Happy holidays Foodtopia fans! We are excited to announce that once again, one of Asheville’s best restaurants, Strada Italiano, is celebrating both Christmas and New Year’s eve by serving up a traditional Italian-America favorite; The Feast of the Seven Fishes.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italian: Festa dei sette pesci), also known as The Vigil (Italian: La Vigilia), is an Italian-American celebration of Christmas Eve with meals of fish and other seafood. Fish on Friday or before a holy day has long been a tradition in the Catholic church. The eating of fish preserves the fast, no meat is served.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian American custom. The tight nit communities in New York, Boston and other urban areas wanted to preserve Italian culture and to create their own celebration. The meal often begins with a slice of lemon and is followed by shellfish with pasta and Baccalà (salt cod) and then an array of fish.
The vigil of Christmas Eve is a time to share hope and love with family and friends. At Strada the aim is to share their family tradition with the Asheville community by offering the Feast of the Seven Fishes both on Christmas eve and New Years eve. The set menu will involve a wide array of mouth-watering seafood dishes including octopus in a buttery white wine saffron tomato broth and Cioppino with fresh squid ink linguine.
Reservations are highly recommended and can be made over the phone at 828-348-8448. For more information visit their website here.
Strada is one of our favorite Eating Asheville restaurants, so if you can’t make it in over the holidays be sure to check them out on our walking food tours every day of the week!
Happy Holidays Foodtopia!!