Kitchen Dish

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CHRISTMAS FEASTS

For people whose Christmas Eve traditions do not include eating in the home of loved ones by a fireplace, roasting chestnuts and drinking wassail, New York’s restaurants will happily help you celebrate the occasion. Particularly popular at city restaurants this year is the Italian tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes.

Among the destinations with special seafood offerings are Patsy’s (236 W. 56th St., between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, 212-247-3491), which was Frank Sinatra’s favorite restaurant. Their $49 holiday menu includes salads of calamari and salt cod, scampi, clams Posillipo, octopus affogati , shrimp fra diavolo, and stuffed calamari.

At Gonzo (140 W. 13th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-645-4606), the $60 feast features seafood salad, baked clams, mussels, seafood sausage, and blue crab. Main course choices include sautéeed Gulf shrimp, grilled salmon, prosciutto-wrapped scallops, clam-and-sausage roast, and pan-seared wild bass.

BOULEY ALUMNI

A team that met at Bouley has opened a restaurant of their own in the West Village. Bar Blanc (142 W. 10th St., between Greenwich Avenue and Waverly Place, 212-255-2330) is the joint effort of a Bouley’s former business manager, its general manager, and its chef de cuisine. The chef César Ramirez is roasting baby pig and serving it with pig head terrine, chanterelle mushrooms, and Brussels sprouts. His steak is grilled over Japanese charcoal, and his lasagna is made with lamb and porcini mushrooms. In his oxtail consommé is a custard of oxtail, root vegetables, and lovage.

COMFORT FOOD

Remedy Diner (245 E. Houston St. at Norfolk Street, 212-677-5110) opened on Monday, serving typical diner food, plus shrimp ceviche, seafood paella, and a line of smoothies. It’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

VEGAN TREATS

Baby Cakes (248 Broome St., between Orchard and Ludlow streets, 212-677-5047), a vegan pastry shop that specializes in desserts without gluten or refined sugar, is offering a special, limited menu December 21–24 that includes soy-free, agave-sweetened frosted gingerbread; soy-free cinnamon sugar toasties with brandy-soaked apples (also available without alcohol); and agave-sweetened double chocolate crumb cake with chocolate or mint sauce.

CAUTION TO THE WIND

For full-gluten, high-dairy, sugary treats, there’s Magnolia Bakery (401 Bleecker St. at 11th Street, 212-462-2572). On the day before Christmas, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the bakery is offering individually wrapped cupcakes for Santa Claus. These treats —free for children 10 or younger — come with a note for the jolly gift-giver. Youngsters must be present to receive the free cupcake, and the offer is limited to one cupcake a child.

PASTRY SHOWDOWN

Students enrolled in New York City’s culinary-centric high schools will take part Friday in a baking competition, which is being held in advance of the opening performance of Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” at the Metropolitan Opera. Pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini of Jean-Georges will judge the contest, which is not open to the public, and will give the winner a private cooking demonstration.

HERE AND THERE

Restaurateur Georges Forgeois, who owns Cercle Rouge, Jules, and Bar Tabac, has teamed up with Laurent Dupal, who owns two Ceci-Cela pastry shops — in Nolita and TriBeCa — to open a commercial bakery in Williamsburg (67 Metropolitan Ave., between Wythe and Kent avenues). Mr. Dupal will be closing his TriBeCa shop at the end of the year and hopes to open the commercial bakery in early 2008 to supply more restaurants and retail outlets.

Mr. Thorn is food editor of Nation’s Restaurant News. He maintains nrnfoodwriter.blogspot.com.


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