Not everyone is a chef, and let’s face it: preparing meals for groups, especially during the holiday season, can make even the most organized of us into a ball of nerves. In fact, three out of four Americans say they’re stressed about holiday hosting, according to a poll conducted by OnePoll. To make it less stressful, Georgia chefs have shared some insider tips and lesser-known tricks to make holiday meals faster, more flavorful and easier to manage. A few quick tips from our culinary round-up:
- Plan Cold and Hot Meal Prep Separately: Prep cold items the night before – leave only final touches for the day of – and toss slow-cooked braises in the oven early to “set and forget,” recommends Olivier Reedholm, Executive Chef of Ecco Buckhead.
- Cook with Your Drinks: Another great tip from Reedholm is to incorporate holiday beverages into dishes. Use Beaujolais for red meats, a beurre blanc for fish, or dark beers in your pan gravies to boost flavor without extra effort.
- Prep Like a Pro: Marinate, blanch, chop, and make sauces ahead of time. Label everything, store in Ziplock bags and delegate sides to guests. This keeps the kitchen calm and allows you to enjoy the celebration, according to Gizzy Rawlins, Executive Chef of Ela in Virginia-Highland.
- Spatchcock Your Turkey: Mark Jeffers, Culinary Director of Fifth Group Restaurants recommends this technique of removing the backbone and flattening the bird for even cooking, crispy skin and freed-up oven space.
- Master the Gravy: Jeffers also recommends using the browned bits left in the pan (known as fond), deglazing with wine or stock, straining, and finishing with cold butter to get a rich, silky gravy.
- Use Sheet Pans and Buffer Dishes: Line sheet pans with parchment for roasting, reheating or resting meats. Include a couple sides that hold well, like stuffing, gratins or braised greens, to buy breathing room when things get hectic.
- Make It Festive and Fun: Suzanne Barr, Executive Chef of South City Kitchen in Atlanta, suggests baking cookies or assembling desserts with friends and family. Music, laughter and hands-on prep keep the kitchen relaxed and make the holidays feel special, she says.
If all else fails, most of Fifth Group’s restaurants will be open on Christmas Eve to take the pressure off. South City Kitchen’s Buckhead, Midtown, and Vinings locations will be open, serving a three-course pre-fixe menu for $85 per person. Ecco Buckhead will offer a family-style dinner for $75 per person, while Ecco Midtown will serve a three-course pre-fixe menu priced at $95 per person. La Tavola will also feature a three-course pre-fixe meal at $95 per person, and Ela and South City Kitchen Avalon will be open on Christmas Eve serving their regular menu with regular hours.
These other Atlanta restaurants are also open and serving on Christmas Eve, if hosting gets too hectic.
- The Buckhead favorite Aria will be open 4:30-8 p.m. on Dec. 24, offering regular service with both its à la carte menu and nightly tasting menu, each designed to highlight the season’s finest ingredients.
- Buckhead’s MICHELIN-starred Omakase Table will be open Christmas Eve for its 20-course tasting menu dinner for $295 a person. With fish sourced straight from Tokyo, the experience at this two-room restaurant will be a true Christmas gift.
- The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill will celebrate from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a special cioppino pasta—pappardelle with mussels, Manila clams, jumbo lump crab, and shrimp in a tomato–white wine broth ($42). Guests can pair the meal with festive cocktails like the Snow on the Beach, made with Yave Coconut tequila, or the Snowdrift Bushwacker, a frozen coconut-mocha winter cocktail.
- Open from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m., The Southern Gentleman will offer both brunch and dinner service on Christmas Eve so guests can toast the holiday with classic cocktails and comforting Southern fare in a warm, inviting atmosphere.
- Mary Mac’s Tea Room will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but guests can still enjoy Southern favorites from the comfort of home with the beloved restaurant’s Family Feasts To-Go, feeding four or 10 guests. These dinners feature carved turkey breast, green beans, cornbread dressing and gravy, cranberry sauce, potato soufflé, yeast rolls and sweet potato pie. These items are available for preorder online.
- The Ashford on Dresden invites guests to celebrate Christmas Eve and enjoy its approachable, chef-driven menu. The Brookhaven restaurant will be open for regular service.
- Cattle Shed Wine & Steak Bar’s in Alpharetta will be open Christmas Eve featuring bacon-wrapped scallops with butternut squash purée and fall succotash and beef Wellington wrapped in puff pastry with mushroom duxelles and bordelaise. The last seating will be at 6:30 p.m.
- From 2-8 p.m., guests at Milton’s Cuisine and Cocktails can enjoy a festive three-course prix fixe dinner featuring dishes like roasted pear and arugula salad, herb-roasted prime rib, rack of lamb, pan-roasted redfish, and indulgent desserts, including sweet potato and maple cheesecake and Milton’s carrot cake. The menu is $85 per person. The restaurant says Christmas Eve fills up fast.
