Is it possible to get a traditional lunch on Christmas Day in New York?

WE ARE MEETING OUR LONDON-BASED ADULT CHILDREN IN NEW YORK FOR CHRISTMAS. ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR A TRADITIONAL LUNCH ON CHRISTMAS DAY? D.PORTER, BRIGHTON, VIC.


Americans do not celebrate Christmas with quite the same gusto as Europeans. They're usually still in recovery mode from Thanksgiving, their main winter food fest, after which turkeys are thin on the ground, and a lot of restaurants will be closed for the day. If your concept of a British Christmas lunch includes roast turkey with chestnut stuffing, bread sauce, sprouts, roast or mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, followed by Christmas pudding with brandy sauce and a long lie down, the only part of that you'll find easily on Christmas Day in NYC is the lie down. If it's open, my pick of dining options would be the Gramercy Tavern, gramercytavern.com, which puts on a fabulous Christmas display. Go for the dining room rather than the tavern. You probably won't get your Christmas lunch but it'll feel very festive, and the food is truly wonderful. Other alternatives are NYC's British-style gastropubs with the Breslin as a possible contender. The hotel restaurants will all be open and my pick would be Al Fiorai at The Langham Place Hotel, The NoMad in the hotel of the same name and Locanda Verde in The Greenwich Hotel.

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