Restaurants and bars are rolling out their holiday specials, their happy hour eggnogs and feasts of fishes, but the folks on 3rd street are going one better. They're throwing a holiday block party. Well, it's more than one block, so call it a neighborhood party. The West 3rd Street Business Association, a non-profit organization of businesses located on West Third Street between Fairfax and La Cienega, is having a party tomorrow night, December 10th, between 6-9 p.m. There will be food and drink, specials and sales in the various shops, and general communal merriment.

“We are a community,” says Joan McNamara of Joan's on Third, who had a box full of little glowy rings on her desk the other day in anticipation of the event. “We also need to be a destination to keep people in business.” In addition to their usual fare, Joan's will be serving wine and hors d'œuvres, including focaccia, for the occasion. Even with the closing of the late and much lamented Cook's Library, the area is bustling with shops and restaurants, so after a bit of shopping you can stop off at Joan's, or Little Door or Little Next Door, or drop in and have a bite at the bar at Ortolan. One of Christophe Emé's macarons (or his scrambled egg-in-its-own-shell with osetra caviar) would put anybody in the holiday mood.

One thing that helps build community is not having to worry about parking, especially during the holidays. Every Saturday and Sunday beginning at 11 a.m., there is valet parking along the street for only $3.50 ($5 after 5 p.m.). You can drop off your car and pick it up at any of the 4 valet stations located along 3rd Street. That might not be relevant for the party, but it sure will be in the coming weeks, or if you're wanting to go shopping this weekend–and have dinner at AOC.

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