Lobster. Cake. What more–besides Champagne–do you need to ring in the new year? Find them both at Just Lobsters and Just Cakes (4849 Rugby Ave., Bethesda; 301-718-5111), a lobster pound that shares space–via a doorway–with a chic bakery/cafe.
Bill Schinnerer, an insurance broker with an office upstairs, is the lobster guy; his wife, Marge, a gourmet cook, oversees the bakery. You can buy the lobsters–usually available in one- to four-pound sizes for about $12.95 a pound–and steam them yourself or let Bill do it.
While you wait, check out the sweets next door: mini bundt cakes in flavors like Belgian chocolate and Pucker-Up lemon; Bull Dog brownies with a caramel center; pecan shortbread bars; and topper cake, the sliced-off top of a birthday cake filled with fruit, whipped cream, or buttercream.
Washingtonian staff contributing to this section were Chuck Conconi, Sherri Dalphonse, Susan Davidson, Mary Clare Fleury, Cynthia Hacinli, Thomas Head, Stephanie Jones, Ann Limpert, Drew Lindsay, Chad Lorenz, Leslie Milk, William O'Sullivan, Cindy Rich, and Jeremy Stahl. Also contributing were writers Cathy Alter, Ann Cochran, and Jenny Sullivan.