Dining Out on Thanksgiving

This year, we give thanks to all of the NYC restaurants who keep their doors open on Thanksgiving, and keep our kitchens free of mayhem and mess.  No more must we wait on daunting lines at Whole Foods or slave away all day roasting turkeys.  This year, you may want to opt out of an at-home dinner and dine out on Thanksgiving.

Our top picks:

Prune
(212)-677-6221
54 E 1st St.btwn 1st & 2nd Ave
Stop in this East Village gem for a New
American Thanksgiving dinner. Gabrielle
Hamilton whimsically substitutes braised capons for turkey and sides avail a
combination of both the classic and unusual: stewed chestnuts with ricotta and
sea salt, as well as butternut squash with pear and candied bacon.

Chubo
(212) 674-6300
6 Clinton Street
This tiny yet worldly restaurant offers a four-course
prix-fixe dinner with an edge. To begin, there is Japanese consommé with
chicken-escargots ravioli and a pumpkinseed oil fall finish. For the main
course, “Turkey Two Ways” with cornbread oyster stuffing, grape-cranberry
sauce, and miso-glazed brussel sprouts. A hot mango pancake with with ginger ice cream caps off an alternative
Thanksgiving.

Tocqueville
(212) 647-1515
1 East 15^th Street
Embrace in traditional flavors for $75 at this Union Square favorite.  Tempt with a puree of kabocha squash with duck sausage.  For a main
course, pork tenderloin and cider-braised ham with port-roasted apples and a
Greenmarket carrot stew stands up to traditional turkey. For dessert, wash down
a bite of chocolate walnut steamed pudding with a hot spiced apple toddy. It’s a gluttonous affair, fitting to the
occasion.

Les Halles
(212)-679-4111
411 Park Ave S., btwn 28th & 29th St
This popular French-American brasserie hosts a Thanksgiving
that doesn’t particularly scream tradaitional. Think a foie gras terrine with bread and chicken liver mousse or a
chestnut-stuffed boneless turkey roulade. For dessert, a warm sticky pecan pie…

 Picholine
(212) 724-8585
35 West 64^th St. btwn 5th & 6th Ave. http://www.picholinenyc.com/chef_brennan.asp
This $95 prix-fixe menu is laden with sweet and savory
pairings: squash gnocchi accompanied with biscotti crumbs and smoked quail
salad with licorice celeriac and sweet pomegranate. Naturally, turkey is offered as a main course
with sweet potato gratin, and there’s even a children’s menu for $45: think
coca-cola glazed ham and pumpkin bread pudding.

Caffe on the
Green
(718) 423-7272
201-10 Cross Island Parkway
Bayside, NY 11360
For those who live in Queens,
this former home to Rudolph Valentino offers a prix-fixe menu for $38.50. For
antipasti, caprese salad is offered alongside minestra: butternut squash soup
with cremini mushrooms. Turkey is given an Italian twist with pignoli-sausage stuffing, while hearty eggplant
rollatini stuffed with ricotta and spicy tomato sauce is also offered. For
dessert, frangelico-flecked Bananas Foster with honey panna cotta, making for a
downright Italian thanksgiving.

Payard Bistro
(212) 717-5252
1032
Lexington Ave.btwn 73^rd and 74^th
Sts.
Known for its top-notch pastries, this French bistro is
offering a $62 prix-fixe dinner with a veritable smorgasbord, featuring a
parsnip tart with duck confit as well as mushroom and chestnut risotto. Turkey gets
opulent with foie gras-chestnut stuffing, and the mundane pumpkin pie is cast
aside for pumpkin crème brulee.

Chikalicious
(212)-995-9511
203
E 10th St, btwn 1st & 2nd Ave.
http://www.chikalicious.com/wine_list.htm
For a small and satisfying counterpart to the rich and
heavy desserts synonymous with the holiday, you might want to try this seasonal
$12 prix-fixe. Taste the warm cornmeal pound cake with corn ice cream and a duo
of grapes in Moscato d’Asti, or pumpkin caramel trifle with spiced genoise and
toasted pecan.

Gusto
(212)-924-8000
60 Greenwich Ave btwn 6th & 7th Ave
For $75, enjoy a modern Italian Thanksgiving with roasted
winter squash salad and rich truffled turkey with an unusual semolina raisin
stuffing. For dessert, warming pear walnut crostata is spiced with creamy
cinnamon gelato.

Good Enough to Eat
(212)-496-0163
483
Amsterdam Ave. btwn 83rd & 84th Sts. http://www.goodenoughtoeat.com/html/menus.html
This comfort food UWS spot has a Thanksgiving prix fixe that
includes herb-roasted turkey, cranberry orange relish, chocolate pecan pie and
an apple cranberry crisp. If you want to
fake the cooking at home, you can take out on the sly.

Mesa Grill
(212) 807-7400
102 5^th Ave
For a Southwestern take on old tradition, Mesa Grill offers
a prix-fixe menu filled with smoke and heat. There’s a pomegranate and black pepper-glazed center cut pork chop,
complete with wild rice tamale, brussel sprouts and countless other
compliments. Desserts include maple flan with sautéed pears and warm molasses
madeleines.

Porter House New York
(212) 823-9500
10 Columbus Circle, 4^th Floor
For an alternate meat Thanksgiving, try this steak house’s
$85 prix-fixe Thanksgiving menu. Starters
include seasonal butternut squash bisque and toasted pumpkin seeds. In sticking with the red meat theme, opt for
Black Angus filet mignon with shallots and cabernet, and indulge in some sweet
Indian pudding for a hearty finish.

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
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