Also this issue: Welcome to the Pub: Mary Ellen and Chris Mullins Girlfriends: Valerie Ferguson and Melonease Shaw Homeware for the Holidays: Ken Foster Its Your Party Everything else you need to know about holiday entertaining. Carm, All Ye Faithful How to celebrate the holidays Sopranos-style.(Menu and recipe adapted from The Sopranos Family Cookbook) -Elisa Ludwig The Feasting Begins A round of restaurant parties ushers in the holidays with panache. -Maxine Keyser Maxis minis -Maxine Keyser

December 12-18, 2002

cover story

World Party

Local restaurants take cues from Italy, Cuba and the U.S. of A.

by David Warner

Fish Story

The traditional Christmas Eve dinner of Italy -- the "Feast of the Seven Fishes" -- gets a bit of an upgrade at Lamberti's Pasta Pomodoro in Marlton, N.J.: Diners can feast on not just seven but 35 different fish, variously prepared for pick-up, delivery and for the restaurant's Dec. 24 dinner menu. According to GM and executive chef Joe Palombo (whom Philly restaurant-goers may remember from his days at Old City's Spasso), the number of fish served at the meal varies in Italy according to region; in Abruzzi, where he's from, it's usually seven (representing the seven virtues or the seven hills of Rome), but in other regions, it's three (for the three Wise Men) or 12 (for the apostles). "You can talk to different families in different towns and they all have their own numbers," says the chef. Why such an extended feast? The custom (also known as Cena Della Viglia, or The Dinner of the Vigil) dates back to the seventh century, so there are plenty of explanations, but here's my favorite reason: The meal has to be lengthy enough to keep people awake for midnight Mass.

Lamberti’s Pasta Pomodoro, 230 N. Maple Ave., Crispin Square Shopping Center, Marlton, N.J., 856-810-2099.

Rum and Yolk

Drop that drumstick! Cuba Libre wants to rearrange your holiday-menu expectations with a Christmas Eve menu based on traditional Cuban cuisine. Chef Guillermo Veloso's offerings will include lechon asado tradicional (slow-roasted suckling pig), mariscada en salsa verde (Maine lobster, king crab, scallops, prawns and mussels in a garlicky parsley and cilantro sauce), and asopao de pato y gandules (braised leg and seared breast of duck). Word of warning: Have too many cups of coquito, or Caribbean eggnog with dark rum, and you might not wake up again till New Year's.

Cuba Libre, 10 S. Second St., 215-627-0666. Christmas Eve reservations available beginning at 4 p.m.

Draft and Craft

Enterprising beer expert Jim Anderson has come up with the brilliant idea of combining two American holiday traditions: the craft show and the beer bash. At Anderson's fourth annual SantaFest, a happy marriage of art and alcohol at Sugar Mom's in Old City, you can browse among clothing, housewares, artwork and "a bunch of stuff that's impossible to describe," says Anderson, and sample draft beers of 2002 from Belgium and America. "Shop till you drop" may take on a whole new meaning.

SantaFest 4, Sat., Dec. 14, 1-6 p.m., free, Sugar Mom’s, 225 Church St., 215-925-8219.