To celebrate the holiday season, Casa Barilla, unveiled a special “Feast of the Seven Fishes” menu at its restaurants in New York and California. The two dishes on the menu pay homage to the Southern Italian custom of La Vigilia (the Vigil) and the Italian-American tradition of the “Feast of the Seven Fishes” in which in observance of an abstinence of meat on Christmas Eve, guests feast on an abundance of seafood in the form of a “grand-meal.” I had a chance to sample the menu recently at Casa Barilla's Radio City NYC location and it was a real treat!

I started my“Feast of the Seven Fishes” with the first item on the menu - a Chilled Crab and Scallop Tri-Color Salad ($13.95) - which features crabs, scallops, shrimp and calamari, mixed with cannelloni beans, served on top baby greens and drizzled with a citrus and white balsamic vinaigrette. While this could be an entree itself, with its generous helping of tender seafood and beans, this appetizer was a refreshing, light and tangy start to what was to come.