TOP ROW QUESTIONS: 1. What does your celebration look like? 2. What time is dinner? 3. Any non-negotiable traditions? 4. Dish you always make extra of for leftovers? 5. Best leftovers hack? 6. Favorite Thanksgiving memory?
BRIAN LEWIS, CHEF & OWNER OF FULL HOUSE HOSPITALITY GROUP:
1. I always celebrate Thanksgiving with my 10-year-old boys Jude and Jax! We have always made it a tradition to celebrate at The Cottage Westport. We host about 12 of my family members as well. It is always great to not have to “work” on the holiday and I am able to truly enjoy my favorite restaurant with my loved ones!
2. We have a long, lazy morning at home with lots of backyard football before our Cottage Thanksgiving Feast, which begins around 3:00.
3. My signature Italian chestnut soup! I always add it to the Thanksgiving menu at The Cottage.
4. Wild mushroom and bacon stuffing.
5. I love to take the wild mushroom and bacon stuffing and crisp it up in a pan—maybe with some duck fat and butter— to make a hash brown, and use that as a base for sunny-side farm eggs.
6. My uncle Andy used to work for CBS, and he would take me and my brothers and all of the cousins to New York City for the Thanksgiving Day Parade! We would have front-row seats and I remember freezing but being so happy, floating with joy watching all of the celebrities and the magic of the Parade.
ROBIN SELDEN, MANAGING PARTNER AND EXECUTIVE CHEF, MARCIA SELDEN CATERING
1. Growing up and before the pandemic we spent all holidays at our parents’ house where we grew up in Stamford. These days we’ve migrated to [my brother and fellow managing partner] Jeffrey’s home in Weston so that Mom and Dad can now actually be guests. He and my sister-in-law Debbie are the ultimate hosts!
2. We typically invite people for 5 p.m. and get the party started and everyone seated around 6 p.m.-ish.
3. Jeffrey and I took over carving the turkeys, as that was always my Dad’s job. We love it, especially when he stands waiting to be our taste tester. One other fun tradition that we love is that we place out small, beautiful notecards that have “What are you thankful for” printed on them and everyone needs to fill one out. After we eat we go around and read them which is always very special!
4. We all love stuffing, but some like classic with sausage, some like it with chestnuts, and others like a cornbread stuffing with sauteéd wild mushrooms. We always end up with a lot of leftovers of that. And we must have turkey leftovers: we all want to take it home!
5. Mom makes the most incredible Thanksgiving leftover soup. Everything goes into this soup, and it’s the best thing ever! It is like a Thanksgiving meal in a bowl, and we all fight over getting a quart of it. It's made with so much love!
6. So many! When we were in our 20s, all of Jeffrey’s friends who worked in the hotel with him— who came from around the world—would come and enjoy the holidays with us. It was so special to share our holiday traditions with them! Then my first Thanksgiving as a parent—with my parents as grandparents and Jeffrey as an uncle—was pretty awesome. My twins were born at the end of October so having them in their little bouncy seats at one month old brought a new dynamic to the table for us to enjoy.
JES BENGSTON, EXECUTIVE CHEF, TERRAIN CAFÉ
1. I don't know if I have ever had the same meal at the same place twice with the same people twice!
2. I think that early afternoon works wonderfully.
3. My immediate family on my mom's side always puts my siblings' names in a hat, and everyone picks out a name. Whoever name you get you have to say why you are grateful for them. I am also obsessed with my social media feed on Thanksgiving, I love seeing people together and happy and sharing pictures. I love a good hour at the end of the night just to scroll and see everyone I love having a wonderful day.
DOUG QUINN, CEO, HUDSON MALONE
1. We always celebrate at my home. I go overboard and start prepping and cooking almost at sunrise. We usually have about 12 or so, but I kind of have an open-door invitation, especially for people who might be away from their families.
2. We eat throughout the day. I put out a bunch of courses. I start with nice bread, cured meats, and cheese, then some thick-cut maple glazed bacon. Later, we shuck oysters and put out some chilled prawns with sides of fresh cocktail sauce and mignonette. We don't eat dessert 'til around 10!
3. I make risotto, which is a funky tradition. It takes a good 20 minutes after it hits the burners to get it close to perfection..
4. The gravy is absolutely essential. I cook all the extras from the bird (liver, neck etc) with a chicken stock base, and use that for gravy. I make a ton of it.
5. We cook a lot of leftovers with the gravy. My gravy is heavenly.
6. The most important thing—and memory—is me passing out on the couch every Thanksgiving after cooking all day with little sleep, my kids/wife in my arms. Happens every year!
NICO LECHUGA & LAUREN COSENZA, CO-FOUNDERS, SEÑOR LECHUGA HOT SAUCE
1. We started hosting last year, a few months after moving to Westport, and it’s a tradition we hope to continue. Thanksgiving for us can range from 10 to 20 people and from more formal sit-down to buffet style.
2. Apps go out around noon and usually by 2 p.m. we start the meal. Our Thanksgiving dinner is more like Thanksgiving lunch. Then much later we all hit the leftovers to snack.
3. A tradition we have with the kids at the table is we always take turns and say what we are thankful for. Sometimes it’s heartfelt, sometimes funny.
4. We are Italian and Mexican, we cook a ton of everything. And we love to eat. Nico always prepares for way more people than we actually serve, knowing it makes a killer next-day snack – if it makes it to the next day. A lot of our family saves their appetite when they know Nico has a special menu charted out. He actually writes the menu on butcher paper and places it on the table so everyone can pace themselves.
5. Nico's dad always used the leftover turkey to make a pozole soup, which we love to this day.
6. Our son Javi was born a month before Thanksgiving, and that year, we went to Leuca, the restaurant in The William Vale hotel. We knew forevermore all our Thanksgivings would be with him and our own little family. Food is very important to us, but family is first.
INDA & SOLOMON SADE, OWNERS, THE BLONDINIT
1. Our house, with around 20 people. This holiday is Solomon's favorite! It's non-negotiable.
2. We like to sit down around 3 p.m..
3. Solomon does all the cooking. The parade is on in the morning, and football for the rest of the day. Football is not turned off even when we sit down to eat!
4. Sweet potato casserole— it's Inda's favorite. Extra marshmallows.
5. We usually make a nice sandwich with the leftover biscuits and sides. Turkey is definitely in the mix as well.
6. When Solomon and I first started dating, he came to my house to meet my family for Thanksgiving. My sister was attempting to make cranberry sauce, and Solomon saw her struggling so he started to help. A few cocktails in, they were laughing, singing, and cooking. All of a sudden Solomon feels something wet on his sweater by his elbow. My sister accidentally cut him with a knife! Luckily it wasn't deep. We will remember this story forever, as he was officially initiated into the family.
BILL TAIBE, OWNER, DON MEMO, THE WHELK, KAWA NI
1. We’ve started celebrating in Colorado with my wife Rachel, our two boys Caeden and Oliver, plus our two dogs Boone and Goose.
2. We time our meal around the Cowboys game, so we usually eat at around 3:30 PM.
3. The Cowboys game pretty much dictates our schedule, and honestly, it’s added more stress than necessary in recent years!
4. We always go for a larger turkey to make sure we have leftovers.
5. I typically turn the leftover turkey into soup or turkey ramen with rice noodles and extra veggies the next day. It’s delicious, and we always invite friends over to enjoy a big bowl of turkey broth.
6. A: My favorite memory is playing football in the backyard with my cousins, aunts, and uncles, then everyone gathering inside to watch the Cowboys game. Whether people are rooting for them or not, it’s always a huge part of our tradition.