NYC Holiday Guide

Meals + itineraries + shopping!

Another gift guide? God, no. (Though you can find one here…!) This is a guide to the holidays in New York, when this bananagrams town is on its best behavior.

December in the city reminds me of why I’m still here: For the people, of course, followed by the places where we get to come together year after year. They can also be uniquely exhausting and high-stakes, but let’s stay positive.

So here are my favorite spots for those annual catch-ups, as well as itineraries that combine the top categories in the Holiday Olympics: eating and gifting. I tried to boil it down and avoid the obvious, but sometimes places are obvious for a reason. (Maybe Balthazar and John Derian should do a holiday collab.)

I also asked some of the city’s brightest lights to share their holiday traditions. Enjoy — and please share your favorites in the comments: I’d love to know for next year.

Q. What’s your favorite holiday tradition?

Maira Kalman, artist, illustrator and, most recently, the author of Still Life With Remorse. You can find signed copies at Three Lives & Company:

“here is one of my favorite rituals in nyc.

no matter the season.

walk from Columbus Circle through Central Park.

go to St. Ambroeus on 77th and Madison

stand at the counter. I have an americano coffee and a prosciutto and mozzarella panini.

go to the Met. now you can see the Siena show.

after that, take a bus down fifth avenue to Rockefeller Center

there you can see the xmas tree lit up.

then you can go home and take a nap.

a perfect day.”

Dorie Greenspan, baking legend and author of the xoxoDorie newsletter, which has a wonderful cookbook gift guide:

“Sadly, I haven't been in NYC for the holidays for a while, but this year I'll be around and I'll finally get the chance to go to The Nutcracker with "the girls": my daughter-in-law, Linling, and my granddaughters Gemma and VV. My hope is that this will be the start of a tradition.”

Here’s the recipe for Dorie’s World Peace cookies, aka chocolate sablés, which I’ve made every holiday season for…decades. (Hint: Freeze the dough to make it easier to slice, and use a serrated knife!)

Leanne Shapton, artist and author, who will be co-hosting her stellar annual studio sale this Saturday, Dec. 14, from 2 to 7 p.m. at 147 W. 29^th St., 5^th floor. You can find everything from sketches to homemade salt-dough ornaments. (See you there!)

“Catching the Wainwright family holiday concert and having a mincemeat pie bake-off against my ex-husband.”

leanne shapton’s salt-dough ornament

Charlotte Druckman, author of Women on Food, among other books, and the co-genius behind the delightful pastry newsletter The Sweethearts (please read their tastefully researched guide to holiday cookies in NYC and beyond):

“My mom and I go to Alvin Ailey at City Center every year.”

Maria Cornejo, the beauty behind the clothing label Zero Maria Cornejo:

“In Manhattan, I always shop for gifts near our store: jewelry at Jill Platner, colorful slippers at Sabah, decoupage paperweights at John Derian and glass pitchers and other gifts for the kitchen at Il Buco Vita.

I also like to support my local community by shopping on Tompkins Avenue in Bed-Stuy, where I live: Sincerely, Tommy for fashion and coffee; books and wine at Dear Friend Books; candles and my favorite face oils at Ancient Blends Apothe’care; small children’s gifts at Mommy + Papi; and home goods and gifts at Peace and Riot.

I walk at Von King Park. Afterwards, I get coffee and breakfast at Clementine Bakery. I love my mad neighborhood.”