Deco Ristorante hosting seven course fish, seafood, and wine dinner December 16th

The seven-course fish and seafood dinner is $129 (all-inclusive) and features two seatings.

December 4, 2015; 11:19 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

If a holiday feast featuring fresh fish and seafood sounds like your idea of a good time, the Feast of the Seven Fishes Wine Dinner, taking place at Deco Ristorante in the Museum District will definitely be right up your alley. The $129 all-inclusive, seven-course meal will be held Wednesday, December 16th. Two seatings are available.

From Deco Ristorante:

DO YOU LIKE SEAFOOD, GREAT WINE, AND ONE-OF-A-KIND DINING EXPERIENCES?

JOIN US FOR THE FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES
Wednesday, December 16th
2 Seatings: 5:30 PM & 8:30 PM

DECO RISTORANTE: award-winning Sicilian restaurant just steps from the VMFA in the historic Museum District

$129 includes dinner, wine pairings, tax and gratuity — plus a special gift.

Origin: What is The Feast of the Seven Fishes?

Festa dei sette pesci, or the Feast of the Seven Fishes, is a traditional Italian Christmas Eve celebration featuring at least seven courses of fish and seafood. It is also know as La Vigilia, or The Vigil, and celebrates the wait for the midnight birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. It is unclear and the stories vary, but most believe La Vigilia originated along the impoverished, coastal regions of Southern Italy.

Tradition: Why the number Seven?

There are many uses of the number seven in the Bible; however, The Feast of the Seven Fishes is most commonly thought to be tied to the Seven Sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, holy orders, matrimony and the anointing of the sick.
Variations on the number of appropriate courses for The Feast abound. Some call for nine types of fish to be served, signifying the Holy Trinity times three, and others say the correct number is 13, for the 12 apostles plus Jesus.

The Food: What is typically served?

Traditionally, each of the seven courses features a different main ingredient or a different method of preparation. The meal includes various types of seafood, as Italians use the word fish to mean all types of sea creatures. It’s also likely, in true Italian fashion, to find traditional dishes like pasta featuring a seafood sauce. Other common offerings include fried small fish like sardines or fish balls, a light or acidic salad with seafood, grilled or broiled eel or smoked fish, and perhaps a seafood soup.

Many seafoods may grace the holiday table these days, such as anchovies, sardines, salt cod, smelt, eel, squid, octopus, shrimp, mussels, oysters, and clams. Fish might include whatever can be found fresh that day, for example: sea bass, bluefish, tuna, trout, or tautog (in Virginia).

A menu for our dinner at Deco will not be released as it is dependent on what seafood is available and could change that day.

$129 includes dinner, wine pairings, tax and gratuity, plus a special gift.
We can’t wait to share this extra special holiday meal with you!

Tickets must be purchased in advance and are LIMITED.