You Can Enjoy Thanksgiving 2015 At These Restaurants
You've decided to visit friends and/or family for the holidays and they aren't so thrilled at the idea of cooking a great big bird, or maybe you're taking advantage of the extra-long weekend to explore someplace new for Thanksgiving and won't have access to a kitchen. Perhaps you shudder at the thought of slaving away over sink-fulls of dishes, or work has taken you away from home and you'll have to fend for yourself this holiday.
No matter what the reason, if you're looking to eat Thanksgiving dinner out at a restaurant this year, we have some suggestions of the best places to do so that we know of, grouped by state.
***Please note that securing reservations for each meal is strongly recommended***
Arizona
Serving a traditional Thanksgiving Day feast with Southwest flair in Tucson, guests can enjoy the eclectic menu at The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa's AZuL Restaurant. The menu will feature unique dishes such as agave chile-rubbed turkey with poblano crema, spiced pecan cranberry relish, cornbread chorizo stuffing, roasted chestnut apple brioche stuffing with apple cider, and cauliflower gratin with queso cotija. This flavorful culinary experience is served with breathtaking views of the Santa Catalina Mountains, a western sunset, and warm weather.
California
Downtown Los Angeles' Artisan House will offer diners a Thanksgiving buffet featuring all the holiday essentials including roasted turkey, honey cured ham, green bean casserole, and candied yams, along with not-so traditional offerings like truffle mac and cheese and pumpkin crème brûlée, and Artisan House's classic brunch offerings. The comprehensive buffet is $30 per person with bottomless mimosa available for an extra $10.
Chef Alejandro Abad will serve a Thanksgiving dinner at Bay 223 Restaurant at Sofitel San Francisco Bay for $75 per person and for $45 more guests can enjoy each of their courses with specifically chosen wines from Italy. The food menu includes root vegetable feuille de brick and a striped bass, but a more classic Thanksgiving meal will also be available, consisting of turkey in two delicious ways: topped with sweet potato puree and sprinkled with a pain polaine-pecan crumble.
Cleo at The Redbury in L.A. will offer a Thanksgiving menu served with a Mediterranean twist. Curated by award-winning chef Danny Elmaleh, the holiday menu will feature a wide variety of mezzes served family style, choice of specialty salad, entree, and dessert. Dishes include persimmon and pomegranate salad with goat cheese, sauerkraut, and parsnip latkes with apple butter, and slow roasted spiced Colorado lamb shoulder. Seatings are available at 3, 5, and 7 p.m. for $65 per person.
From noon to 8 pm at the Hotel Bel-Air, executive chef Hugo Bolanos and his team will serve a four-course Thanksgiving-inspired feast for $155 per adult, and $65 for children 12 and under. Highlights include roasted pumpkin soup with cardamom cream, cranberry compote, and pumpkin brittle; a roasted Heritage turkey; yellow Finnish potato puree; roasted baby turnips and carrots; and carmalized baby Brussels sprouts. A full dessert bar will also be featured.
For $90 each, guests of One Pico at Shutters on the Beach are welcome to select a market fresh starter including the poached farm egg or duck prosciutto or seared scallops. Entrees include free-range Mary's turkey, American red snapper, or scallop potato and black truffle gratin, followed by desserts including a pumpkin tart or butterscotch and caramelized pear trifle.
Cast & Plow at The Ritz-Carlton, Marina Del Rey will be serving a Thanksgiving lunch and dinner. Dishes include pumpkin soup, duck risotto, honey glazed organic turkey, sweet potato puree, bacon and Brussels sprouts hash, pot roast and pumpkin gnocchi. $85 per person for lunch, $90 per person for dinner.
Chef and owner of Sambar, Akasha Richmond, is planning a festive India-inspired Thanksgiving menu in Culver City. Dishes include garam masala and tomato braised turkey; bengali five spice jalapeno cornbread stuffing; South Indian green bean stir fry with curry leaves and coconut, and Chai spiced pumpkin pie with vanilla whipped cream.
Florida
In Miami, locals have the option of ordering the turkey and sides individually, or purchase a Whole Roast Turkey Dinner from Sonesta Bayfront Hotel Coconut Grove that serves 6 to 8 guests for $125.
Guests are invited to create a memorable Thanksgiving dining experience at Spencer's For Steaks & Chops in The Hilton Orlando. The special four course holiday meal will feature standout dishes such as kabocha soup, pumpkin swordfish and sweet potato cake joined by more traditional options as lake meadows turkey and apple up caramel down cake.
Say goodbye to all the preparation and cooking time and head over to Plethore et Balthazar to have that same homemade and traditional Thanksgiving food, all with a French twist. You can expect Stuffed roasted turkey, roasted sweet potatoes, grilled scallops and butternut cream, and pumpkin and pecan pies.
Illinois
On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, Sixteen in Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago brings the year's bountiful harvest to life by presenting a festive brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. inside the stunning dining room that affords breathtaking views of Chicago's architectural landscape, the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Guests can indulge in traditional Thanksgiving favorites and other specialty items during the festive brunch buffet. To enhance the festivities, a string trio will provide beautiful background music while pilgrims circulate. A petting zoo will also be on hand for children and adults both to enjoy. Thanksgiving brunch at Sixteen costs $158 per person and $50 for children ages 5 to 12 years of age, exclusive of tax, alcohol, and gratuity.
The two-Michelin starred restaurant will then be open for dinner beginning at 6:00 p.m., offering a chef's tasting menu with special Thanksgiving holiday additions. A multi-course tasting menu for $190 and a pre-fixe menu for $130 will be offered.
Massachusetts
You can carry on the tradition of our forefathers and mothers in the town where the first Thanksgiving took place; Mirbeau Inn & Spa at The Pinehills in Plymouth, guests of The Bistro & Wine Bar and Henri-Marie will find a dinner to be thankful for this holiday, with selections like roasted butternut squash soup, salads, terrine of foie gras, pear and mascarpone sacchetti, cheese and charcuterie, turkey Ballontine, Dover sole, bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, and much more. Seasonal desserts will also be available, as well as house-made chocolates. Dinner will be served from 12 to 5 p.m.
Twenty-Eight Atlantic restaurant at Wequassett Resort and Golf Club in Harwich will serve a grand buffet placed at $84 for adults, $42 for children ages eight to 12, and $21 for those aged four to seven years. Choose from dishes like Vermont goat cheese with maple honey and toasted pine nuts, New England parsnip clam chowder, and harvest squash ravioli with roasted pear and burnt orange butter sauce.
New Jersey
Fire & Oak is located within the Westin Newport Hotel on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City. It will offer a special menu with holiday favorites like slow -oasted turkey with cornbread stuffing and all the fixings. A less traditional meal, with dishes like a pan-seared black sea bass with jumbo lump crab scampi, is also available.
New Mexico
One of Santa Fe's top culinary destinations, the Anasazi Restaurant at Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi has created a Southwestern-inspired Thanksgiving to-go menu for locals to enjoy their favorite restaurant's cuisine at home. The centerpiece of the menu is a 12 to 16 pound whole organic roast turkey, with sides that include smoky pumpkin bisque, green chile stuffing, roasted heirloom carrots, and pecan pie. Serving 4 to 5 people, the full menu is $140, or guests can purchase the turkey and sides individually from a special a la carte menu.
New York
Chef Charlie Palmer is offering three seatings for his Thanksgiving dinner at Charlie Palmer at The Knick in Times Square at 2, 4, and 6 p.m. For $75 for adults and $35 for kids, guests can a buffet of starters such as chilled seafood cocktail of shrimp, oysters, crab claws served with mignonette and spicy cocktail sauces, and choose from mains like organic roast turkey breast with confit leg, cranberry, haricots verts and traditional dressing or something less traditional like Atlantic halibut with leeks, candied yam, and pomegranate.
There are plenty of choices at The Fillmore Room, with vegetarian options in every course. Chef/owner Liran Mezan has created a prix fixe menu of $65 per person, offering guests the choice of kabocha squash and chestnut soup, house gem lettuces, honey crisp New York apples and endive, or turkey ricotta meatballs for their appetizer. Mains include Heritage upstate turkey served with roasted garlic gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, and chestnut stuffing; dry aged prime rib; brown butter brook trout; and pumpkin and wild mushroom risotto with Thanksgiving favorite side options as sweet potato, cheesy potato mash, chestnut stuffing, and glazed carrots. Save room for your choice of pecan pie, apple crumble, pumpkin cheesecake, or bread pudding for dessert.
Priced at $295 per person, Nello will serve a traditional American turkey with added luxuries including foie gras stuffing and an abundance of white truffles imported from Italy. Side dishes will include classic roasted potatoes and carrots, in addition to an old-fashioned apple pie dessert.
The Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel has teamed up with Farm Sanctuary to provide a completely vegan Thanksgiving dinner experience. Several highlights of the meal includes kale and quinoa black bean salad and Tofurky with caramelized onion gravy and cranberry chutney.
Oregon
Bluehour will serve a three-course prix fixe menu for $55 per person, with choices like kabocha squash soup with olive oil, cracked pepper and pumpkin seeds; seared foie gras with cranberry gel, pistachio brittle and confit cipollini onions (supplement $10); roasted turkey with confit turkey crepinettes, whipped potatoes, roasted carrots, and Gam Gam's gravy; and pumpkin mousse torte with gingerbread cake and spiced maple cream.
The Country Cat will serve a four-course prix fixe menu that offers American Thanksgiving classics. The dinner will cost $55 per adult and $15 per child. Menu choices include truffled deviled egg with chopped crab and grilled shrimp toast; chanterelle mushroom, hazelnut, and pumpkin soup with chopped braeburn apple; double cut pork chop on roasted garlic and rosemary mashed yams with a whole grain mustard plum sauce; and chocolate pecan pie.
Washington, D.C.
Check out our D.C. city editor Summer Whitford's Complete Guide to Thanksgiving 2015 in Washington, D.C.
Additional reporting done by Shaena Engle, Alex Frane, and Helaina Hovitz.