Photographs by Zachary Zavislak

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April Bloomfield’s Christmas Feast

April Bloomfield’s favorite part about serving an elaborate feast: the ritual of it all. “We ring a bell, and everyone cheers and claps as the whole beast is paraded out,” says Bloomfield, who introduced whole-suckling-pig dinners at the Spotted Pig and now features three feasts a night at the Breslin, her medieval gastropub. The latter will also be offering a roast-duck feast through the holidays. “It’s fun to cook something whole, something extravagant to bring people together,” she says of the British- and Italian-influenced menu, which begins with her Devils on Horseback—crispy bacon-wrapped prunes punctuated with spicy pear—and ends with Banoffee pie—a not-too-sweet banana-and-toffee confection.

See the Recipes:
Serves 10
Devils on Horseback
Salad Greens With Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate Seeds, and Parmesan
Balsamic-Glazed Slow-Roasted Duck
Roasted Vegetables: Red Onions, Carrots, Parsnips, and Fennel
Jerusalem Artichoke Smash
Swiss Chard With Olive Oil
Banoffee Pie

Food styling by Alison Attenborough. Prop styling by Philippa Brathwaite.

Credits: Thanksgiving photo: Turkey platter and breadboard from Le Fanion; underlying tablecloth, glass bottle, and pewter serving bowl from Paula Rubenstein; top tablecloths, urn, driftwood, wooden and stone plinths, pewter soup bowls, soup pot, serving dishes, and all else from the private collection of Vito Giallo. Christmas photo: Velvet, fabric, platters, silver tray, horn salad servers, blue-and-white dinner plates, and silver-footed vase from the private collection of Vito Giallo; silver-footed Asprey bowl, George III silver entrée dish, and porcelain bowl from Niall Smith Antiques; candelabra from Bergdorf Goodman; Ironstone vegetable dish from Paula Rubenstein; duck from D’Artagnan.

Related:

• Archive: “Food Features”
• Articles by Gillian Duffy
• Table of Contents: Nov 14, 2011 issue of New York | Subscribe!