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A handbook for an actually enjoyable season, just for New York subscribers.

Christmas in the late 1980s. Photo: Lauren Ro

I love everything Meri Meri does. Its stuff is on the pricier side, but I reuse it all every year. I have these large paper honeycomb ornaments and snowflakes for hanging, a variation of this chandelier, and some paper toy soldiers. I also have this Nativity-scene Advent calendar and this Nutcracker Advent calendar that I set up as dioramas each season. This year, I bought some stuff from the John Derian Target Christmas collection that I’m excited to put out. 

One year, I attempted to do a Feast of the Seven Fishes and ran around Brooklyn trying to source all of my seafood the day before. My trek took me to Sheepshead Bay to a place called Tsar Caviar, where the woman behind the counter could not abide my questions: “What do you recommend? What’s the best way to eat this?” (I had never bought caviar before!) I also went to a nearby fish market, on Avenue U, and stopped in to Fish Tales in Cobble Hill. Otherwise, we are usually having steak on Christmas Eve. We always get the dry-aged rib eye from Paisanos on Smith Street. There’s going to be a line, so I recommend getting there early or ordering ahead. 

I highly recommend doing a Chinatown Christmas brunch at least once. One year, before we had kids, my husband and I went to Hop Lee on Mott Street and ordered the Cantonese-style lobster. I don’t remember it being particularly crowded or difficult to get a table, but this was in 2016.

For a holiday party, sweets or baked goods — and this is key: packaged in any kind of box — is my go-to. Fancy chocolates, a row of macarons, and even a pastry box filled with Italian cookies and tied with baker’s twine are solid options. Basically, anything that your host or party guests will be delighted by and want to eat immediately is foolproof. 

Growing up, we’d go to church on Christmas morning, so we would always host a big extended family dinner and open presents the night before — even ones “from Santa,” who would mysteriously make an early stop at our house. I didn’t realize this was out of the ordinary until I was, embarrassingly, much older. All my aunts and uncles and cousins would come over, and many of us would be wearing handmade and hand-knit outfits by my maternal grandmother, who was a very talented seamstress. (Every Christmas, she would give me, and only me because I was the first grandchild, a new pair of patent-leather boots or dress shoes from a European children’s boutique on Fairfax to go with the clothes she made me.) Now that I have my own kids, we save presents for Christmas morning, and I have to say that it’s much more magical that way. The years we do go back to L.A. for the holidays, we still open family presents on Christmas Eve, but now we make sure to save Santa’s presents for the kids for the next morning.

The Strategist asked 20 notable people about their gifting philosophies, gifting nightmares, the best gifts under $25, and much more. Today's advice comes from Knicks player Josh Hart.

The best vessel for roasting a turkey, leftover containers to send home with guests, a not-a-big-deal-but-thoughtful gift, and more.

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