Thanksgiving 2007 in NYC

[ajgnet]

It looks like there will be no home cooked turkey this thanksgiving ... at least, not at home. Keeping all options open, where should my family and I (8 people, including 2 little kids) eat in the city? I had this fantasy of eating at Blue Hill Stone Barns ... but they seem to be closed that night. Are there any particular Thanksgiving experiences that you would highly recommend? Thanks for your help!

[Pan]

This thread might give you some information and ideas:

Did anyone eat out on Thanksgiving in NYC?

For good measure, here are the results of a search of all threads with "Thanksgiving" in their titles on the New York forum to date.

[ajgnet]

Hi -- I don't mean to double-post. I'm new to the searching ways of this site; but, I did search for thanksgiving and found the existing threads either had no replies or were several years old. I was hoping that someone might have had a more recent experience he'd recommend. Someone had suggested Hearth, Grammercy Tavern, Craft, or Daniel which I think all sound pretty solid ... I wonder if anyone's had a Turkey there?

[Nathan]

none of those places are gonna suck.

[oakapple]

Thanksgiving is increasingly a big-revenue day for those restaurants that choose to open. Not as big as Mother's Day, but significant. There are more & more New Yorkers who don't want to cook, but who want a first-class dinner with all the traditional trimmings. The restaurant industry has started to recognize that. Heck, even Alain Ducasse offered a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving the final year it was open. I didn't go, but I'll bet it was tremeondous.

Gramercy Tavern (if they're open—which I believe they will be) would probably be an excellent choice. It'll be expensive, but if you were willing to consider Blue Hill at Stone Barns, GT shouldn't be out of your price range.

When the holiday gets a lot closer, OpenTable will have a list of all the restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinner. It will show which restaurants are open, whether they are offering a set menu, and what they're charging for it. The only problem with OpenTable is that they don't put up their list until around 3-4 weeks before the holiday. I sometimes find it a little nerve-wracking to get that close, and still not know what I'm going to be doing. But I guarantee you will find something good.

Edited August 23, 2007 by oakapple (log)

[kathryn]

I don't think GT will be open -- doesn't Danny Meyer always close all his restaurants for Thanksgiving/Christmas? (This includes Eleven Madison Park, Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, the Modern at MOMA, etc.).

Here's some Thanksgivings I've had in the city:

Kitchen 82 (now closed) - it was OK, not memorable at all

Peking Duck House - open, 'cause, hey, we're Chinese! Delicious, but non traditional.

Cookshop - great, they had excellent concord grapes to start, I loved their sweet potatoes, the turkey was also very good, as was the pie.

[Pan]

Hi -- I don't mean to double-post.  I'm new to the searching ways of this site; but, I did search for thanksgiving and found the existing threads either had no replies or were several years old.[...]

←

The last reply on the thread I linked was Nov 25 2006 -- in other words, right after last Thanksgiving.

[cat lancaster]

I called today to try and make a Thanksgiving dinner reservation at Craft. They didn't have any open spots but said they could take us at Craftsteak instead. I mentioned this on another foodboard, and was told that Craftsteak wasn't nearly as good as Craft and that I should try for some place else.

There are five of us having dinner, but traditional Thanksgiving food is not important. I'm looking more for upscale, but also good quality. I'm the only one in the group for whom food is a major importance, so this is the one meal on the trip that my friends are going to allow me to run free with. Technically price isn't an issue, but if they have a wine list that has some bargins on it, that would help tremendously.

Suggestions are greatly appreciated, as I probably need to make a new reservation in the next day or so.

Thanks!

Cat

[Nathan]

this is why you should rely upon egullet.

Craftsteak radically improved its quality almost a year ago. Craftsteak serves 75% of Craft's menu (seriously)...and probably serves an identical turkeyday meal....by all means, go for it.

Edited October 31, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[Habeas Brulee]

My family traditionally does Thanksgiving at Peter Luger's. We like steak better than turkey, anyways.

[kathryn]

8 people might be difficult, but it depends on when you wan to eat dinner.

Did you try opentable.com for other alternatives?

http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?m=8&ref=551&pid=1