Luxe NYC Restaurants for Thanksgiving Takeout

With COVID-19 cases rapidly increasing and political anxiety at an all time high, one thing is certain: this year's Thanksgiving won't be like any other. For the geographically separated unwilling to gather in the midst of an on-going pandemic or the loyal travelers exasperated after braving holiday travel, consider swapping Thanksgiving's usual hours of food prep for celebratory takeout. Luckily, in today's time of luxe delivery services like Uber Eats and Caviar, convenience no longer means low quality, especially now that a throng of New York's finest fancy restaurants have pivoted their en dining menu for to-go. Here, a survey our favorite eateries to consider for your New York Thanksgiving at home. 

Indochine

After an eight month hiatus, Indochine—the downtown French-Vietnamese hotspot favored from everyone from Andy Warhol to Kate Moss—is back. And while the banana-leafed indoors are limited to a 25 percent capacity like other NYC restaurants, the kitchen's salty shrimp rice and spicy shaking beef sizzling with scallions are  just a Seamless order away.

Carbone

For the first time ever, Mario Carbone's campy yet ironically amazing Italian American eatery is doing delivery service, meaning the chef's upscale take on red-sauce favorites and carb-y entrée are well within reach. (Pre-COVID-19, the celeb-favorite restaurant had been infamously difficult with reservations.) Afterall, no one said Thanksgiving was a health holiday. 

The Mark

While other restaurants went dark during the pandemic, Jean-Georges Vongerichten pivoted. In October the Michelin star chef launched a one-of-kind meal on a sailboat around New York's harbor. Now, his swanky hotel eatery is offering the French culinary star's luxe market cuisine directly for your at-home enjoyment. 

Gramercy Tavern

For over two decades, Gramercy Tavern has changed the way we look at American cuisine, presenting no gimmick delights from the sea and grill—its bacon and cheese burger is especially scrumptions—beside local and craft beer. For Thanksgiving the Danny Meyer-founded restaurant will be doing a $140 pre-fixe on-site and a selected menu via pickup and delivery.

Mr Chow

Mr Chow's high-concept cuisine has brought the worlds of food to fashion and art—his TriBeCa, NYC outpost boasts original artworks by Schnabel, Warhol, and Helmut Newton—since restaurateur Michael Chow opened his first location in London in February 1968. Now available via delivery, the over-the-top experience is yours to have at home, with the restaurant's squid ink noodles and Beijing chicken on the menu. As for Chow's famous champagne cart? Maybe next Thanksgiving. 

Cote 

While the Cote experience is generally marked by grilling one's own meat at the table (and you still can; the steakhouse has reopened for dining), the Flatiron twist on Korean BBQ is bringing its food home to you in two ways. First with a to-go menu—replete with Cote's joyous chicken nuggets and perfectly-cooked wagyu—and secondly with its butcher shop, where fresh hanger steak and marinated galbi short ribs await your own kitchen. 

Caviar Russe

For those wishing to swap turkey for another protein, consider upgrading your Thanksgiving meal to the finer things in life. Michelin star-rated Caviar Russe offers same-day and next-day delivery of its sophisticated menu of New American wonders topped with roe, of course. Nothing garners thankfulness like a fresh helping of caviar.

ABC Kitchen

For the first time ever Vongerichten's union square trifecta—ABC Kitchen, ABC Cocina, and ABCv—has joined forces for a combined delivery service. While picking between the three is not an easy task, the original kitchen might very well win out this year, with farm-to-table plates making thematic sense for a more traditional Thanksgiving menu.