Yes, Thanksgiving can be about the togetherness of cooking and preparing a large spread for others to enjoy and regale you with copious amounts of compliments for your dressing, yams or apple pie. However, it can also be a source of stress, disappointment, anger, frustration and so much more.
So if just being thankful for being together is for you—no meal planning, no setting the table, no masterful approach to storing leftovers (in fact, no leftovers) and no dishes—get online and check out some of your favorite restaurants that are doing all of the work for you. There are many in the city from which to choose.
By way of an example of an effortless Thanksgiving in Harlem, here is the menu from Minton’s (@MintonsHarlem) three-course prix fixe Thanksgiving dinner ($55 plus a $15 to $20 music charge, per person):
STARTERS
Collard green salad
Spiced pumpkin soup
Oyster and dumplings
ENTREES
Two-day palm sugar
brined turkey dinner — dark and white meat, corn bread dressing, giblet gravy, braised greens
Grilled pork sirloin with
praline yams, braised greens
Pan-roasted skuna bay
salmon with tomato gravy, potato salad, braised greens
Tofu dumplings with kabo-
cha squash puree
SIDES (additional cost)
Potato wedges, cornbread dressing, bourbon yams, mac and cheese, braised greens
DESSERT
Apple fig cobbler with va-
nilla bean ice cream
Pecan praline pie with cane
syrup chantilly
With seatings at 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., you can carve (see what I did there?) the day’s schedule to your liking. It’s all just a reservation away.
Dining out for Thanksgiving gives you the opportunity to be thankful for eating together wherever you are without stress. Give it a go and have a deliciously thankful Thanksgiving!