For many families, gathering around the dinner table together for a delicious meal is one of the highlights of the holiday season. But preparing a feast that suits everyone’s taste buds can add unnecessary stress to an already very busy time of year.
In an effort to help take some anxiety out of the holidays, many local restaurants, caterers and supermarkets are offering special holiday catering menus. Rather than buying up all the different ingredients and spending the majority of your day in the kitchen, you just place your order and pick up your food.
While purchasing food is typically more expensive than cooking your own, it may be worth it for the convenience of finally spending more time eating in your kitchen than cooking. If you’re looking to treat yourself, and your family, to a special meal this season, the following places got you covered.
Princeton’s Main Street Bistro has crafted a menu specifically for those looking to entertain this holiday season. Whether for a holiday dinner or a News Years Eve party, their unique sides, entrees and appetizers have you covered. A few highlights include their sweet potato and butternut squash soup ($9.50) and sausage and potato frittata ($45) appetizers, spiral cut ham platter that serves 20 people ($85) and their red velvet poinsettia cake ($26 for 7-inch and $37 for 9-inch).
Christmas orders must be placed by noon on Monday, Dec. 21 and can be picked up at their Kingston location, 4581 Route 27. For more information call (609) 921-2777 or visit mainstreetcatering.com.
Whole Foods, 3495 US Route 1 South, Princeton, offers a special fully cooked, ready to eat Hanukkah dinner ($99) that serves six to eight people. It includes potato latkes, matzoh ball soup, braised beef brisket, brisket gravy and green beans with roasted shallots.
They offer other holiday dinners — such as a glazed ham ($129) and a herb roasted turkey ($129) that both serve 10-15 people — and a wide-variety of vegetarian or seafood options, including a large platter of fried tofu tossed ($69.99) that serves 15-18 and smoked salmon ($39.99) that serves 10-14. For their full catering menu visit wholefoodsmarket.com/shop/PRN or call (609) 799-2919.
Princeton’s Wegman’s, 240 Nassau Park Blvd., takes pride in its simple and easy catering system. They offer complete dinners for the holidays such as their premium turkey dinner ($139), which serves 10-12 people. It includes a fully cooked whole 12-14-pound turkey complete with gravy and stuffing and six side dishes. Their traditional turkey dinner ($89) is cheaper but also smaller, serving 8-10 people. For ham lovers, Wegman’s also offers their signature spiral-sliced ham dinner ($135) that serves 10-12.
All orders must be placed at least 24 hours in advance. To place an order, or to see their full catering menus, visit wegmans.com/parties or call (609) 919-9300.
Joe Clemente, chef and owner of Dolce & Clemente, 2 North Commerce Square, Robbinsville, said his staff wants to make the holiday celebrations memorable, convenient and delicious. The Italian-style food store offers Christmas Eve, Christmas and holiday packages — both cooked and uncooked — that include antipasto, roasts, shrimp platters and seasonal Italian specialties like la vigilia (Christmas Eve fish dinner), pizza rustica (meat pie) and struffoli (honey balls).
The holiday packages are custom made to allow customers to choose the best dishes for their own family traditions and tastes, and they can serve 10 people or more. Christmas orders should be placed by Monday, Dec. 21. For more information call (609) 259-0072 or visit dolceandclementes.com.
The Princeton and Pennington locations of Chez Alice are separate operations these days, but both are known throughout the area for their selections of catering options. The Pennington Chez Alice’s seasonal menus offer a wide range of delicacies year-round. Like Dolce & Clemente, their holiday menu is also custom made, which allows people to select from more than 40 different entree, side and dessert options to create their ideal dinner.
Their platters and hors d’oeuvres range from basil pesto mozzarella cups to saucy Asian meatballs. Patrons can pair beef wellington with au poivre sauce ($175) with a side of roasted asparagus and wild mushrooms ($12) or holiday lasagna ($52) with grilled eggplant and zucchini ($10). For dessert, Chez Alice offers everyone from buche de noel ($29) to Italian Rum Cake ($24 for 7-inch or $38 for 10-inch).
They suggest that all orders for Christmas be placed by Friday, Dec. 18. For their full holiday menu visit chezalicecatering.com/seasonal_holiday.html or call (609) 737-1199 for more information.
These are but a few of the local restaurants and caterers that offer holiday packages in the area. Others include Olives (22 Witherspoon St.; olivesprinceton.com), D’Angelo’s Italian Market (35 Spring St.; dangelomarket.com) and Brick Farm Market (65 E. Broad St., Hopewell; brickfarmmarket.com). Many were wrapped up in Thanksgiving orders when the Echo called and were unable to give details about their December offerings, but any one of them might be just what you need to make this year’s holiday celebrations a tasty and relaxing affair.
