Christmas Day lunch in Perth: Restaurants booked out for dinner and lunch including Epicurean, State Buildings

While the prospect of eating out on Christmas Day may once have been considered blasphemous, a growing number of West Australians are choosing to forgo a traditional home-cooked feast and instead let the professionals do the work for them. In fact, many of Perth’s top restaurants are already booked out on December 25, with forward-thinking diners only too happy to pay top dollar for the chance to spend the big day relaxing rather than rushing around the kitchen. Auditya Gunti, chef de cuisine at Epicurean at Crown Perth, said the venue has been fully booked for Christmas Day breakfast, lunch and dinner sittings for months. Mr Gunti said it was part of a growing trend in recent years. “With modern, busy lives, it can be a challenge to plan and host a large group at residences as it consumes a lot of time in organising, decorating the house, choosing the menu and dishes, shopping for festive needs, buying ingredients and cooking,” Mr Gunti said. “This is something that is emerging as a fun activity among the diners, where you actually spend time talking, laughing together, rather than worrying about the roast getting burnt in the oven.” He said Epicurean — whose festive dining packages start at $120 per person — had many repeat customers who had made it a tradition to celebrate at the venue, with some even booking this year’s table on Christmas Day 2021. Even the recent cost of living pressures hadn’t quashed the Christmas spirit. “Despite rising costs of living in their day-to-day lives, there is greater interest in families wanting to eat out on Christmas Day as it is convenient and takes out all the hassles involved in cooking,” Mr Gunti said. He believed the trend was in part driven by the pandemic, with families who had been separated last festive season due to travel restrictions rethinking their holiday traditions this year. “There has been a shift in priorities from shopping, cooking and cleaning to instead, spending this valuable time with loved ones,” he said. Byron Wright, executive general manager of the State Buildings, said the CBD hospitality precinct was also heavily booked on December 25, with landmark restaurant Wildflower ($245 per person) and high-end Italian eatery Post ($168 per person) both at capacity for Christmas lunch. Waitlists were also in place. “Guests have been quick to make reservations over the month of December, with only a few bookings left across our array of restaurants on Christmas Day,” he said. Mr Gunti said after a challenging couple of years for the industry, it was encouraging to end the year on a high. “It has been a rollercoaster ride for hospitality over the last few years because of COVID,” he said. “I thank the hospitality fraternity that stayed strong and came together to help each other out during the tough periods. I am positive that the future is bright and encouraging for the industry.” Perth restaurants open and with tables available on Christmas *Available at the time of publication