From the presents to the fully-stocked fridge, Christmas is expensive enough as it is.
So anyone thinking of adding a festive meal at a high-end restaurant to their wishlist may need to ask Father Christmas for a winning lottery ticket.
For TV’s most celebrated chefs are preparing to serve up Christmas dinner costing up to £2,700, without booze.
Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay, Tom Kerridge and Rick Stein will all be offering expensive versions of the humble roast.
The bill for a family of six at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, recognised as one of the best restaurants in the world, could top £2,700, not including wine.
For that diners will get to sample a choice of Christmas tipples including Snowball, Bristol Cream or Bucks Fizz followed by a range of dishes including a main of short rib of beef.
Other treats include truffle egg, smoked salmon, buttered toast, chicken liver parfait and plum, plus white chocolate and caviar, with a blurb posted online boasting Christmas at the Fat Duck, ‘is all about nostalgia, emotion, celebration, theatre, indulgence, and fun’. Wine choices range from £16 to £92 per 125ml glass serving.
The next most expensive festive offering is at Gordon Ramsay’s Savoy Grill in London where a sit-down Christmas Day dinner will set you back £345 per person. There is a choice of canapes and first courses including whiskey & rye smoked salmon or duck liver & honey-glazed ham hock terrine.
Heston Blumenthal pictured on BBC show Heston Blumenthal’s Perfect Christmas. Dinner at his restaurant in Bray, Berkshire could cost up to £2,700, not including wine
Gordan Ramsey pictured on the Channel 4 show Christmas With Gordon. Dinner at his London restaurant will set you back £345 per person
Main course options include Norfolk butter poached turkey, Dover sole duglere, beef wellington or truffled Jerusalem artichokes plus desert options such as Christmas pudding or yule log.
Wine by the glass can be purchased for between £12 and £370 per 125ml serving.
At Tom Kerridge’s London restaurant Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, a Christmas day dinner will set you back £325 with wine choices per 100ml serving costing as much as £230 a glass.
Menu choices include canapes and Champagne followed by a choice of duck leg, liver and ham hock terrine or smoked and roasted celeriac with pickled walnuts, bitter leaves and Tunworth cheese.
Mains include a roasted free range Norfolk turkey or roasted fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef, followed by a choice of desserts including Kerridge’s Christmas pudding with brandy sauce.
Though cheaper, Christmas Day dinner at Rick Stein’ Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall, will still set you back £165pp, with wines from £10 per 125ml serving.
The chef offers a choice of mains including beef wellington, roasted turkey, mushroom pithivier or Dover sole a la meuniere, plus a smoked salmon and avocado roulade and a lobster consommé with choice of canapes. Desserts include vanilla panna cotta.
Supermarket figures for 2024 show the average cost of Christmas dinner for four was up 6.5 per cent on the previous year, to £32.57, as the price of turkey and vegetables rose.
Tom Kerridge (pictured) with his perfect roast turkey. His London restaurant Kerridge’s Bar & Grill costs £325 per person without wine
Christmas Day dinner at Rick Stein’s (pictured) Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall, will still set you back £165 per person
The increase was much higher than overall grocery inflation of 2.6 per cent, which was up again on November 2024’s 2.3 per cent, say analysts Worldpanel.
Figures for 2025 are set to be released next month.
Last week the Daily Mail reported that some Tom Kerridge customers were miffed after the chef released a beef wellington as part of his M&S Christmas range priced at an eye-watering £195.
The dish, which serves six, is described as the ‘ultimate Christmas Eve showstopper’ and includes a beef fillet, portobello mushroom and chicken mousse duxelles wrapped in butter pastry with a beef and red wine gravy.
The star chef has previously raised eyebrows by selling a £37 fish and chips meal and a jacket potato for £19.50.
The chefs were contacted for comment.
Food critic Sarah Rainey said: ‘Putting a Michelin twist on your Christmas dinner will certainly cost you – but is it worth it?
‘Eating out will save you the stress of cooking, plus the dreaded washing up.
‘And there’s no need to worry about undercooked turkey or sorry sprouts with a TV star at the helm.
‘Saying that, you’ll get the same treatment (and maybe even a pig in blanket or two, which don’t seem to feature on the fancier menus) at your local pub for a fraction of the price.’
Jo Travers, The London Nutritionist and author of The Low-Fad Diet, said: ‘Diners eating at any of these establishments are in for a treat – and I am very jealous!
‘Not only are the dishes here bound to be tasty, the high price tag allows the restaurants to buy the highest quality ingredients.’
