Easter Brunch In New York City

There's no lack of brunch options in New York City, and on Easter in particular it appears as if everyone in town is out prowling the streets in search of a great brunch deal. Here are our picks for the best special brunch menus to get your money's worth.

Arlington Club
Chef Laurent Tourondel (of BLT fame)'s newest endeavor is the Arlington Club, on the Upper East Side. His Easter brunch specials include duck confit and duck egg salad; roasted leg of spring lamb with mint (pictured), black olive tapenade, and melted leeks; an "Easter egg trio" filled with salted caramel pudding, passion fruit and pistachio vacherin, and chocolate peanut butter mousse; and chocolate petits fours.  

SD26
This Madison Square sister restaurant to the Midtown classic San Domenico is serving a $70 four-course prix-fixe from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., and it's loaded with traditional Italian Easter fare. The menu includes vignarola, a traditional spring vegetable stew; a choice of ricotta and veal lasagnetta or a rice timbale called Sartú di Riso; roast baby lamb on the bone; and traditional Neapolitan desserts. Castiello, an Easter lard bread, will also join the bread basket.

ATRIO
Located inside the Conrad Hotel, this restaurant isn't just serving brunch, they're transforming the entire hotel lobby into an Easter "egg-stravaganza," complete with an Easter bunny, an Easter egg hunt, and egg-dyeing workshops. The brunch menu will be available from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a prix fixe menu ($45 for adults, $25 for children) and will include a choice of one entrée; one Bloody Mary, Bellini or mimosa; a pastry basket for the table; juice; and coffee or tea. Menu items include bruschetta scrambled eggs, as well as a rack of spring lamb with caramelized sunchokes, fava beans, and traditional Easter mint-flavored fregola. The children's menu will include French toast with caramel bananas, grilled cheese sandwiches, and homemade pepperoni pizza.

Alfredo of Rome
This traditional Italian restaurant in Rockefeller Center is going the ultra-traditional route, with a $50 three-course prix fixe. First course options include soups, salads, and fettuccine Alfredo (the dish is named after the restaurant, after all); mains include pastas, risotto, halibut, chicken, and osso buco; and for dessert you choose between vanilla gelato, tiramisu, or lemon panna cotta.

Seäsonal
This Michelin-starred contemporary Austrian restaurant on West 58th Street is offering a three-course prix fixe for $59. It highlights spring ingredients, and includes ramp soup with guinea hen and lemon, white asparagus salad, wild mushroom spätzle, and Colorado lamb shoulder.

Rayuela
For those looking to celebrate Easter with a Latin twist, this Lower East Side restaurant is serving an Argentinian-style Easter feast in honor of the new pope, who hails from the country. For $55, guests can dig into the "Pope Francis' First Last Supper Feast," which includes dishes like Molleja Saltena, pan-seared sweetbreads with braised fennel, and for entrées, the Churrasco Buenos Aires, a grilled rib-eye steak with chimichurri.

Sirio Ristorante
The newest offering from Le Cirque patriarch Sirio Maccioni, this restaurant, located in The Pierre Hotel, is also doing a $55 prix fixe, which includes a cocktail, an amuse (either a deviled egg or bruschetta), antipasti including an artichoke-ricotta flan, entrées including roasted lamb or prime rib, and traditional Easter desserts. There's also a $29 children's menu, and anyone wearing an Easter hat will receive a free glass of champagne.

Lincoln Ristorante
This relative newcomer from chef Jonathan Benno, located at Lincoln Center, is serving a $65 four-course prix- fixe on Sunday from noon to 8:30p.m. The menu will be focused on specialties from the Italian region of Liguria, and offerings will include gnocchi with basil pesto, whole roasted leg of lamb, grilled branzino, sheep's milk ricotta cheesecake, and, to top it off, a chocolate egg.

Bar Boulud
All of chef Daniel Boulud's New York restaurants are featuring special menus for Easter, but we're most taken by his four-course prix fixe at the casual Bar Boulud, on Broadway and 64th Street, which will be served from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the very reasonable price of $32 per person. The French-focused menu includes items like terrine of house-made ham with parsley and garlic, oeuf cocotte forestière with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions, an Easter egg filled with pistachio madeleine, a traditional Sablé Breton, and chocolate guimauve.

Aquavit
If a high-end traditional smörgåsbord is your style, Aquavit should be your go-to spot. At $75, their Easter offering is pricey, but it sounds delicious: lots of different varieties of herring, seafood (hot, cold, and smoked), deviled eggs, Easter ham and smoked leg of lamb, lots of different salads and condiments, and your choice of Swedish meatballs, smoked Colorado lamb loin and breast, and sockeye salmon confit. Swedish Easter treats, including the Tosca tart, are available for dessert.