For the first time since it opened six years ago, Ai Fiori, a fine-dining Italian restaurant in New York City that is part of the Altamarea Group, is celebrating Christmas with a Feast of the Seven Fishes.
A tradition from southern Italy that’s widely celebrated among Italian Americans on Christmas Eve, the custom allows for lavish feasting even on this fasting day, when it is customary to forego eating meat.
But Ai Fiori’s new chef de cuisine, Scott Schneider, isn’t completely following tradition. The main course, a halibut dish, has some chorizo in it. He’s also making the seven-course meal available for the entire week preceding Christmas, which is on a Sunday this year, as well as on Christmas Day.
The meal is priced at $175 on Monday through Saturday, and $250 on Christmas.
“This is something a little different that we’ve never seen on our menu before,” said Schneider, who started as a line cook at the restaurant six years ago. He became chef de cuisine at the end of August. “Maybe it will entice people to come dine with us a little bit.”
Schneider didn’t need to invent new dishes for the feast.
“All of these are basically on the menu right now,” he said, except for the oyster in the first course.