Many options on Turkey Day

Greer Wylder

Many consider Thanksgiving the best holiday of the year because it

centers on food, friends and family who gather in the spirit of

giving thanks, without all the hubbub of an Easter Bunny or a Santa

Claus and the complications of gifts.

A lovingly prepared dinner at home is hard to beat. Yet, there are

myriad food decisions for that home meal, numerous choices for

bringing prepared food in, or even selecting just the right location

for dining out.

The pilgrims’ first harvest feast at Plymouth in 1621 included

corn soup, succotash, fowl, berries, beans and maple sugar and

cornstarch candies. Some of these authentic and traditional dishes

remain favorites that everyone expects at the meal. Yet, often in an

attempt to serve the traditional dishes many home cooks get stuck in

a time warp, robotically preparing grandma’s old 1950s style dishes.

More than ever before, there are vast and easily accessible

resources to assist the home cook to preserve the Thanksgivings

culinary traditions, while still celebrating with the new and savory

flair.

Consider expert advice from three sources: magazines, cookbooks

and programs on the Food Network.

Wonderful easy-to-follow recipes from turkey to desserts grace the

entire issues of November’s “Bon Appetit” and “Gourmet” magazines.

Imaginative dishes from “Bon Appetit” include roast turkey with

pomegranate glaze, sweet and sour radicchio, Balsamic-roasted acorn

squash with hot chilies and honey, sweet potato brulee, and ginger

cake with caramelized pears. William-Sonoma has two outstanding

cookbooks fill with old favorites and new twists: “Thanksgiving” and

“Thanksgiving: Festive Recipes for the Holiday Table.”

The Food Network channel devotes an entire week of constant

programming to Thanksgiving fun. Celebrity chefs such as Bobby Flay,

Sara Moulton and Emeril Lagasse demonstrate tasty tricks and new

Thanksgiving adventures from planning to cooking -- and even

presentation.

Before you work on your battle plan for your Thanksgiving dinner,

relax, take a break, turn on the TV and see how the experts do it.

Then download the recipes and other helpful information from the Food

Network. You’ll be all set to put on your own Thanksgiving show at

home! Both you and your guests will be thrilled. Why, there are even

programs for meatless Thanksgiving dinners, elegant Thanksgiving

dinners, or 30-minute Thanksgiving dinners

(https://www.foodnetwork.com).

Another route at Thanksgiving is dining out or, the simplest of

all, phoning in Thanksgiving-to-go meals. Local restaurants, delis

and bakeries come to the rescue on the biggest feast of the year.

* At Bayside Restaurant, Newport’s sister restaurant to Irvine’s

Bistango, you can celebrate Thanksgiving in style with “new American

cooking.” Bayside serves a three-course traditional meal, or order

from its regular menu. The dinner is served from noon to 8 p.m.

On the prix fixe menu, there’s fresh garden salad with gorgonzola

cheese, toasted pine nut and red Anjou pear, or puree of roasted

chestnut soup with saffron and chives. The organic turkey is served

with savory mushroom focaccia bread pudding; buttermilk mashed

potatoes; natural gravy and seasoned wilted greens and cranberry

sauce. Dessert choices are pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream and

warm chocolate souffle cake with Amaretto ice cream. The cost is

$29.75 per person, $14 for children 12 and younger.

Bayside Restaurant is at 900 Bayside Drive in Newport Beach. Call

(949) 721-1222 or visit https://www.BaysideRestaurant. com.

* Thanksgiving at the Ritz, Newport’s five-star restaurant, offers

a flawless dinner served from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. A pre-set menu

features six appetizer choices, five entrees and a Thanksgiving

sampler of desserts. Appetizers include Maine lobster bisque laced

with Armagnac, wild mushroom “cappuccino” with morel foam and “the

famous Ritz salad” with Canadian bay shrimp and Belgian endive.

The most traditional entree is the roast Diestel Ranch turkey and

giblet gravy served with savory brioche pecan dressing, mashed russet

potatoes, candied yams, toasted almond string beans, and cranberry

relish. The rest of the dishes are seasonal favorites: peppered

grenadines of filet mignon with sauce “Diane”; Piero’s osso buco;

filet of Atlantic salmon poached in chardonnay. Entrees can be

substituted for Florida Stone crab claws, or a 24-ounce porterhouse

steak. Adult dinners cost $45; children’s dinners, $22.50.

The Ritz is at 880 Newport Center Drive in Newport Beach. Call

(949) 720-1800.

* For gourmet take-out vegetarian dinners, try the Zinc Cafe.

Non-vegetarians can make turkey at home and then order from Zinc’s

holiday take-out menu.

The menu includes: mushroom, celery root, butternut squash and

Tuscan white bean soup; fresh asparagus, beet and Zinc Waldorf

salads; baby pan-seared vegetables; balsamic roasted vegetable salad;

and ginger garlic carrots with toasted almonds; and as an entree,

eggplant Parmesan, mushroom nut loaf, and stuffed peppers with creamy

Swiss chard topping. Desserts include apple galette, pear almond

tart, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake tart and pumpkin squares. The

deadline for orders is noon Tuesday.

The Zinc Cafe is at 3222 E. Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. Call

(949) 719-9462 or visit https://www.zinccafe.com.

* Haute Cakes Caffe also has a special Thanksgiving to-go menu.

Gourmet and traditional dishes include: herb-roasted turkey breast;

beef tenderloin with red wine sauce; traditional mashed potatoes;

Maytag blue cheese mashed potatoes; maple glazed sweet potatoes;

focaccia bread and apricot stuffing (with or without spicy Italian

sausage; green beans; baby carrots; Everyone’s Favorite salad

(greens, Maytag blue cheese and toasted candied walnuts); butternut

squash soups; rustic apple pie, pecan tart and flour-less chocolate

torte. The deadline for orders is Monday. Pick-ups on Thanksgiving

Day will be from 8 to 11 a.m.

Haute Cakes Caffe is at 1807 Westcliff Court in Newport Beach.

Call (949) 642-9551 or visit https://www.hautecakescaffe.com.

* Bristol Farms, a premier grocery store, takes phone orders on

holiday meals through today. It offers beautifully prepared

traditional and nouveau main and side dishes, including whole roast

turkey ($4.29 per pound); roasted goose ($9.99 per pound) and crown

roast of pork ($14.99 per pound) -- both of which come stuffed with

sun-dried cherry stuffing ($9.99 pound); and poached salmon fillet

($21.99 pound).

Choose from old fashioned traditional stuffing ($5.99 per pound);

sun-dried cherry pistachio stuffing ($6.99 per pound); yam souffle

($6.99 per pound) butternut squash risotto ($7.99 per pound); green

beans Almandine ($7.99 per pound) and port and currant sauce ($5.99

per 15 ounces).

Bristol Farms is at Corona del Mar Plaza in Newport Beach. Call

(949) 760-6514 or visit https://www.bristolfarms.com.

* Panera Bread Bakery-Cafe offers delicious holiday season items.

Its holiday bread is a special recipe that starts with sweet egg

dough, then combines honey, golden raisins, whole cranberries,

chopped apples and cinnamon sugar and tops it with streudel. Holiday

shoppers can give the bread as gifts, or serve it with breakfast. The

specialty loaf is $5.95, and is available through mid-January. Also

for the holidays are cranberry walnut bagels with honey walnut cream

cheese. Seasonal soups are Forest mushroom and Santa Fe corn chowder.

Panera Bread is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday; from

7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday; and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. It’s in

the Bluffs Shopping Center at 1348 Bison Ave. in Newport Beach. Call

(949) 721-8800 or visit https://www.panerabread.com.

* The Village Bakery at the Camp offers a special holiday menu.

Its owners, Tim and Liza Goodell, also have the famed Aubergine in

Newport, the Troquet at South Coast Plaza, the Red Pearl Kitchen in

Huntington Beach and the Lodge restaurant at the Camp.

Holiday treats include rustic apple croustade, Shelly’s pumpkin

pie, Meyer lemon tart and Aubergine’s delicious chocolate souffle

cakes. Some items come with ready to bake instructions. There are

even homemade Oreos. Daily, the bakery serves rosemary/shallot,

raisin/fennel and Kalamata olive round sourdough breads. Fresh

pastries, artisan breads, fine cheeses, illy coffee and pre-made

sandwiches are also available. The chocolate espresso cookies sell

out everyday.

The Village Bakery is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through

Friday. It’s at 2937 Bristol St. in Costa Mesa. Call (714) 751-2220.

* The Sunflour Natural Bakery offers special Thanksgiving items,

including darling sugar cookies in Thanksgiving shapes; breads; rolls

and an array of fresh pies.

The Sunflour Natural Bakery is open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday

through Friday. It’s at 427 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa. Call (949)

646-1440. It just opened a second location, at 2950 Grace Lane in

Costa Mesa. Call (714) 424-0176.

Local restaurants open for Thanksgiving include:

* The Arches restaurant serves a traditional Thanksgiving dinner

from noon. to 1 a.m. for $19.95 per person. The regular menu is

available, too. It’s at 3334 W. Coast Highway in Newport Beach. Call

(949) 645-7077.

* Twenty-one Oceanfront’s extended menu includes a traditional

roast turkey dinner served from 2 to 8 p.m. Turkey comes with

stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and a choice of dessert. Soups

and salads are a la carte. The regular menu is available, too. The

cost is $28 per person. Twenty-one Oceanfront is at 21 Oceanfront in

Newport Beach. Call (949) 673-2100 or visit

https://www.21oceanfront.com.

* Pinot Provence will serve a four-course prix fixe Thanksgiving

dinner from noon to 8 p.m. for $44 per person. A credit card and an

authorized signature are required to hold a reservation. Pinot

Province is at 686 Anton Blvd. in Costa Mesa. Call (714) 444-5900.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

greerwylder@yahoo.com; at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or by

fax at (949) 646-4170.