how to enjoy the holidays in new york city

Fir and Vinegar: Two Essential Ingredients to Any Holiday Recipe

2008-12-09T08:13:00.000-08:00

H2EHNYC has returned, after a filling Thanksgiving and several failed work-out regiments to make up for it. If you haven't started exercising yet, why start by hauling a decrepit evergreen home? Especially one that you found outside of a grocery store (how unromantic)? And since when does shoving a shedding tree up two flights of stairs and pushing it through your door like a pasta maker spell H-o-l-i-d-a-y S-p-i-r-i-t? It doesn't. This year, let the perpetually cheerful family at Egan Acres Tree Farm do all of the work for you. As fictional as this place might sound, it exists. And what's more fictitious-sounding: it exists in the Bronx. Millions of fresh cut Nova Scotia Balsam Fir trees are just waiting for you to adopt them, and the Egan's would like to help you. Travel to the farm yourself or call them up and tell them what you're looking for, and they'll deliver it right to your doorstep. They don't stop at trees, either. Handmade wreaths and garland are sold as well. This Christmas, truly traditional is what's in, and the Egan's would like nothing more than to help you out.

But enough about trees. If a green plastic masterpiece suits you just fine, one might suggest your money be spent on the finer things: like holiday dining. If your apartment feels more like a minimalist's interpretation of Antarctica than your mother's kitchen, a trip to Vinegar Hill House is in order. This just-birthed Brooklyn restaurant has the perfect amount of cozy, kitsch and culinary to create the perfect holiday atmosphere. Not only is the food fantastic (and served to you in the pan in which it was made) but the decor would make Ms. Claus feel right at home. A woodburning oven is the main attraction, and, get this: the chef actually cooks on it. It's location provides the small-town atmosphere that one rarely finds surrounding a good New York eatery. Small plates range from $8-$13 and entrees from $12-$16.

How to Dine Out for Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving in the city could be fantastic if only you allowed it to be. If you can't be with family on Thursday (and who's to say that this is a bad thing. Really.), gather a group of equally orphaned friends and have dinner at one of these delightfully unexpected, inexpensive places of eatery. It's much nicer than sitting at home and watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with a feast of salsa, chips and Haagen-Dazs, and much more sensible than venturing out into the homicidal crowds at the Macy's parade.

Bistro Les Amis

$33.95 a person

180 Spring Street

The Place: A really fantastic French Bistro in SoHo, Les Amis is serving the Thanksgiving dinner your mother might make... after returning from a two week Parisian vacation.

The Feast: French as can be. Includes carrot ginger soup, stuffed turkey bread with garlic sausage, mashed potato quenelles, cranberry sauce with pears and cardamon, and a variety of desserts.

Ellen's Stardust Diner

$39.95 a person

1650 Broadway at the corner of 51s

The Place: Legendary for it's "singing waitstaff," the notion at Ellen's could be summed up in three words: don't hate, participate. If singing waiters and waitresses isn't your thing, stay away. But if you're looking for a uniquely vintage, extremely tuneful, and certainly unexpected Thanksgiving, Ellen's is it.

The Feast: As can be expected: includes roasted carrot

ginger puree, roast turkey with mashed sweet potatoes, salmon or pumpkin ravioli, and all of the predictable pies.

Cornelia Street Cafe

$50.00 a person

29 Cornelia Street

The Place: Cornelia's is as West Village as one can get on Thanksgiving. Often a venue for jazz musicians and other musical acts, tonight the entertainment is lacking, but the mood remains intact. There's candlelit tables and decor that screams "you're going to be paying a lot for your meal, but isn't it worth it?"

The Feast: The price delivers a more sophisicated menu and includes crab cakes, roasted turkey, risotto, salmon or lamb, bread pudding, creme brulee or sorbet.

The Chocolate War

2008-11-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

Since vegan sensibility has made egg nog-passe (and you're always a little creeped out when you finish a glass of something with "egg" in the title), by default, hot chocolate is the undeniable drink of the yuletide this year. But where does one go for the best? It's a bit of a heated debate. The contenders: Vosges Haut Chocolat and MarieBelle Fine Chocolates. If the decision making becomes all too much, you can always rip open a packet of Swiss Miss and use the marshmallows at your discretion.

Contender One: Vosges Haut Chocolat

132 Spring Street, also at 1100 Madison Avenue

Average Cup: $5.00

Located on Spring Street, Vosges is definitely the really intense aunt of the hot chocolate family. One can find chocolate paired and combined with a number of odd foods, from curry to bacon and even with Jamaican beer. Aside from its strange pairings, there is plainly delicious chocolate too, like Great Gatsby inspired truffles and a wide variety of the season's most fashionable drink, hot chocolate. Their most popular: Bianca White Cocoa. Other couture cocoa's include the Aztec (ancho, chipotle and cinnamon) and the Parisienne (vanilla bean). Unfortunately, Vosges loses points in preparation: while the hot coco is light, delicious and well blended (perfect for pairing with a piece of haut chocolat) it is taken from Vosges' very own refrigerator and then warmed up by a quick blast of heat. Delicious, still. The place comes complete with a trendy interior and a hot chocolate bar. Some locations even have in-store boutiques.

Contender Two: MarieBelle Fine Chocolates

484 Broome St

Average Cup: $6.00

This SoHo staple approaches chocolate in a much more traditional way. If Vosges is your crazy aunt, MarieBelle's is your thirty-something cousin who enjoys Amelie a little too much and changes the flowers in her bathroom once a week. On a good day, the hot chocolate will be made right before your eyes, but even when it's not, it never sees a refrigerator. In addition to simple hot chocolate recipes, MarieBelle's offers a variety of Aztec inspired drinks (though not at all comparable to the intensity of Vosges). Unlike the light and delicious hot coco at Vosges, MarieBelle makes hot chocolate like a meal. It's thick and rich, nearer to pudding than any drink one might find at Haut Chocolat. Sweet treats just as traditional are displayed to entice, as well. MarieBelle's is the perfect place to take, say, your mother when she visits for the holidays. Just don't let her know how much you're paying.