Esquire’s chef of the year, Roberto Donna, will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner at Al Dente tomorrow. (Photo by LaTur)
Too lazy or bored to cook Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow? Fear not. Plenty of bars and restaurants around D.C. are open tomorrow, offering holiday specials. Some are lowbrow, some are fancy, all are plentiful.
The Black Squirrel (2427 18th Street NW) is once again giving thanks for its patrons by offering a $5 all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving Buffet. Stuff your face with turkey, ham, and sides, then check out the taps for Schlafly’s Pumpkin Ale, Elysian The Great Pumpkin, New Holland Ichadod Pumpkin Ale, and more. Starts at 5 p.m. $5 for the buffet, beers sold separately.
The Hamilton (600 14th Street NW) is offering a turkey dinner served with traditional sides like green bean casserole, candied yams and sausage-cornbread dressing, with a slice of pie for dessert. Adults can stuff themselves for $28 a plate; kids eat for $10. Starts at noon.
BLT Steak (1625 I Street NW) is going in for a $68 prix fixe dinner, loading up its roasted turkeys with chestnut-sausage stuffing and rosemary gravy. Or, for the anti-traditionalists, prime rib, even though former New York Times dining critic thinks anything but turkey on Thanksgiving is a dumb choice.
The restaurants at Kimpton Hotels’ properties in the D.C. area will be serving tomorrow. BRABO, at the Lorien Hotel (1600 King Street, Alexandria), is getting the most ambitious, with Robert Wiedmaier turning out dishes like spaghetti with tomato and burrata, braised pork shanks, seared rockfish and maybe there’s a turkey somewhere in there. Seatings begin 2:30 p.m. Call (703) 894-3440 for reservations.
Esquire named Roberto Donna 2012’s chef of the year in its October issue, and for good measure. John Mariani wrote that Donna’s dishes at his new restaurant, Al Dente (3201 New Mexico Avenue), are “so deceptively simple they seem like sleight of hand.” Same goes for his Thanksgiving menu, tomorrow, when Donna dishes out scallopini turkey breast with pancetta and mozzarella, topped with a mushroom tomato sauce. Prix fixe dinner is $35.95 per person, $12 for children under 10. Seatings begin at noon. Call (202) 244-2223 for reservations.
For more restaurants that will be open tomorrow, check out lists compiled by Eater and Washingtonian.
Elisabeth Grant contributed reporting.
