Denise Whiting

After celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay and his show "Kitchen Nightmares"visited Cafe Hon last year, Denise Whiting agreed to kill her trademark of the word "Hon. " She did as she said. And yet, mention of the trademark appears in literature for this year's Honfest, which is coming up in June. Here is the passage, verbatim, included on Honfest 2012 material that was distributed to potential festival vendors: NOTE: All items sold at HONfest 2012 must be legal and within the family-oriented nature of the event.

All's well at Cafe Hon , and Chef Gordon Ramsay is very pleased. That was the message of Friday night's "Kitchen Nightmares" on Fox, as Ramsay revisited the Hampden eatery where he was instrumental in tamping down a war that had erupted over owner Denise Whiting's decision to trademark the word "Hon. " After recounting Ramsay's initial visit to the restaurant, in fall 2011, the segment got down to brass tacks. First, he stopped in to see MIX 106.5's JoJo and Reagan, who assured him that, as far as they knew, things were going just fine at Cafe Hon. The food was better, they said, the staff seemed happier -- the first piece portrayed them as primed for a full-scale revolt -- and the community seemed ready to let bygones be bygones, especially once Whiting made good on her promise to let go of the trademark.

Denise Whiting should also trademark "chutzpah" because she really owns it! Debbie Kent, Joppa

After complaints from several people, Cafe Hon removed a picture early Thursday morning of one of its staff members in blackface for Halloween. The Hampden restaurant had posted the photo on its Facebook page. It showed an employee, in blackface, apparently dressed for Halloween as Whitney Houston, singing with a smudge of white powder around the nose. "We humbly apologize for our misjudgement in posting a Halloween picture, we have removed the picture," Cafe Hon said on Facebook early Thursday.

Every year we hear complaints from merchants or residents who don't like Honfest for a variety of reasons. This is fine. The good news is that we all have the ability to choose the festivals (and businesses) we wish to support (or not). The even better news is that if we all have the opportunity to create our own festival, honoring whatever we want to honor and placing restrictions on whatever we want to restrict (or not). We just have to be willing to take the initiative and risks involved, develop and grow the creative idea, do all the hard work, garner volunteer support and sponsorships, deal with the city's permitting process, put up our own capital and then start all over again for the next year.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and his show "Kitchen Nightmares" blitzed into Hampden's Cafe Hon Wednesday to see how the restaurant has fared since his visit last fall. Ramsay stepped out of an SUV and into the cafe, capturing owner Denise Whiting in an embrace, calling her "darling," and handing her a gift. Things only went up from there. Before Ramsay arrived, Whiting, looking camera ready in a vivid turquoise top and matching earrings, said she'd begin given almost no information about what the chef would be doing or looking for during what promised to be a quick filming stint -- about three hours.

I must be one of the few who remember a lovely little Baltimore restaurant called Sony's. It was owned and run by a hard-working little woman from the Philippines named Sony. Sony Electronics made her change the name, and her little eatery never quite recovered. The Just Desserts bakery next to the Hollins Market was taken to court by a bakery of the same name in California. Starbucks tried to sue a monastery for selling Christmas Blend Coffee. (Starbucks lost.) Can anyone blame Denise Whiting for trademarking the name of a restaurant and festival that she started?

I moved my company to Hampden and bought a house here nine years ago. From what the original Hampdenites (some of these families have been here since the mills were operating in the mid-1800s) tell me about life here 15 or 20 years ago, I don't know if I'd be living here and raising a family without Denise Whiting and Café Hon. From what the real locals tell me, it was basically a declining population of hard good working folk and an ever-increasing amount of drugs and thugs. Amazingly, now I live, work, coach soccer and run a mentoring and martial arts program here, and I think it is hands-down the best neighborhood in Baltimore City.

Like letter writer John Starling ("Hampden owes a lot to Denise Whiting," June 13), I too became familiarized with Hampden because of Café Hon and moved here. I have watched its owner, Denise Whiting, only become better at what she does. There have been many businesses and restaurants that have opened in Hampden because they knew it would be profitable "settling" in a neighborhood that would embrace them, and we should thank Ms. Whiting for doing that groundwork! Arlene Layton, Hampden

Though neither is known for joking around, beleagured restaraunteur Denise Whiting and former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele will be among those competing for the title of Baltimore's Funniest Celebrity. The Cafe Hon owner and the former face of the Republican party will vie for the title against musician Deanna Bogart, one-time city council candidate De'von Brown,  meteorologist Steve Fertig, news anchor Jeff Barnd and Baltimore Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck.  If most of those folks don't strike you as particularly funny, that's exactly the point, says Richard Siegel, the founder of the event, which will happen for the second time in Baltimore on June 27. The contest has been running for 18 years in D.C. "I think people that are serious are funny because people don't expect it -- which is funny," says Siegel, a long-time stand-up comedy performer.

Though neither is known for joking around, beleagured restaraunteur Denise Whiting and former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele will be among those competing for the title of Baltimore's Funniest Celebrity. The Cafe Hon owner and the former face of the Republican party will vie for the title against musician Deanna Bogart, one-time city council candidate De'von Brown,  meteorologist Steve Fertig, news anchor Jeff Barnd and Baltimore Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck.  If most of those folks don't strike you as particularly funny, that's exactly the point, says Richard Siegel, the founder of the event, which will happen for the second time in Baltimore on June 27. The contest has been running for 18 years in D.C. "I think people that are serious are funny because people don't expect it -- which is funny," says Siegel, a long-time stand-up comedy performer.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and his show "Kitchen Nightmares" blitzed into Hampden's Cafe Hon Wednesday to see how the restaurant has fared since his visit last fall. Ramsay stepped out of an SUV and into the cafe, capturing owner Denise Whiting in an embrace, calling her "darling," and handing her a gift. Things only went up from there. Before Ramsay arrived, Whiting, looking camera ready in a vivid turquoise top and matching earrings, said she'd begin given almost no information about what the chef would be doing or looking for during what promised to be a quick filming stint -- about three hours.

After celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay and his show "Kitchen Nightmares"visited Cafe Hon last year, Denise Whiting agreed to kill her trademark of the word "Hon. " She did as she said. And yet, mention of the trademark appears in literature for this year's Honfest, which is coming up in June. Here is the passage, verbatim, included on Honfest 2012 material that was distributed to potential festival vendors: NOTE: All items sold at HONfest 2012 must be legal and within the family-oriented nature of the event.

Denise Whiting will be watching Friday night's "Kitchen Nightmares" episode featuring her restaurant in the cozy confines of Cafe Hon - in the attached Hon Bar, to be specific. Cafe Hon is bringing in a big-screen TV for the viewing, which is open to the public but booked solid, Whiting says. Whiting said she hasn't seen the show yet but has seen the promos for the episode that have been running on the local Fox affiliate. "I'm really grateful to Gordon Ramsay and his team for dealing with everyone here so graciously.

Nobody asked me, but ... do we really need to redevelop Owings Mills Mall into a retail "town center"? How about we just decide that the whole thing was a big mistake, knock it down, tear up all that pavement and turn the area into a park, with exotic things like trees and grass and deer and stuff? How about doing a facelift along Reisterstown Road instead, supporting the small businesses that are already there and encouraging new ones? Anyone for a charrette on this? • People who opposed the Baltimore Grand Prix keep sending me I-told-you-so cards.

What would a hon do in this situation? Denise Whiting, the Café Hon owner who roiled a city by trademarking its signature term of endearment, who sought to micromanage the kitsch (and free speech) at a street festival, and who at various points claimed to have more or less codified hon culture, has apologized and promised to give up her legal claim, whatever it truly was, to the commercial use of the word "hon. " Would a hon turn the other heavily-rouged cheek? Probably, but it's going to take some time for Ms. Whiting to erase the ill will she needlessly brought on herself.

Not everyone in Baltimore thinks the image of the "hon" or its glorification through Honfest is cute, funny or endearing. It is actually rather insulting to a generation of working, lower-middle class people and does not put on Baltimore's best face for the tourists. What was once a quirky, local reason-to-drink has become an event that tourism guides tout as a reason to visit our city and watch us mock ourselves. That said, Café Hon owner Denise Whiting, the organizer and promoter of the event, is actually the hero of Hampden — and its only voice of reason.

The brouhaha surrounding the trademarking of the word "hon" seemed to become more serious Monday as Denise Whiting was granted a restraining order against a man who organized recent protests against her. Judge Joan Bossman Gordan issued the so-called peace order on Monday on Whiting's behalf, barring Steven Akers, a 25-year-old student from Severn, from any of Whiting's Hampden businesses and from contacting her or harassing her. Gordan extended...