Dine in New York for the Holidays

New York City Restaurants Offer Multi-Ethnic, Value-Centric Thanksgiving

Press Release: NEW YORK, As America's favorite holiday, Thanksgiving is embraced by the country's melting pot of races, nationalities, cultures and religions, now being reflected by the multi-ethnic orientation of restaurants offering celebratory meals incorporating traditional "Turkey Day" elements, while including nods to their culinary focus.

Especially in New York City, where ethnic restaurants that formerly ceded Thanksgiving dining to their more mainstream counterparts are remaining open this year with value-centric menus. 

Witness Pera Mediterranean Brasserie, the city's most celebrated Eastern Mediterranean restaurant, with its first $49 three-course Thanksgiving celebration featuring pumpkin flatbread with house-cured lamb prosciutto offered as an appetizer option and honey-lavender glazed leg of lamb, stuffed with seasonal dried fruits, pine nuts and rosemary, accompanied by feta-cheese gratin as an alternative to the more traditional roast organic turkey; caramelized Brussels sprouts, chestnut and sausage stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy, also on the menu. 

Or the $42 four-courser from Fiorini, an Italian charmer, with butternut squash-filled ravioli with light brown butter sauce and shaved Parmigiano cheese as a starter. And Brussels sprouts lend the green to Petite Abeille's family-style service of customary roast turkey with chestnut and sage stuffing, sweet potato puree and pumpkin pie presented with a healthy side of bargain at just $25 from this popular Belgian boite.

At Pera, other Thanksgiving appetizers are pumpkin bisque with cranberry compote and grilled kale Caesar salad, Parmigiano Reggiano and imported Spanish anchovies, while hickory-grilled wild salmon with preserved lemon, crispy fried oysters, roasted tomato and pickled onion relish joins the turkey and lamb as the third entree choice. Cinnamon whipped cream adds an Eastern Mediterranean touch to the pumpkin pie dessert option; chocolate brownie Sundae, candied walnuts, and candied pumpkin vanilla ice cream is another.

For Fiorini, roasted corn squash soup with crab meat is the alternative to the ravioli for the first course. Two salads compete for second course palates - baby spinach with radicchio, pears, crispy walnuts or arugula with roasted pepper, grilled onions and Portobello mushrooms. The main event is roasted free range turkey with mushroom and sage stuffing, fresh cranberry compote, whipped sweet potatoes, harvest wild rice with mushrooms and honey glazed carrots with a plethora of pies for dessert.

And should the second helpings promised by the family-style service at Petite Abeille not satisfy Thanksgiving appetites, butternut squash ravioli with pea shoot and ham hock in split pea broth is an $8 add-on, making a three-course feast just $32.

Midtown Manhattan's Pera Mediterranean Brasserie, 303 Madison Avenue, will celebrate Thanksgiving on November 25 from 12:30 to 8:30 p.m.; call 212-878-6301 or visit http://www.peranyc.com/.

Fiorini, 209 E. 56th Street, will serve from 3 to 9:30 p.m.; call 212-308-0830 or go to http://www.fiorinirestaurant.com/.

Petite Abeille will present its family style Thanksgiving from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; call 212-727-1505,http://www.petiteabeille.com/.