Thanksgiving Dining Out

On Thanksgiving Day, you’re technically supposed to give thanks for the people in our lives and the food on our table.  In America, that translates to overeating, excessive drinking and lots of leftover turkey.  It also translates a lot of cooking.   If you can’t bare the thought of cooking this year, some of the city’s best restaurants are offering to take on the daunting task for you.  Thinking of dining out on Thanksgiving, there are lots of good options…

Market Table
54 Carmine Street (btwn. 7th Ave. & Bedford St.)
(212) 255-2100
www.markettablenyc.com
If you’re dining out this Thanksgiving, it doesn’t get much better than Market Table.  Or homier for that matter.  It’s hard to please everyone, but Mikey Price & Joey Campanaro have put together a menu that just might.  We took at a quick look at the menu to find a duck and kale soup appetizer, roast turkey with braised leg roulade, and fig and cornbread stuffing.  Not a meat eater, there’s also halibut with a root vegetable risotto.  But as far as dessert is concerned, there’s no question: pumpkin pudding topped with gingersnaps and spiced cream.

Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 2nd Ave., (btwn. 12th & 13th Street)
(212) 254-3500
www.momofuku.com      
Dreaming of a David Chang Thanksgiving?  For $285, a Bo ssam feast can be a reality.  That’s dinner for eight with Chang’s roasted pork shoulder with lettuce and kimchi wrappers of course. The Asian-inspired sides include apple stuffing, sweet potato puree. Kewpie coleslaw and brussel sprouts.  Apparently, Momofuku Ssam ups the ante with a cashew blondie pie topped with a creamy pumpkin ganache.  Let’s hope he decides to stay open for Christmas too.

Gilt
The New York Palace Hotel
455 Madison Ave., (btwn. 50th & 51st Street)
(212) 891-8100        
www.giltnyc.com
Last call for Christopher Lee at Gilt as he exits stage left.  But not before cooking a $110, four-course dinner for Thanksgiving.   As always, Lee takes a sophisticated approach with yellowfin tuna tartare with rice pearls, kimchee and scallion pancakes.  Next up,  diver sea scallops with kabocha squash puree and apple cider.   There’s turkey of course, but the slow-cooked prime rib with chanterelle mushrooms, baby root vegetables, and beef jus sounds much more interesting.   To cap off the meal, there’s pumpkin strudel with cranberry sorbet and pomegranate jus.

Bar Americain
152 W. 52nd St, (btwn. 7th Ave. & Ave. of the Americas)
(212) 265-9700        
www.baramericain.com
Wouldn’t be terrific if Bobby Flay offered to cook Thanksgiving dinner?   Dinner at Bar Americain comes pretty close.   Think southwestern twists on the holiday classics for $75 per person.  Not bad.  Especially when the appetizers include Johnny cakes with barbecued duck or gulf shrimp with grits.  Do save room maple & horseradish glazed turkey served with cornbread stuffing and creamed kale.  There’s a lot of choose from for dessert, including a milk chocolate cinnamon ice cream sandwiches or fruit-filled crepes with Indian pudding ice cream.  Who counts calories on Thanksgiving anyway?  Not us.

Porter House
10 Columbus Circle, 4th Floor
(212) 823-9500        
www.porterhousenewyork.com
Chef Michael Lomonaco is makes a pretty good argument to have an untraditional Thanksgiving meal.  A thick, juicy filet mignon or an Angus rib eye with cognac-peppercorn sauce.  Porter House is offering an $85 prix-fixe menu with jumbo lump crab cakes, grilled salmon, and of course turkey.  For dessert, there’s a caramelized apple tart or pumpkin pie with spiced and candied nuts.

Hill Country
30 W. 26th St., btwn. Ave. of the Americas & Broadway
(212) 255-4544
www.hillcountryny.com
Feel like staying home and not cooking this year?   Perhaps a little Texas barbecue.  Hill Country makes it a little too easy with a $255 take-home feast, which includes a pit-smoked turkey with cornbread and honey butter and a choice of Texas toast stuffing or Longhorn cheddar mac & cheese.  You’ll need a cab or car because they’re also supplying pies, like bourbon pecan or gingersnap pumpkin.

Aureole...

Aureole
34 E. 61st Street, (btwn. Madison and Park Ave.)
(212) 319-1660        
Thanksgiving might be a good excuse to
revisit Aureole and celebrate its 20th Anniversary.   Since it’s moving
locations, it’s also one of the last chances to dine at Aureole 1.0.  
On the agenda , herbed potato ravioli with smoked salmon ribbons or
venison loin in a cherry jus with pomegranate almond couscous.  The
honeycrisp apple tarte tatin served with brown sugar ice cream sounds
like a fantastic finish.

Cookshop
156 10th Ave., btwn. 19th & 20th Sts.
(212) 924-4440        
www.cookshopny.com
Talk about feeling at home — Marc Meyers and
Vicki Freeman are serving a family-style meal at Cookshop in Chelsea. 
They’re spicing up the holiday with untraditional appetizers, like
venison carpaccio or hand cut pasta with cauliflower & mushrooms. 
Not a meat eater, try the striped bass with a spiced red wine
reduction.  Whatever you decide, don’t miss  chipotle sweet potato mash
or pear and brown bread dressing, code for stuffing.

Mia Dona
206 E. 58th St, (btwn. 2nd & 3rd Ave.)
(212) 750-8170        
www.miadona.com
Chef Michael Psilakis takes on an Italian
Thanksgiving.  Not to mention budget friendly.  Mia Dona’s three-course
menu is just $45 per person.  On the menu this year, is chestnut soup
with farro and cannellini beans, grilled branzino with artichokes and
potatoes or pasta with veal and speck bolognese.   Finish with a pecan
tart with pumpkin gelato or zeppoles and sweet polenta with olive oil
gelato.

Vai
225 West 77th Street, btwn. Broadway & Amsterdam
(212)362-4500
www.vairestaurant.com
Chef Vincent Chirico has resurfaced
following his departure from Frederick’s Downtown.   This time, he’s
moved to the UWS, where he’s cooking a very Italian Thanksgiving for
$45 per person.  On the menu is butternut squash and ricotta ravioli,
wild mushroom and sunchoke soup or a foie gras terrine and organic
turkey with sausage stuffing.   And mini-donuts.   If that’s too
unconventional to imagine for the holiday, there’s an apple tart.