THANKSGIVING to go
THIS THANKSGIVING, ORDER A GOURMET TAKEOUT MEAL OR JUST A FEW SIDE DISHES TO SPRUCE UP YOUR SPREAD
For some, it’s not the contentious conversations around the holiday dinner table that cause stress. It’s the actual table — and all the work involved in preparing a perfectly golden turkey, along with all the side dishes and desserts. All those trips to the grocery store. All that meal planning. Ugh.
Why not be thankful this year for the many Bay Area markets and restaurants that are willing to do the work for you? Whether you’re looking for an entire spread to feed 10 or a few unique side dishes to complete your holiday feast, we’ve found everything you need to feed your friends and family — right down to glorious, showstopping pies.
Here are seven Bay Area purveyors, from Oakland’s PieTisserie to Palo Alto’s Belcampo, with gourmet holiday items that fit the bill and take the stress off. Shhh. No one needs to know.
Gunther’s Restaurant & Catering
Looking to feed a small army or just spruce up your table with a stellar side? This German-inspired delicatessen in San Jose has you covered.
Options: A complete dinner ($30-$50 per person) starts with your choice of four proteins, including slowroasted free-range turkey with sourdough dressing or a Cure 81 smoked honey-baked ham. Whichever option you choose, the entree is accompanied by mashed potatoes, from-scratch turkey gravy, candied yams, green beans amandine, cranberry-apple sauce, a garden salad and fresh-baked Curacao rolls and butter. (You can also order these items a la carte by the pint or quart.)
DETAILS » Orders must be placed by Nov. 20 for pickup on Nov. 22 (call for times) at 1601 Meridian Ave., San Jose. Find a full list of takeout fare at www.guntherscatering.com (click on “Catering,” then “Holiday” then “Thanksgiving”).
Whole Foods
This gourmet supermarket chain has thought of virtually every holiday dining scenario, from an inventive vegan meal for two, designed in collaboration with Philadelphia’s Vedge Restaurant, to a classic organic turkey dinner for eight. Also: a whopping 16 side dishes available by the pound.
Options: Endless. The Festive Feast for 12 with all the fixings — including organic creamed spinach and kale — and two pies will run you $250. Or you can go totally elegant with roasted salt-and-pepper prime rib, which comes with maple-roasted Brussels sprouts and other sides, for $199 (serves eight).
Doing your own turkey but need distinctive sides? Try the cumin-spiced carrots ($7.49 per pound) and Southern cornbread stuffing (2 pounds, $14.99). Or just grab the dreamy butterflake dinner rolls (nine for $8.99).
DETAILS » Order by Nov. 21. Pickup varies by store. Find the holiday menus at www.wholefoods.com (click “Online ordering,” then “Meals and Catering”).
Market Hall
The pros at Market Hall Foods, both in Oakland and Berkeley, have created so many delicious options for the holidays, you may have trouble deciding. Whether you want a classic holiday feast, a few fabulous starters or “everything but the bird,” this East Bay institution can help.
Options: So many. The Whole Feast ($285) feeds eight to 10 and includes a BN Ranch roasted turkey, carved for even heating, plus all the fixings and pumpkin pie. The vegetarian version, Everything but the Bird ($205), comes with four seasonal veggie dishes, fixings and pie, too.
But it’s the fabulous sides and fixings that make Market Hall a standout: Melt a half-pint of its truffle butter ($11) into your mashed potatoes or rub it on your bird. Serve your guests a starter of winter squash quiche ($26, serves six to eight). Not feeling like turkey this year? Try the grilled tri-tip served with pomegranate molasses ($32 for a side that serves two or three, or $64 to serve four to six) or a maple-cured hamlette from Napa’s Walnut Keep Farms ($50, serves six to nine).
DETAILS » Orders must be placed online, in store or by phone no later than 3 p.m. Saturday for pickup Nov. 20 to 22; www.rockridgemarkethall.com.
PieTisserie
This East Oakland shop makes some of the best pies in the Bay Area — impossibly flaky, buttery crusts filled with high-quality, nottoo-sweet goodies. This year, they’re offering five distinctive homemade pies that we’re pretty sure you can’t get anywhere else.
Options: Choose from roasted pumpkin in a chocolate crust ($26), cardamomspiced apple ($28), raspberry in a dark chocolate crust ($32), ginger-lemon custard in a graham-cracker crust ($24) and a stunning, earthy beet pie ($26).
DETAILS » Order a pie by Tuesday, then pick it up Thanksgiving week, when PieTisserie will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Nov. 20 and 21, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 22, and 8 a.m. to noon Thanksgiving morning. 1605 Second Ave., Oakland; www.pietisserie.com.
Manresa Bread
Nothing says elegance and wow-factor like the salt-encrusted, buttery brioche rolls and sensational cakes and pies at this topnotch bakery, with locations in Los Altos and Los Gatos.
Options: Those beautiful, doughy balls will run you $10 a dozen. And get ready for the news on sweets: This season, Manresa is making apple galettes ($35) with a mix of all-purpose and spelt flours, Rittenhouse Rye whiskey-laced pecan rye pie ($42) and a cranberry pistachio babka ($20) made with pistachio flour. Also: chocolate panettone ($42) and gluten-free pumpkin cake ($24).
DETAILS » Order by Friday for pickup between Nov. 20 and 23 at either Manresa Bread location: 271 State St. in Los Altos or 276 N. Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos. Find the holiday menus at www.manresabread.com (click “In store pickup,” then scroll down to “Holidays”).
Homestead
Each year, this upscale farm-to-table restaurant in Oakland’s Piedmont neighborhood hosts a Dungeness crab feast for those who don’t want to cook in the days leading up to Thanksgiving (5-10 p.m. Nov. 21 and 22). For take-home, it offers two holiday pies.
Options: Choose an 11inch fresh pumpkin pie ($30) or an 11-inch brown butter pecan pie ($50) made with a pound and a half of pecans.
DETAILS » Order your pie before Nov. 21 for pickup before 10 p.m. Nov. 21 or 22. 4029 Piedmont Ave., Oakland; www.homesteadoakland.com.
Belcampo Meat Co.
Chefs at this upscale butcher shop, with locations in Palo Alto and Larkspur, don’t want you to worry about anything this holiday season. If money is no object, go for the luxury, multicourse feast ($899), which feeds up to 14 and is sourced from Belcampo’s own farm. They even throw in a bottle of Champagne.
What you get: A Belcampo by Mario Batali charcuterie tray and tart apple and butternut squash soup start things off. And the 22- to 26-pound roasted organic turkey is accompanied by 10 sides that range from white truffle mashed potatoes and white cheddar mac and cheese with Belcampo lardons, to whiskeybraised Brussels sprouts with Belcampo guanciale, honey-roasted spiced Thumbelina carrots and a fresh green bean casserole with trumpet mushroom bechamel. A pumpkin pie and an apple caramel pie add a sweet touch. And a bottle of Taittinger Brut La Francaise Champagne keeps things celebratory.
DETAILS» Order by Nov. 13 for pick up in Larkspur only (2405 Larkspur Landing Circle Building 4) on Thanksgiving Day; www.belcampo.com/thanksgiving.