It is our family tradition to gather in NYC to celebrate Thanksgiving every year.  That means we can toast to all that we are thankful for with some fabulous wines and appetizers in our Manhattan apartment, but cooking up a full fledged Thanksgiving feast is a bit difficult with limited oven and fridge space.  So, it has become our tradition to head out for a great prix fixe Thanksgiving dinner after gathering at our place first for some homemade starters and some of our favorite local wines. Memories of Thanksgiving always put a smile on my face.  The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on the television followed by my favorite – the National Dog Show, the smells of simmering onions, carrots, and celery filling the house, the taste of a crisp, dry New York State Riesling in hand, the loud laughs and booming conversation of family,  and the anticipation of an endless amount of delicious comfort food coming my way. Does it get any better than this?  This year couldn’t have been more perfect. Read more about how we celebrated one of our favorite holidays after the jump…

We started our day with breakfast at home- Andy an indulgent everything bagel with smoked salmon, capers, tomato, and onion from Ess-a-Bagel (and a beer) and me with my bowl of Special K (I needed to keep it light in order to gear up for some serious holiday eating).  

I enjoyed watching the little pups prance around the Philadelphia stage in the National Dog Show as I started putting together some appetizers.  I made a homemade bruschetta on a toasted french baguette with creamy goat cheese.  I mixed the freshly chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil, and lemon juice the night before so all the flavors could really blend by the time it was plated. 

I also made a basil, lemon, chive, olive oil, and almond puree to drizzle on some whipped ricotta on top of bagel chips and topped with rolled up slices of prosciutto.

Lastly, I roasted some mushrooms and filled them with a French goat cheese and topped them with some bread crumbs that I toasted in a homemade rosemary infused olive oil.

I also put together an array of toasted pita chips, Italian olive oil crackers, raw almonds, dried cranberries, roasted red pepper hummus, and classic Babaganoush.

After the tables were filled with food and all the wine and cocktail mixes were arranged, it was time to relax with a 2007 Hunt Country Semi-Dry Riesling that we had picked up on our trip to the Finger Lakes.

Andy’s parents arrived from Atlanta and my Mom came over with my sister Jacquie and Gary.  Andy’s sister Stacey, and her husband Jonathan and little girl Zoe also joined us at our apartment.  We popped open a magnum of Hermann J. Wiemer’s 2007 Dry Riesling and a bottle of 2007 Molly Dooker Two Left Feet and 2007 Molly Dooker The Boxer.

We enjoyed catching up and hearing about all of our 2008 adventures in Capri, Rome, Istanbul, Paris, Bordeaux, Turks & Caicos, Hawaii, and California.  

After a couple of hours of great conversation and a couple more bottles of wine, we were off to the restaurant.

Every year we pick a B.R. Guest restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner.  This was the second year in a row that we chose Primehouse and before that we had been to Fiamma, Blue Water Grill, and Blue Fin.  Although one would not normally think of a steakhouse as a Thanksgiving restaurant destination, Primehouse was a perfect choice for its classic $42 prix fixe Thanksgiving menu.  There are some great new American market-driven restaurants that have amazing Thanksgiving prix fixe menus, but at double the price (at least) of the B.R Guest restaurants.   With consistent, reliable, tasty and very reasonably priced Thanksgiving meals at any of the B.R Guest restaurants open on Thanksgiving, it’s an easy choice.  

I had the Butternut squash soup with porcini, brown butter, and creme fraiche, followed by the oven roasted turkey breast and leg confit with spiced sweet potato, fall vegetables, mashed potato, natural gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce (with a side skillet of extra dark meat- the very tastiest part of the turkey). For dessert, I had an apple crumb bar with autumn fruit compote and cranberry swirl ice cream.  We also had a couple bottles of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and an Australian Grenache.  After all the pre-dinner appetizers and wine, I could not finish any of my dinner plates, but everything was excellent.  

Once we all made it back to the apartment, we finished the night with a North Fork 2005 Corey Creek Late Harvest Riesling with more toasts and great stories.  Another lively, fun, and indulgent NYC Thanksgiving- Wined & Dined style!  Thank you to Charles and Donna for treating us to such an amazing holiday meal!

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