Boxing Day
If the holidays have you feeling punchy, relieve a little stress and let Picasso Cafe handle your meal the day after Christmas at its Boxing Day Brunch 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday at 3009 Paseo St.
Boxing Day is an annual British holiday held Dec. 26. Traditionally, it was the day when churches opened alms boxes and distributed their contents to the poor. It was also the day when people who worked on Christmas celebrated with their families.
Picasso Cafe serves its dinner menu, a few brunch menu items and Boxing Day specials. Reservations are accepted. Visit picassosonpaseo.com or call 405-602-2002.
Holiday revelry
Local restaurants are banking on Oklahoma City’s strategic ugly sweater supply as they host a bevy of celebrations for partygoers who prefer warmth to fashion.
The parties start Friday with an ugly sweater contest 6-10 p.m. at Twin Peaks, 6500 SW Third St. The first 50 guests receive a Peaks Party pass — a round of drinks and appetizers for 10 — for use at a future date, and there will be prizes for the ugliest Christmas sweater. Visit twinpeaksrestaurant.com or call 405-384-5791.
Next, Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewing Company, 1900 Northwest Expressway, hosts its Ugly Sweater Holiday Jam 10 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday. Equilibrium, which won an Oklahoma Gazette Woody Award in 2009, performs its blend of jazz, funk and soul. Entry is $7 and includes a craft beer from the brewery. Visit belleislerestaurant.com or call 405-840-1911.
Anthem Brewing Company’s Festivus Party 6-9 p.m. Friday at its taproom, 908 SW Fourth St., is less sweater-clad but still fun. Inspired by Seinfeld, the party includes the company’s Festivus beer on tap and a “feats of strength” game for prizes. Comedians Heather King and Josh Lathe host The Airing of Grievances.
Brewmaster Patrick Lively said this is the third year Anthem has brewed the Festivus beer, which features predominant cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger flavors.
“We mess with the base beer each year, so it’s a different vintage,” he said. “We were shooting for kind of an apple pie sort of aesthetic with a little tartness to it.”
Call 405-604-0446 or visit anthembrewing.com.
On Christmas Eve, Cosmopolitan, 7 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, hosts its ugly sweater party 7 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday. Guests wearing an ugly sweater get in for half price, receive a domestic beer and are entered into a drawing for a $50 Cosmopolitan gift card. Visit cosmopolitanokc.com or call 405-225-1956.
Refectory reception
When executive chef Ryan Murphy took over the kitchen at The Meat Market Refectory, 2920 NW 63rd St., in August, he decided to push the menu toward a more French-style steakhouse feel.
He hopes guests will ring in the new year with Meat Market’s prix fixe menu Dec. 31.
The restaurant is open 3-5 p.m. and serves its light bar menu before it hosts its reservation-only New Year’s Eve dinner 5-10 p.m., which is $80 for four courses or $110 with wine pairings.
The menu includes truffle scrambled eggs on brioche toast points with crème fraîche and chives, Caesar salad with micro brioche croutons and a choice of 10-oz. beef filet or sautéed Chilean sea bass. A 5-oz. lobster tail can be added for $30 more.
Murphy described the restaurant’s ambiance as European casual. The dinner ends at 10 p.m., and then the bar remains open to help diners welcome 2017.
Visit meatmarketrefectory.com or call 405-608-8866.
