Here’s some late-breaking news for you: Restaurantarama has learned that not everyone likes to cook on Thanksgiving. Though the Norman Rockwell version of the holiday has everyone gathered ‘round the home table, noshing a feast prepared lovingly by the hands of a blood relation, plenty of clans follow a different tradition: the nice restaurant meal. This does not necessarily have to resemble that scene in A Christmas Story where the family sits in a Chinese restaurant looking shell-shocked by the incongruity of it all. Where, pray tell, does one find a festive Thanksgiving out?
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One could go to the Silver Thatch Inn in Hollymead which, like many local inns, treats Thanksgiving as an occasion worthy of its own special menu. The Silver Thatch apparently believes in the same doctrine as Restaurantarama’s own dear relations, who serve the holiday “dinner” at lunchtime—namely, eat your Thanksgiving early and often. The inn calls their meal “brunch” and serves from 12:30 to 4pm. It’s a five-course affair proceeding from appetizer (wild mushroom tart served in peppercorn crust and garnished with orange sage cream) through soup (caramelized fennel and white bean) and salad to the free-range brined and roasted turkey with ham and cognac giblet gravy. Oh, and dessert, natch. The whole shebang costs $45 for adults and $22.50 for kids. Get your bids in now at 978-4686.
A little farther afield in Palmyra, Inn 1831 and Restaurant will seat you at noon, 2pm or 5pm for an à la carte menu of turkey and all the time-tested trimmings—Virginia ham, mashed potatoes— plus some more surprising ones like rosemary roast leg of lamb, pulled salmon and crab cakes. It’ll cost $18-25. Call the inn at 800-253-4306.
In the other direction, Stanardsville’s Lafayette Inn—which recently won the “Restaurant of the Year” award from the Virginia Wine Association—has three seatings (11am, 1:30pm and 4pm) for its buffet-style Thanksgiving. This menu is all about choices: You can get your turkey three ways, your stuffing two ways (sausage or cornbread) and your potatoes three ways (including roasted red and sweet potatoes). And there’s a dizzying array of sides and desserts: hot mustard slaw, cranberry apple walnut conserve, vegetable antipasto, stewed tomatoes with okra, mincemeat pie and pumpkin bread pudding with brandy cream sauce. The inn has a plated seating at 6pm, too. Personally, we’d make a game of it: For the adult tab of $24.95 (less for seniors and kids), how many of the 45 dishes could we sample? God, this holiday is fantastic. The inn’s phone number is 985-6345.
Finally, if it’s the Thanksgiving atmosphere you crave more than the food itself, Michie Tavern might not be a bad choice. The Tavern serves its usual menu on the big day (fried chicken, barbecue, and sides like black-eyed peas and baby beets), though with reduced hours: 11:30am to 2:30pm. But the period costumes and pewter dishes will make you feel all warm and fuzzy and American.
Other turkey-day choices: Fossett’s at Keswick Hall, the Ivy Inn, Prospect Hill Plantation Inn, the Old Mill Room at the Boar’s Head Inn, Clifton—The Country Inn, and the Inn at Meander Plantation.
Café and a half
We told you back in August that Café Cubano would expand into a next-door space in Downtown’s York Place, and indeed it has. The new annex to the popular coffeeshop is open now, looking as sleek as the original section with a curved orange wall, a concrete floor and silver accents. It’s mostly used for seating, but there’s also a new bathroom, and the coffee-urn area now looks out into the hallway, making the whole café feel more spacious. Viva caffeine!
Got some restaurant scoop? Send your tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.
