Mother's Day, that annual holiday in honor of all things maternal, is almost upon us. If you want to treat your mama to a celebratory meal, you'd better make your reservations soon (like yesterday!) because Mother's Day is the most popular dining-out day of the year. To get you started, here are some festive options that New York restaurants are cooking up for Sunday, May 11th.
Aquavit: Celebrate your mother Scandinavian-style with a smorgasbord brunch buffet at Marcus Samuelsson’s "classic" Midtown spot (11:40 AM–2:30 PM; $60 per person; 212-307-7311).
Cafe Luxembourg: This timeless Upper West Side bistro is preparing brunch and dinner specials for your mère, including a lobster Benedict with truffled hollandaise ($23) for brunch and Hudson Valley foie gras with strawberries and thyme ($17) at dinner (212-873-7411).
Craft: If your mom loves Top Chef, take her to Tom Colicchio’s crown jewel; in addition to its regular à la carte menu, there will be a three-course tasting menu featuring pea-shoot salad with a five-minute egg, baby pig with roasted spring vegetables and carrot cake with carrot-coconut sorbet (11 AM–3 PM; $58 per person; $93 includes wine pairings; 212-780-0880).
Klee Brasserie: This Chelsea European has special dishes on tap for mama's brunch and dinner including scrambled eggs with peekytoe crabmeat ($18) and halibut schnitzel with wilted dandelion and potato salad ($26) for brunch and asparagus–goat cheese salad ($16) and warm berry cobbler ($10) for dinner (brunch, 11 AM–4 PM; dinner, 5–11 PM; 212-633-8033).
Lima's Taste: Give your mother a taste of the Andes at this homey West Village spot where there will be a special four-course prix fixe available featuring chicken causas, bacon-wrapped shrimp, lamb stew, seafood ceviche and cinnamon flan (noon–midnight; $40 per person; 212-242-0010).
Pamplona: Alex Ureña's three-course prix fixe dia de la madre menu includes Spanish options like fried duck egg with truffle oil and white asparagus, suckling pig confit and peach upside-down cake; a cava cocktail is included (1–9 PM; $55 per person; 212-213-2328).
SushiSamba: Both locations of this popular Brazilian-influenced sushi restaurant will be serving a family-style Mother's Day prix fixe consisting of any three dishes from a menu that includes a shrimp-asparagus-heart-of-palm frittata, roasted filet mignon with two eggs any style and a salmon plate (11 AM–3 PM; $35 per person; West Village, 212-691-7885; Flatiron, 212-475-9377).