All you have to do this Christmas is book

More people are choosing to eliminate the stress of the festive season and celebrate Christmas in a
restaurant. Now more than ever, restaurants are opening to meet the Christmas demand following
the large number of enquiries for bookings on this day.

New Zealand seems to be following overseas trends where Christmas Day is now the 3rd busiest day
of the year for American full service restaurants after Mothers day and Valentine’s Day.

President of the Wellington Branch of the Restaurant Association of New Zealand Mike Egan says
that he’s noticed a rise in the number of restaurant’ s opening on Christmas Day.

“When I first became involved in hospitality it was rare to find a restaurant open on Christmas Day,
but now there are more and more every year.

Mr Egan believes that it’s combination of cost and that the work place is often so busy throughout
December.

“I put it down to the fact that people are often working hard right up until Christmas. They just
want to relax on Christmas Day, have a beautiful meal prepared for them and not have the stress of
organising and cleaning up.

“And groceries are just getting more and more expensive, preparing a meal at home may cost the
same if not more than going to a restaurant , ” Mr Egan Said.

Wellington restaurant Osteria del Toro will be opening on Christmas Day for the first time due to
interest.

“There have been number of enquiries about Christmas Day lunch and we thought it a great idea to
open and meet the demand. We’re a big restaurant, perfect for those big Christmas groups of family
and friends, “ says Osteria del Toro restaurant manager Kelli Williams.

“It’s not just tourists and out-of-towners enquiring, it’s locals who say they would rather spend the
day celebrating and relaxing with their family than cooking and cleaning up. I don’t blame them!”
Ms Williams says.

If you’d rather leave the cooking to someone else this Christmas, the following is a list of Wellington
restaurants known to be open on Christmas Day 2011 for lunch and/or dinner; Osteria del Toro,
Dockside, Tinakori Bistro, Bisque on Bolton, CQ Hotel, Logan Brown, Simply Paris, The Grill, Whitby’s
and Brasserie 345.