Seven Fishes, Restaurant Style, Parte Due

More restaurants are joining this Christmas tradition movement. OK, well, it's not exactly a movement, but it sure is taking place at a LOT of restaurants this Christmas season, and we mean to bring you the very best of the best menus that we can find.

Mike Stollenwerk, Chef/Owner of FISH, at 17th & Lombard in Philly, is serving up a spate of festive and delicious dishes this holiday season with a Seven Fishes menu, available from December 20-24, according to his publicist, who was kind enough to forward us a menu, and it is, as one would expect, a doozy. $60 per person for seven courses, with an option for wine pairings with each course, an additional $20:


7 FISHES

Baby Romaine, white anchovy vinaigrette

Clams and Capellini

Preserved tuna caponata with arugula

Shrimp piperade, polenta-kale galette

Octopus, chick peas and artichokes

Cod brandade, bardolino reduction

Chocolate-orange Pannettone


As with most of Stollenwerk's cooking, this is elegant simplicity and eye-opening combinations. Reservations required.

FISH
1708 Lombard St
Phila, PA
215-545-9600
Dinnerm Mon-Sun, 5PM-close
www.fishphilly.com


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Just about a mile south of Casa Lawrenceville is one of my favorite places, ENZO'S LA PICOLA CUCINA, a tiny BYOB with a surprisingly large, ever-changing Italian menu. Known for their monthly family-style Sunday dinners, they are serving up a formidable Feast of the 7 Fishes dinner on Sunday December 19, with 2PM and 6PM seatings, and priced at $70 per person, tax and tip included. Reservations are a must:


MENU

Antipasto

Bacala Salad

Clams with pancetta and scallions, vermouth sauce

Mussels Livornese

Pan-fried smelts

Stuffed calamari

Pasta with Italian tuna

Bacala with potatoes, olives and plum tomato sauce

Scallops Florentine


ENZO'S LA PICCOLA CUCINA
1906 Princeton Ave
Lawrenceville, NJ
609-396-9868
http://www.enzoscucina.com/


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Share the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes with the Big Talker 1210's Dom Giordano, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron Castille and His Eminence Cardinal Justin Rigali from 6 to 10 p.m. Dec. 21 at POSITANO COAST by Aldo Lamberti. Tickets are $75 and they are limited; find out more at http://www.cbsphilly.com/feast.

Besides the traditional Christmas Eve feast, there will be a radio broadcast, special guests and other dishes. The menu, courtesy of cbsphilly.com, will be served buffet-style:


Feast of the 7 Fishes

• Seafood Salad (calamari, scungigli, baby shrimp, octopus)
• Baccala Salad
• Crudo Station (mahi crudo on the spoon, Clams, Oyster in ½ shell)
• Fried Calamari
• Fried Smelts
• Baccala Pizzaiola – Olives, Tomato oregano
• Aldo Mussels
• Vegetable Focaccia
• Fried Zucchini
• Prosciutto, Salami
• Grilled Fennel• Artichokes
• Grilled Mixed Vegetables
• Insalata Caprese
• Roasted Peppers
• Eggplant Caponata
• Assorted Cheeses
• Olives
• Rigatoni Pescatore – calamari, baby shrimp, mussels, clams
• Farfalle Boscaiola – asparagus, artichokes, mushroom, tomato, baby shrimp, pesto cream sauce
• Beef Short Ribs
• Herb Crust Fish of the Day
• Chicken Marsala
• Broccoli rabe and Potatoes

POSITANO COAST by Aldo Lamberti

212 Walnut St, 2nd floor

Philadelphia, PA

215-238-0499

Seven Fishes, Restaurant Style

Besides winter beers, Beaujolais Nouveau, menorahs, kinaras and Christmas trees, at this time of year there are some wonderful meals to be had. Many of them are enjoyed at home, of course, but some restaurants go to great lengths to create family style repasts, such as the Christmas Eve ritual of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Here's my annual look at some restaurants that are composing Seven Fishes feasts for every palate and budget.


AVALON restaurant in West Chester, PA has created a rustic Italian menu, served family- style, for the Christmas Eve feast, replete with kid-friendly options for those who need them. It can also be prepared for takeout. This menu, on sheer quantity and creativity, is a steal:




Seven Fishes Feast

(Served family style)

AntiPasti

Fried Smelts, White Anchovies, Preserved Tuna & Fried Calamari

Pasta

Linguini with Shrimp, Mussels & Crab in San Marzano Red Sauce

Secondi

Fluke Piccata with Capers, Lemon and White Wine, Risotto Style Toasted Orzo

Insalta Digestivo

Organic Mixed Greens with Honey Broken Balsamic Vinaigrette

Dolce

Fresh Fruit and Cheese served family style (or sweet dessert from regular dessert menu may be substituted). Take out order will be Chocolate Cake that can be baked at home.


This feast, which is designed to be ordered by the entire party, is $45 per person; $15 for children under 12. Child-friendly options will be available. Pricing is the same for eat in and carry out. Reservations/Advanced orders necessary at 610/436-4100. For those who prefer, a limited a la carte menu will be available on Friday, December 24 as well.


Avalon Restaurant
312 South High St
West Chester, PA 19382
610/436-4100

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In Conshohocken, PA, TRATTORIA TOTARO has also created a Seven Fishes menu bursting with creativity and earthy, homey flavors, priced at $47 per person. Reservations required. They offer this feast on December 23 and 24, and it is also available for takeout.

CHRISTMAS EVE FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES
SERVED FAMILY STYLE
Thursday December 23 and Friday December 24, 2010

First Course
Seafood Sampler – A sampling of fried smelts, clams casino, garlic shrimp cocktail and bacala (codfish salad)

Second Course
Fruta di Mar (Cold Seafood Salad)
Shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams and calamari tossed with celery and onion with a garlic, olive oil, vinegar and herb dressing, served over greens
OR
Crab and Seafood Bisque

Third Course:
Pescatore – Sauteed shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams and calamari in marinara sauce over pasta. Also available in aiola sauce (garlic, olive oil, white wine sauce)
Flounder Porto – Flounder stuffed with lump crabmeat and spinach in a port wine cream sauce, then baked.
Calalmari Yolanda – Vince’s mothers traditional recipe: calamari tubes stuffed with sauté of vegetables, bread crumbs, herbs, pistachio nuts and raisins in marinara sauce or garlic, olive oil and white wine sauce

Dessert Sampler
Cannoli, Biscotti, Pizzelles and Cookies

Trattoria Totaro
639 Spring Mill Ave
Conshohocken, PA 19428
Phone 610-828-7050 /Fax 610-828-7052

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Ambler, PA's TRAX CAFE, housed in the town's historic train station, takes a deft spin on the traditional Seven Fishes feast with a $45 per person menu crafted by Exec Chef Steven Waxman that squeezes at least seven seafoods into just 4 courses (and thankfully not dessert!) Waxman will serve this menu the entire week before Christmas, from Tuesday Dec. 21 through Dec. 24:

Seven Fishes Feast

Crab & Shrimp Mornay

Bouillabaisse with Anchovy Crostini

Flounder Stuffed with Smoked Salmon Mousse with Vin-Blanc

Choice of: Chocolate Mousse with Cognac or Poached Pear with Raspberry Sauce

The restaurant will also serve its regular A la carte menu from December 21 - 24. Reservations are necessary.

The restaurant will be closed on December 25. A gala New Year's Eve dinner is planned for Friday, December 31.

Trax Café & Restaurant
27 West Butler Pike
Ambler PA 19002
215/591-9777
www.traxcafe.com

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Closer to my neck of the woods, RISTORANTE BATTIBECCO, a warm and homey Italian in Ewing, NJ is serving a very traditional family style Seven Fishes dinner that your table can design from a huge menu of possibilities. That makes the menu pricing flexible, ranging from $30-45 per person, less for kids under 12 (kids menu available too, if yours aren't ready for fried smelts). The menu here ranges from shrimp fra diavolo, bacala salad and calamari fritti with hot peppers and olives, to the aforementioned smelts, grilled langoustines, mussels, escarole and chick peas, clams casino and swordfish piccata. The meal is served from 1-8 PM on Christmas Eve. Reservations needed

Ristorante Battibecco

71 West Upper Ferry Rd

Ewing NJ 08628

609-882-5132

www.battibecconj.com

Brunch: Kid-Friendly For Real

I've managed to avoid the brunch whirl for over 5 years, coincidentally (and not accidentally) the span of time during which Ben and Sophie have been front and center for almost every dining decision in this house. There was an extended family brunch after the kids' first birthday party and a memorable review visit to the original Meridith's in Berwyn (now moved and renamed Aneu Bistro), and that was pretty much it. Over the past 5 years, I've found the regional brunch culture to be decidedly kid-unfriendly. Hotel-style brunch buffets are certainly doable, but the food is typically mediocre and uninspired; okay, they're almost always godawful. And despite the underwhelming food, the pricing for kids trends to the too-expensive-to-be-worth-it price point. Heck, I've actually worked at hotels that purposely priced brunch for "kids under 12" to discourage serving kids. I think that philosophy still exists at finer hotels, where the hope of a subtsantial, creative brunch still flickers.

So, hey, PJ'S Pancake House in Princeton sounds good, dunnit?

Well, I've had my eyes opened recently by Le Castagne in Philadelphia, Anthony Masapollo's sophisticated Northern Italian restaurant in Center City. I once interviewed Masapollo for an article I did on restaurants that served Christmas Eve Seven Fishes Dinners, and he really impressed me with his passion for family, eating together, relaxing together and I could tell that his philosophy was an important cornerstone in his life. And as a father of four young ones, he is no doubt aware of the dichotomy between fine dining and kid-friendly dining.

Masapollo has decided to open elegant Le Castagne for Sunday Brunch, with a menu of dishes priced mostly in the teens (and a half dozen dishes priced in the single digits), ranging from yogurt and granola to frittatas, a salumi plate, sandwiches, pastas and an earthy Eggs Benedict made with toasted pane rustica, prosciutto and truffled hollandaise. But Masapollo is also offering an elaborate buffet with the usual breakfast suspects and additions like smoked salmon, chicken cacciatore, veal porcini, mussels oreganata, and pastas priced at just $20 for adults and just $10 for children. He also slashes the price of brunch entrees in half when ordered with the buffet. God bless him.

I'm blogging all of this because I think it's a refreshing (and pretty damn bold)move on his part. It's not always easy to find a restaurateur who understands the challenges of dining out with kids, both social and financial, and Masapollo is making a culinary and business decision that favors the family. Because Masapollo gets it. He's all about family. And he's putting his money where his mouth is.

Le Castagne

1920 Chestnut St

Philadelphia

215-751-9913

http://www.lecastagne.com/