flamingo restaurant information established 1992 current owner s denise whiting street address 1002 west 36th street city baltimore state maryland postal code zip 21211 2415 country united states website www.cafehon.com cafe hon is a restaurant in the hampden area of baltimore maryland and site of the annual honfest every june . contents 1 history 2 flamingo 3 hon as a trademark 4 references 5 external links history edit opened by denise whiting in 1992 cafe hon takes its name from a common term of endearment hon an abbreviated version of the word honey used by baltimore residents for years . in 2010 whiting announced the opening of hontown a gift shop across the street from the restaurant . in 2014 the gift shop relocated to a smaller space next door to the restaurant . on february 24 2012 cafe hon was featured in an episode of the fox network s kitchen nightmares with gordon ramsay . 1 flamingo edit in 2002 the distinct flamingo sculpture was introduced above the restaurant . 2 the original flamingo was made of wire and cloth . 3 in october 2009 the city of baltimore announced the cafe hon had to either get a permit for the flamingo at a cost of 1300 for the first year and 800 each year thereafter or to take it down . 4 the issue was that the flamingo protruded into the public right of way . 5 the bird was temporarily removed while this case was being disputed . whiting stated that the flamingo was hibernating during its time of absence and was determined to fight the city . 3 citation needed whiting and the city finally reached an agreement in which the permit fee would be at least 400 a year 5 and the flamingo returned . 6 the new flamingo that was introduced is made of fiberglass . 7 then mayor sheila dixon was present at the unveiling of the new flamingo . 8 following dixon s trial on corruption charges elaine pollack known as juror no. 11 during the trial came under fire as it was later learned that she was present during the unveiling of the flamingo along with dixon . 9 10 this was one of dixon s last public appearances before her resignation . 11 hon as a trademark edit in november 2010 whiting trademarked the term hon for use on napkins buttons hats and other promotional material to promote cafe hon. the trademark as stated by whiting doesn t prevent anyone from saying hon 12 or using it in general conversation . 12 the trademark issue was criticized by dan rodricks columnist for the baltimore sun you can t own something that doesn t belong to you ... . hon isn t unique to denise whiting no matter how special she wants us to believe she is . 13 because of whiting s trademark many citizens of baltimore were outraged and took to the streets in protest on december 19 2010 to express their anger . 14 on november 7 2011 during the taping for kitchen nightmares whiting held a press conference with ramsay present where she announced that she would be relinquishing the hon trademark . ramsay stated that with cafe hon there was a level of hatred that was almost untouchable . i ve never known a restaurant to have such a huge issue . the cafe hon episode of kitchen nightmares has been briefly described in a baltimore sun article stating that while a typical episode features slovenly kitchens and indolent staffs the cafe hon episode dealt with a unique public relations issue one woman vs. a city . 1 whiting stated that the controversy over trademarking the word hon had a huge toll on her business and her own health she estimated that since it was first revealed in december of 2010 that hon was trademarked to her she estimated a 20 to 25 percent drop off in sales and that she needed to sell her iras just to meet payroll . 15 whiting filed to have the trademark cancelled and announced it on facebook on november 11 2011 . 16 references edit a b gorelick richard . tears then hugs on cafe hon episode of kitchen nightmares the baltimore sun february 24 2012 . accessed february 25 2012 . quirks in the news . upi.com . 2009 10 13 . retrieved 2013 07 25 . a b baltimore news wbal radio 1090 am . wbal.com . 2009 10 13 . retrieved 2013 07 25 . 1 dead link a b across the usa news from every state . usa today . 28 october 2009 . baltimore news wbal radio 1090 am . wbal.com . retrieved 2013 07 25 . baltimore at city hall this fall talk was of flamingogate . csmonitor.com . 2009 11 27 . retrieved 2013 07 25 . boehm mike . entertainment entertainment movies tv music celebrity hollywood latimes.com latimes.com . calendarlive.com . retrieved 2013 07 25 . vozzella laura 2 december 2009 . laura vozzella the prolific juror no. 11 finally gets to speak out . los angeles times . boehm mike . entertainment entertainment movies tv music celebrity hollywood latimes.com latimes.com . calendarlive.com . retrieved 2013 07 25 . people speak out on dixon s plea deal baltimore sun . articles.baltimoresun.com . 2010 01 07 . retrieved 2013 07 25 . a b newsbox . prsafe.com . retrieved 2013 07 25 . rodrick dan 11 december 2010 . dan rodricks you don t own me hon . the baltimore sun . retrieved 16 december 2010 . rosen jill 19 december 2010 . demonstrators protest hon trademark in hampden . the baltimore sun . retrieved 29 december 2010 . gorelick richard 2011 11 07 . caf hon owner denise whiting drops her right to the hon trademark . baltimoresun.com . retrieved 2013 07 25 . goldfarb bruce 2014 04 16 . caf hon gordon ramsay and the fight to liberate a word revisited . baltimore post examiner . retrieved 2015 12 06 . external links edit cafehon.com official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title cafe hon & oldid 743279764 categories hampden baltimorerestaurants in baltimorelandmarks in baltimoreculture of baltimorecompanies based in baltimorerestaurants established in 19921992 establishments in marylandhidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from july 2013all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from august 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