Frankies 570
An early seating at this rustic Italian bistro will set you back $85 for four courses, but you won’t be worrying about the price once you feast your eyes on a salad of Chilled Maine Lobster, Black Ink Fusilli, Slow Roasted Lamb Loin, and a Kabocha Squash Torta. Choices double later in the evening, as does the price (well, almost). $125 buys a Crudo of Nantucket Bay Scallop or Braised Artichoke Salad, Grilled Quail, and Creamy Burrata with Chanterelles, plus wine pairings, cocktails, and...
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Eataly
Mario Batali’s massive Italian emporium may seem like an odd place to spend the New Year, but we’re talking about an extravagant buffet at the rooftop restaurant Birreria, not a midnight toast as you shop the aisles for sheep’s milk cheese and pancetta. A $175 ticket includes an all-you-can eat feast of Italian specialties, along with wine, cask beer, top shelf cocktails, and dessert with digestives and...
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Dressler
This Michelin-starred Williamsburg restaurant is offering a fantastic four-course menu for $125 all night long. Who wouldn’t feel celebratory feasting on Wagyu Beef Carpaccio with quail egg and white truffles, Seared Foie Gras with Armagnac French Toast, Millbrook Farms Venison with Gin Au Poivre, and Chocolate Mousse Bombe with a caramel...
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Vinegar Hill House
At $100 per guest, the Late Night Extravaganza at this top-rated Brooklyn restaurant is relatively affordable (this is New Years Eve in NYC, after all). Chef Brian Leth’s four-course menu is based on “La Grand Bouffe,” a 1973 French-Italian film by Marco Ferreri about a great feast. You’ll need adventurous tastebuds for this one – options include Veal Kidney with chocolate bordelaise, Blood Sausage with apples, Wild Boar with chestnut puree, and Quail with currants and...
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SushiSamba
Celebrate the imminent arrival of 2013 in true Brazilian style at Reveillon, SushiSamba’s annual white party. Both NYC locations will feature DJs, samba dancers, drummers, party favors, an all-white décor, and staff in festive dress. The full menu (with celebratory specials like Wagyu Beef Tataki and Lobster Coconut Seviche) will be offered a la carte, plus a $30 surcharge for seatings from 10 pm to...
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Aureole
You can’t get much closer to the bustle of Times Square than at Charlie Palmer’s luxurious steakhouse, Aureole, but you might have to dip into your savings in order to finance an 8-9:30pm seating. $395 covers a five-course tasting menu plus admission to the after party, which includes a DJ, dancing, passed hors d’oeuvres, and a champagne toast at...
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Holiday Breakfast The Russian Tea Room
It’s probably hard to find a New Yorker that hasn’t at least dreamt about taking over a booth in the corner of The Russian Tea Room. Those fantasies only grow during the holiday season, when The Russian Tea Room seems pulled almost directly out of a Christmas card, with its plush red banquets, green walls, and golden samovars glittering in each corner.
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Momofuku Milk Bar
Any bakery that can make magic with Thanksgiving leftovers (ie: Momofuku’s turkey and cranberry-stuffed croissant), is bound to have a few tricks up their sleeve come Christmas. We can’t wait to try chef Christina Tosi’s festive twist on her popular Cornflake Cookies (she added peppermint), her traditional Stollen, or ingenious Cinnamon Bun Pie – a thick, cinnamon-scented crust filled with a viscous brown butter vanilla frosting and topped with honeyed oats. Snag a slice for yourself at Momofuku Milk Bar locations all over town, or at their stand at the Union Square Holiday...
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Pasticceria Rocco
Don’t let your preconceived notions of fruitcake prevent you from trying Rocco’s delectable Panettone, an oversized, cylindrical sweet bread studded with candied orange, citron, lemon zest and raisins. You needn’t worry about finishing it off in one sitting – the hearty bread makes a great vehicle for day-after-Christmas pudding, or sinfully rich French toast. Just one warning, you’ll probably find it hard to leave Rocco’s without filling a pastry box with a variety of other holiday specialties, like Biscotti, Regina and Quaresimali cookies, sticky-sweet Marzipan candies, and...
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Hot Bread Kitchen
What’s not to love about Hot Bread Kitchen? They sell baked goods to finance programs supporting low-income individuals, and everything they make happens to be fantastic. It doesn’t hurt that the guy manning the ovens is former Per Se baker Ben Hershberger, who’s debuting a rum-soaked, fruit-stuffed, almond-filled Stollen this season. That means we’ll probably end up eating our weight in cake, but it’s a bit of holiday overindulgence we can really feel good...
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Café Sabarsky
Herring, soft pretzels and sausages may not immediately scream Christmas to us, but there’s no denying that Austrians know a thing or two when it comes to making scrumptious holiday pastries. Thankfully, there’s no need to hop on a plane for a taste of Linzertorte, currently served at Café Sabarsky, an authentic Viennese café inside the Neue Galerie. A traditional Christmas confection, the lattice-topped tart is filled with raspberry jam and hazelnuts, and sprinkled with sliced pistachios, almonds, and powdered...
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Columbus Circle Holiday Market
If you’re more of an uptown shopper, there are plenty of high-end purveyors to choose from at this festive, open-air bazaar. We had our eye on a $250 hand-knit wrap-around sweater, but maybe we were just lightheaded from hunger. Better warm up with a bowl of tortilla soup from Cascabel Taqueria before you impulse buy. It’s loaded with chunks of tender chicken and tortilla chips and sprinkled with queso fresco and Mexican...
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Union Square Holiday Market
If you regularly frequent Union Square for its fabulous farmers market (as you definitely should), you’ll especially appreciate its granddaddy of a holiday bazaar, now in its 19th year. A 100-strong list of vendors peddle unique products (we’ve got our eye on antique NYC maps from Pageant Print shop), until December 24th. If you’ve waited until Christmas Eve to finish your shopping you might have bigger problems to worry about, but there’s no reason to let hunger get in the way of you participating in the last minute rush. We particularly recommend the Arancina al Nero di Seppia from Arancini Bros. Besides being a perfect, handheld mini-meal, these crispy, creamy risotto balls are flavored with squid ink and filled with tomatoes and spicy shrimp, perfect if you have to skip the Feast of the Seven Fishes in order to...
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Grand Central Holiday Fair
Grand Central’s elegant Holiday Fair features 76 micro-boutiques, and while none of them specialize in food, the terminal itself has seriously stepped up its game in the last few years. Finish off a day of shopping with a ready-to-go sandwich from Murray’s Cheese, pick up a fancy french pastry from Financier, or, if you still have a bit of cash to burn, settle in for champagne and crustaceans at the Grand Central Oyster...
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Brooklyn Night Bazaar
If you’re Brooklyn-based, you’ll adore the new Night Bazaar in Williamsburg, modeled after the lively night markets popular throughout Asia. Although an endless supply of quirky arts and crafts deserves more than a second look, this market boasts some of the best eats the borough has to offer, including barbecue from Fort Reno, steamed bun sandwiches from Baohaus, and even an Ethiopian spread from the vegetarian, gluten-free pop-up, Bunna...
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The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park
The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park are in their 11th season, and we can’t think of a better way to spend the day than by doing lots and lots of Christmas shopping and going for a spin on their ice rink afterwards. Oh wait, yes we can. Build up your strength before strapping on your skates by ordering a plate of Louisiana-style goodness from Daisy’s Grits – we especially love the succulent shrimp and green onions served over silky white...
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Chocolate Orange Biscotti
Who doesn’t love baking (and eating) batch after batch of cookies during the holiday season? We particularly enjoy making these crunchy, not too sweet biscotti, perfect for having alongside a cup of coffee or cocoa, or dipping into a glass of rum-spiked eggnog or dessert wine. We know that once you try them, they’ll become a beloved part of your holiday tradition.
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The John Dory Oyster Bar
Can Brits really handle the Feast of the Seven Fishes? Absolutely, if you’re talking about April Bloomfield and The John Dory Oyster Bar, her hip seafood mecca in the elegant Ace Hotel. Chef de cuisine Josh Even plans to go global with traditional feast ingredients, offering up a creamy Salt Cod Brandade, Chorizo-Stuffed Squid with Smoked Tomato, and (this is an oyster bar after all) Hog Island Sweetwater Oysters topped with Sea Urchin...
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i Trulli
This rustic, Apulian restaurant will spread their shellfish celebration over not just one, but ten days this year, offering a four-course feast menu from December 17th to the 24th. You might just want to schedule a repeat visit to try all of the under-the-sea options, as there are four different antipasti, primi, and secondi to choose from. Why not order the Fritto Misto, Tonnarelli with Octopus Ragu, and Monkfish Osso Bucco one day, and the Wood-oven Roasted Oysters, Fregola with Clams and Saffron, and Swordfish with Bottarga and Breadcrumbs the...
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Oceana
Where better to celebrate the glory of shellfish than at the glittering midtown hotspot, Oceana? Chef Ben Pollinger’s five-course feast promises to be a seriously high-end affair, featuring Hiramasa Tartare with persimmon and sicilian pistachio, Octopus, Cuttlefish and Calamari Salad with cranberry beans and preserved lemon, and Roast Maine Lobster and Caviar, served with black trumpet mushrooms and caviar...
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