie at 703-691-2266.

In the Capitol Hill neighborhood, Raven-Symone fave Levi’s Port Café serves mean North Carolinian barbecue fare, but it can't always guarantee a slice of the luscious Red. Although Levi's wins handily for the cheapest fix ($2.75 a slice), supplies are limited. The sweet woman on the phone apologized in her authentic southern drawl that they were sold out today, but that there'd be more next week. And although Levi's normally doesn't sell by the whole cake, she was sure “we could work out a deal.” The accent made everything okay, cake in stock or not.

And back to Tom's suggestion, the mostly southern menu at Majestic Café in Old Town Alexandria. Their dessert menu offers an “American Layer Cake,” which changes flavors daily, from coffee walnut to Orange Dreamsicle ($7 a slice). The host warned there's “no predictable pattern” when it comes to the availability of their red velvet cake, as one of the seventeen cake flavors that rotates throughout the month.

If you're more of a DIY-er, try the Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe version. For ease's sake, you just can’t beat the just-add-oil-and-two-eggs recipe, no matter where you live in relation to the Mason-Dixon line.

Georgia Brown’s
950 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-393-4499

Majestic Café
911 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-837-9117

Photo by Flickr user stu_spivack.