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Restaurants Get Creative for Thanksgivukkah

Special offerings from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Cleveland, and more

by
Devorah Klein Lev-Tov
November 26, 2013
(Shutterstock)
(Shutterstock)

Are you already tired of Thanksgivukkah, the mega-holiday that’s still two days away? Does the idea of putting together the perfect Thanksgiving/Hanukkah hybrid meal—Manischewitz-brined turkey, anyone?—make you want to give up culinary hope completely?

Fret not, Thanksgivukkah rookie: chefs and restaurants across the country have you covered, devising delicious meals to celebrate the convergence of Thanksgiving and the first night of Hanukkah (without the stress of figuring out how to stuff your turkey with latkes). We’ve put together a list of the restaurants that are offering special menus or dishes this Thanksgivukkah, so that you can observe the once-in-a-lifetime occurrence as it is meant to be properly: with lots and lots of food.

Chicago

Enjoy your Thanksgivukkah turkey with a Mexican twist at ¡AY CHIWOWA!, where they’re serving El Gobbler, a matzoh-tortilla-wrapped taco filled with shredded turkey and spicy cranberry salsa. November 26–29.

For the week leading up to Hanukkah, Kaufman’s Deli in Skokie will be serving up a variety of holiday delicacies, including potato pancakes with cranberry applesauce and pumpkin noodle kugel. November 25 through December 5.

Burger joint Rockit Bar & Grill celebrates with a special burger, available throughout November. The massive Thanksgivukkah Burger has a turkey patty with sage stuffing, spiced cranberry sauce, roasted turkey gravy, and a crispy latke, and comes with sweet potato fries.

Cleveland

Chef Dave’s Catering will offer an all-you-can-eat buffet at the restaurant inside the Young Israel of Greater Cleveland, or you can make an order for takeout to have your feast at home. The buffet will feature a variety of holiday-themed dishes, including freshly carved turkey with stuffing alongside both potato and sweet potato latkes with homemade cranberry applesauce. November 28.

Los Angeles

The Thanksgivukkah Festival will feature live music, turkey-shaped piñatas filled with Hanukkah gelt, and latke-making opportunities. The Kosher Palate food truck will be on hand, selling sweet-potato latkes with cranberry relish and marshmallow fluff, roasted garlic latkes with shaved maple glazed turkey and gravy, and sufganiyot (fried doughnuts, a traditional Hanukkah treat, typically filled with jelly) with special fillings to fit the season. Canter’s Truck, Mama Tamales, Bibi’s Bakery, and Dog Haus will also be on hand. November 29.

As the holiday draws near, kosher bakery Bibi’s Bakery & Cafe will sell pumpkin pie–flavored Bavarian creme doughnuts at its shop and at the Thanksgivukkah Festival.

Dog Haus will be offering a special Thanksgivukkah dog—a smoked turkey sausage mixed with bits of whiskey-soaked cranberries and brown sugared sweet potatoes, then topped with tater tots—suggesting latkes—and drizzled in apple-raspberry compote. November 22 through December 1.

New York City

The Mecca of classic Jewish-style food, Kutsher’s Tribeca will be serving a four-course tasting menu. You’ll start with pickles, chopped duck & chicken liver, and house-made challah for the table before moving on to pumpkin shliskas or a beet salad. For the main course, there’s turkey or brisket served family-style with challah chestnut stuffing, spaetzle kugel, and sweet potato latkes with sour cream & cranberry compote. Dessert is babka and sufganiyot with cranberry-raspberry jelly and chocolate gelt sauce. November 28–29.

If you’re looking for the best baked-goods mash-up, you might find them at Zucker Bakery, which will be selling four different kinds of sufganiyot: spiced pumpkin with cranberry and turkey filling, sweet potato with toasted marshmallow filling, spiced pumpkin with turkey and gravy filling, and spiced pumpkin with cranberry filling. Now through December 31.

Classic Montreal-style deli Mile End will be offering a special Hanukkah dinner and catering menu at its Bond Street location. While it’s not billed as a Thanksgivukkah menu, in addition to classic Hanukkah dishes they will also be selling items like sweet potato and butternut squash latkes, challah and pumpernickel stuffing, and butternut squash and prune tzimmis to go with turkey, brisket, and salmon on their catering menu. The in-restaurant dinner is a $45 prix fixe and skews toward traditional Hanukkah foods, with nary a turkey in sight. Prix fixe Hanukkah dinner, November 27, items available a la carte throughout Hanukkah; order by November 24 for catering items, pick-up November 27–December 5.

The Brindle Room will have a special holiday menu featuring a turkey platter with porcini stuffing, sweet potatoes, gravy, green beans, potato kugel, cranberry sauce, and jelly donuts. There will also be dreidel games. November 28.

The Jewish Thanksgiving mash-up is nothing new for Katz’s Delicatessen. They’ll be having their annual Thanksgiving dinner featuring a $75 all-you-can-eat menu of turkey, pastrami, mashed potatoes, tzimmes, latkes, potato salad, coleslaw, pickles, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and drinks. November 28.

Online

Gourmet small-batch food purveyor Mouth.com is selling a special Thanksgivukkah Taster gift basket ($75) featuring sweets like Salted Caramel Apple Taffy from The Salty Road, Pumpkin Pie Marshmallows by Wondermade, Milk Chocolate Gilded Gelt made by Veruca Chocolates, and Oatmeal-Cranberry-White Chocolate Cookies by Alchemy by Carla Hall.

Popular recipe websites Food52 and Serious Eats got together for a friendly contest to see who could come up with the best Thanksgivukkah recipes. After collecting suggestions from readers on both sites, Food52 presented the Thanksgivukkah Double Down—leftover turkey between sweet potato latkes with cranberry applesauce and shaved brussels sprouts, dressed in warm schmaltz-cider vinegar dressing. Serious Eats presented a Latke-Crusted Turkey Stuffing Fritter with Liquid Cranberry Core and Turkey Schmaltz Gravy, which is exactly what it sounds like.

A bunch of bloggers, spearheaded by the Cupcake Project, got together to do a Thanksgivukkah Blogger Potluck, where each blogger contributed a recipe. There are some real gems in here, including Thanksgiving Tzimmis Pie, Chocolate Cranberry Cake with Gelt Glaze, Pumpkin Glazed Cronuts, and Pumpkin Cranberry Maple Kugel.

Our favorite Thanksgivukkah food item on the Internet? This easy-to-make turkey-shaped challah.

Are we missing any Thanksgivukkah specials near you? Let us know in the comments.

Devorah Klein Lev-Tov is a writer, editor, and travel blogger.