The Feast of the Seven Fishes is as synonymous with the Christmas season as gingerbread houses and frostbite. An Italian pastime, the “festa dei sette pesci” arose out of the Catholic ritual of not eating meat on Fridays and certain holy days, and due to the holiness of the holiday season, the feast became a prominent annual fixture, what with seven being representative of its symbolic importance in Catholicism.

Perusing Christmas trees is much more fun in close proximity to whiskey and Cuban sandwiches. This year, Chicagoans can skip the tree farm and stay closer to home by swinging by one of their favorite restaurants that just so happens to moonlight as a Christmas tree hub.

There’s a sprawling new lunch option in the Loop, and for the time being it has usurped a large chunk of Block 37. The NOSH, the acclaimed food market that made a name for itself in Wicker Park over the summer, is taking up residence in the central shopping Mecca through December 13, featuring a miscellany of artisanal food vendors slinging their wares to hungry downtown denizens. It’s a veritable gourmet food court, stocked with local restaurants, pop-up operations, food trucks, and more. Here’s a sampling of what you can expect to nosh on over the next several days, available every weekday from 10:30 am until 2:00 pm.