Eat Out For 'Orphan' Thanksgiving
By Melissa Wiley in Food on Nov 26, 2013 6:45PM
Image via Shutterstock
Much as we love us some pilgrims with belt buckles on their hats, giving thanks from a table laden with turkey and all the trimmings is sometimes easier said than done, especially if you don't have extended family within easy travel range. Some of us just have to improvise. Because sweet potatoes taste better in costume, we latterly celebrated Thanksween instead. But we digress. Suffice it to say Thanksgiving, like life, isn’t always as straightforward as Norman Rockwell painted it. Fortunately that only leaves us with more options.
Like so many orphans celebrating an orphan Thanksgiving, we’ve fashioned new traditions, ones where we oft dispense with the turkey and start fresh, making temporary family of the poor people consigned to work this government holiday. Typically we feast on cuisine from another continent altogether, because folks from other countries are what make this one great—and their eateries are also some of the very few open. So in the event you can’t swing a family affair and don’t feel like cooking at home, here are some alternative suggestions for places to count your blessings. Granted these fly-by-night rituals may not last long, maybe not more than a year running, but they’re fun while they last, which is really the whole point.
Our only rule? You still have to eat enough to pass out cold on the couch afterward.
Staropolska; We dare you to find any place in the city with sweeter, kinder service and heartier portions. (OK, Little Bucharest Bistro comes pretty darn close.) But the ambiance, we promise you, will rival Norman Rockwell’s dining room for heart-cockle warmth and comfort which translates directly to the food on your plate. This isn’t sentiment speaking by the way, just cold hard fact because Staropolska, which closes at 4 p.m. this Thursday, is exactly the kind of place the Ghost of Thanksgiving Past would have taken Ebenezer Scrooge, were he born on our side of the pond, to re-immerse him in the milk of human kindness. Our favorite items on the menu? The zucchini-stuffed pancakes, though there’s also little room for error where the veal—every bit roasted turkey’s rival—is concerned.
Bistrot Margot: So you have no actual home to go to, no place to feast on easy conversation as well as pumpkin pie in the bosom of friends or family? C'est la vie! You’re an existential hero among the French. So join your people and amble inside Bistrot Margot. A note of caution: The interior alone is so bright and cheery you’ll have to work hard to savor any trace of real ennui here. This Thursday Margot is offering a prix fixe menu but with a variety of options. For main courses, you’re free to choose from steak, roast pork loin, turkey and dressing, braised lamb shank and merguez sausage, duck confit, whitefish and trout. Bon appetit.
San Soo Gab San: As we remarked a while back, San Soo Gab San is grilling gone rogue. The service borders on the flagrantly hostile, which makes the whole experience hilarious in a way that puts the Wiener Circle to shame. The waitresses practically hurl the raw meat and seafood onto your table and it’s your responsibility from there. To poison yourself with salmonella or not to poison? To overcook or undercook or light your hair on fire? The possibilities are endless and so is the banchan. The miso, for what it’s worth, is also some of our favorite in the city, proving that not all food has to be served with affection to stimulate your umami centers. Such is the spice of life and some damn good Korean bbq.
Udupi Palace Restaurant: Vegetarians who really like their cumin can’t do better than Udupi Palace Restaurant in Rogers Park and Thanksgiving is as good an excuse as any to take a seat in one of our favorite Indian restaurants. Like San Soo Gab San, it’s low on frills but with a genuinely courteous wait staff. We’ve visited with friends who have lamented the rocket-high spice factor pervading everything from the samosas to the masala. But if you ask us, the heat is just right, putting the blandness of Pilgrims’ meat and potatoes—insipid Puritan fare—to shame and heating us from the inside out on a cold November night. We’re arguably savory pancake fanatics, but in our book a pea and potato dosa beats any casserole from the most beloved aunt.
Big Jones: Big Jones proves the South really is a separate country, meaning it fulfills the dream of escape within a nearby area code. Were we born into such cuisine as Paul Fehribach prepares every day of his life, whipping together a praline and sweet potato pone as naturally as breathing, we may well look askance at Yankees ourselves. As it is, a visit to this Andersonville spot is always a treat and if we have to sacrifice the pleasures of kinfolk near and dear to enjoy it, so be it. Choice of entrees this Thanksgiving include deep-fried turkey with onion-sage gravy, giblet gravy and cranberry sauce; wood-grilled snake river sturgeon with silver hull crowder peas and bacon (ding, ding, ding!); and fall vegetables with a rice cake and butterbean gravy. Yep, we’re thankful already.