How does a turkey drink its wine? From a gobble-let! OK, but seriously… Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it’s time to consider your holiday plans! If you want to enjoy the meal with less prep and clean-up, an assortment of Connecticut caterers and restaurants are offering savory take-out options. Restaurants are also serving prix-fixe menus, brunches, and other specials for those who want the experience of eating out.
Here are over 50 Thanksgiving dining options, whether you’re dining out or catering your event from your favorite local restaurant.
Looking for a simple but delicious last minute Thanksgiving side dish? After eating this off the menu at Match Restaurant, we asked Chef Storch to share his recipe with CTbites. We are working on this in our kitchen right now. I hope you try it in yours. Enjoy Match Restaurant's Pan-Roasted Cauliflorets With Pine Nuts and Raisins.
While many of our readers have family traditions when it comes to Thanksgiving, we, at CTbites, feel it is important to add a newcomer to the recipe box each year. For 2016, we offer you a classic developed by South End's Chef Nick Martschenko. His recipe for Maple Praline Pumpkin Pecan Pie may become your family's go-to dessert. If you decide to cook this in your home next week, let us know what you thought.
This tangy yet sweet maple mustard roast pork tenderloin recipe brings together seasonal flavors in an easy-to-make-meal, perfect for a Sunday family dinner (or holiday entrée).
This Sunday pork roast idea came about thanks to Avon Prime Meats in Avon, CT. This local market packs a lot into it's 4,500 square feet. Front and center is their meat counter. They sell only Prime (highest grade of beef) or Premium Choice meats.
Many of the meats they carry are traceable to the farm of origin. They also work with local farms offering local, grass fed and all natural meats as well. Sepe Farms, Blue Slope Farms, and Cream Hill Farm are among their local farm partners.
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and many of Connecticut’s best restaurants have Thanksgiving specials worth gobbling up! From prix fixe menus to extensive buffets to family style to take-out, there are options for everyone. So don’t cry fowl– make your reservations today! Space is limited and seats fill up quickly.
The National, Greenwich: The National in Greenwich will serve up Thanksgiving classics with family style sides and desserts on Thanksgiving Day. It costs $85 per adult and $35 for children under 12. For those looking to go out on Thanksgiving Eve, The National will stay open late with a live DJ and late night snack menu in the bar.
Millwright’s, Simsbury: Millwrights in Simsbury will serve a prix fixe Thanksgiving menu from 11:30am-6pm. Adults are $59 while children 11 and under are $29.
Rive Bistro, Westport: Their Thanksgiving menu has choices like Mousse de Foie Gras, a Turkey Plate, and Bistro Steak Frites. Find them in Westport.
Cafe on the Green, Danbury: They will offer a four course Thanksgiving meal with dishes like Roasted Rack of Lamb and Pan Seared Red Snapper.
Madison Beach Hotel, Madison: You are invited to their Thanksgiving Buffet, which includes an omelet station, carving station, hot buffet station, cheese array, dessert assortment, and more. Reservations are required and seatings are available from 11am-3pm.
One of our favorite Litchfield County restaurants, Community Table, has contributed these deceptively simple but absolutely delicious appetizers for the upcoming holidays. Chef Marcell Davidsen's recipes for Scandinavian Caramelized Potatoes & Mushroom toast will delight even the most discerning guest. You may want to add this one to your virtual recipe box.
"By far our most requested recipe (I get at least three a week) is for our kale salad. I know that kale has jumped the shark, but this recipe was featured in the CT Farm to Table Cookbook and it fits well on the holiday table; healthy, but still very flavor forward," says Chef Carey Savona of Heirloom in New Haven. Enjoy this recipe for Heirloom's Kale Salad.
Executive Chef Luke Venner, of elm restaurant in New Canaan, has a decadant and delicious Thanksgiving recipe for our CTbites readers. If you want to make your guests extra happy this season, go beyond traditional bread pudding with his recipe for Black Truffle & Leek Bread Pudding. We are quite certain it will elicit praise all around. Of course, personally I'd rather have Chef Venner cook it himself, but if you can't get to elm restaurant, try this recipe at home this Thanksgiving season. Your guests will thank you.
Thanksgiving arrives Thursday November 26 and many Connecticut restaurants are inviting you to spend the holiday with them. From buffets to prix fixe and traditional to creative, there are a number of styles so that you can pick the best for you and your loved ones.
NOTE: We came across a few more restaurants after the publish date of this article, so we've gone beyond 15. Enjoy!
Every Thanksgiving, we ask our friends in the Chef community for their favorite holiday recipes. This year we got a last minute entry from Chef Matt Storch of Match Restaurant & The Chelsea with a great idea for all those leftovers. Ok...that picture above...it's not turkey...those are chicken livers, but it's the best we could do on short notice. Here is Matt Storch's Day After Turkey & Waffles Recipe.
Arik Bensimon, Chef de Cuisine at Le Farm, has always been an innovator when it comes to cooking. His roots run deep with French technique, but the ingredients always come first. We liked the simplicity and deconstructed quality of his Thanksgiving side dish. Not only is the recipe absolutely beautiful but it preserves and highlights the integrity of the seasonal ingredients. Enjoy Chef Arik's recipe for Cast Iron Roasted Fruits & Vegetables.
It's not too late to run to the store and pick up some Butternut squash for this incredibly delicious recipe created by Carlos Baez of The Spreadin SoNo. This one is sure to be a keeper. When your guests are sighing with delight, please feel free to thank us. Enjoy this recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash and Bosc Pear Soup.
You really can never have too much dessert...especially when it involves warm fruit. Grab yourself some apples and try out this recipe from Chef ChazMazas of Mama's Boy Southern Table & Refuge in Sono. Mama's Apple Crisp never tasted so good!
As family and friends arrive, it's always a great idea to have a few nibbles ready for them to enjoy as the cooks in the kitchen place the final touches on the main courses. Many homes will be filled with the aroma of chestnut stuffing, so tantalize the taste buds with a delicious appetizer with a hidden ingredient, chestnut butter. Chef Mogan Anthony of Locali Pizza Bar + Kitchen shares his recipe for “Chestnut Butter Bruschetta with Burrata, Kale or Arugula” that pairs chestnut butter with greens and Burrata.
You’ve finished the turkey, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, sides galore, apple sauce, cranberry sauce, salads, cole slaw, and maybe a few glasses of cider, wine and beer. In the background, the football games are on the TVs and maybe a little jazz, rock or classical fills the air. It’s been a great Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family. So what’s next? Close your eyes and travel to the South and focus on one of their comfort food desserts, Bread Pudding.
Chef Adam Truelove of Napa & Co. in Stamford was kind enough to share his version with CTbites, and he starts with a simple bread pudding and adds his special twists…bourbon, maple syrup and bananas. Here's Chef Truelove's recipe for Maple-Bourbon Banana Pudding Cake.
You can smash that wine bottle against a new ship's prow, because I'm drinking beer this Thanksgiving. I enjoy wine, but the waveform of my interest in it describes a gentle curve approaching zero on this particular day of the year. There's very little you can put on the table in late November that will get my personal circuits firing like a nice beer pairing.
This week's Froth will be a selection of suggested beers for both Thanksgiving hosts and guests, presented in the order you may like them to appear during our country's great feast. I enjoy typing that word. Say it with me: "FEAST!" I wish I had a relative with an eight foot tall fireplace suitable for roasting an entire ox. I hope at least one of you reading this is going to attempt a feat of inadvisable open flame cookery next week. Bonus points if you have to bribe a child so they don't tell a spouse what you're doing.
A quick note to begin: I wrote a Thanksgiving column back in 2011, and this new post is an update/overhaul.
One of the most important guests at any Thanksgiving table is the turkey. In our ongoing Thanksgiving recipe coverage, Nick Martschenko, Executive Chef at South End, New Canaan, has kindly shared his recipe for Sage Infused Turkey Basted w/ Pomegranate Juice & Chestnut Sausage Stuffing. Sure, anyone can toss a turkey in the oven, but Chef Martschenko has given his bird the love and attention it deserves. Check out his incredible recipe which will likely end up an annual tradition.
We, Westport Farmers’ Market, wanted to find a way to say thank you for the support our communities continue to provide us, so……
We have collaborated with the best of the best in Fairfield County to bring you a local, delicious and certainly special Thanksgiving menu. You might even say it is a celebrity chef Thanksgiving menu created just for WFM. We've gathered recipes from the likes of: Bill Taibe, Matt Storch, Mischel Nischan and so many more. View The Complete Recipe Guide Here & view the list of chefs below.
Looking for the perfect recipe - heck, the perfect menu? Look no further! Each recipe will include a grocery list for Saturday's market at Gilbertie’s Herb Garden in Westport.
It's time to dust off those recipe books or re-visit that Pinterest board. Thanksgiving is almost here, and in honor of our favorite culinary holiday, we have asked a few local chefs to share their favorite Thanksgiving recipes. Boulevard 18 in New Canaan is the first up with a delicious Delicata Squash Soup with Coffee Roasted Carrot Coulis and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.
Stay tuned for additional recipes as we will be posting new ones up until the big day....
Not in touch with your inner Martha Stewart? Or would you rather enjoy a festive night out than serve up a Thanksgiving meal at home? That's perfectly alright- these CT restaurants are open on Thanksgiving and offering specials for the occasion. Whether you want traditional fare or modern twists on the classics, these venues are sure to make the night memorable. Be sure to make your reservations soon- these restaurants are booking up fast.
