If you’re on the hunt for NYC restaurants for Thanksgiving, you’re not alone. Many people would rather have someone else do all of the heavy lifting this holiday season while they sit back sipping cocktails and chowing down. The restaurants below offer great Thanksgiving-out options for those people whose apartment ovens will be cold this year.
Café Boulud
This cozy, Upper East Side, Michelin-starred gem is the ideal place to go if you’re looking for the simple yet elegant, cozy dining experience that will satisfy your mother’s need for an exquisite dining space while satisfying your needs for a restaurant that uses the same fresh, natural ingredients you’ve learned to use in your own recipes. Café Boulud‘s laid-back vibe belies the attention to detail that will be going into every single bit of your Thanksgiving feast. The holiday meal here is traditional, its crowning glory a perfectly prepared Black Heritage turkey with meat so tender it falls off the bone. If you’re interested in a less traditional main course, you can choose from entrees like striped bass, beef bourguignon, or a stunning chanterelle risotto for the non meat eaters. Dessert consists of gorgeous treats like molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and heavenly pumpkin tarts. At the end of the meal, the restaurant will send you home with a gorgeous box filled with your artfully arranged leftovers. The three-course meal costs $135, with kids under 12 paying $55.
Arabelle at the Hotel Plaza Athénée
If your parents are peeved that you won’t be serving Thanksgiving at home, you can soothe the hangry parental beasts by taking them for a Thanksgiving feast at the beautiful Arabelle Restaurant at the Hotel Plaza Athénée. This stunningly appointed restaurant is the perfect place to go for cocktails or afternoon tea, and now it’s waiting to be the setting for your elegant Thanksgiving dinner out. You get to choose from a tempting selection of starters, including offerings like chilled shrimp, oysters and crab claws; a baby beet salad laced with pears, frisée, goat cheese and maple vinaigrette; or house smoked salmon. Soup is chestnut or butternut squash, and for the entree, you have a nice selection to choose from as well. You can go with a fabulous roasted turkey from Norwich Meadow Farms that’s been stuffed with corn bread stuffing made with chestnuts. Vegetarians will salivate over the semolina pumpkin ravioli, which have been topped off with shaved winter truffles and smothered in brown butter, fried sage, and cream sauce. Dessert consists of a buffet table filled delicious pies, macarons, cakes, and pastries. The entire meal costs $135 per person.
The Cecil
You say you want something really different when looking at restaurants for Thanksgiving? How about a little bit Asian and a little bit African-American? The Cecil in Harlem is already hugely popular for its spectacular fusion menu, and it ups the ante for Thanksgiving. You can choose the prix fixe option ($55 per person) and gobble up mains like palm sugar brine turkey with corn bread stuffing and giblet gravy or go with the grilled pork sirloin with praline yams. For dessert you have the choice of apple fig cobbler or pecan praline pie.
Image Source: Flickr/James Manners
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