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 Eat Your Heart Out With Arizona Inn's Exclusive Thanksgiving Menu. By Rebecca Cook THANKSGIVING BRINGS TO mind the common cultural images of pilgrims and Indians, family gatherings, football and, of course, food. Lots and lots of food. Not just any food, mind you. The Thanksgiving bounty is specific and traditional. Although a menu from the original event is not readily available, it's believed that the harvest in 1621 included an abundance of squash, corn, potatoes and beans. Historians suggest that turkey, the focal point of many contemporary holiday meals, may not have appeared on those first tables (though there's no doubt that the wild version of the species frequented the New England woods). One theory that flies in the face of tradition says lobster was the original meat for which the pilgrims gave thanks.
Sometimes, however, the foundations of tradition can be transformed into pure inspiration. Such is the case at the venerable Arizona Inn, an institution synonymous with grace, elegance and history. Arizona Inn has paid particular attention to the holidays through the years, developing an impressive tradition of seasonal fine dining. This year's Thanksgiving will be no exception, although I must say from the start that there's good news and bad news: The good news is an amazing repertoire of variations on a theme. Looking to jazz up your usual fare? Check out what Chef Joy Holt has done to the traditional favorites.
What's all the fuss about? Try starting with Thanksgiving brunch, served between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Inn. A nice appetizer of shrimp and crab cocktail, or a country-style pâté with roasted hazelnuts and cranberry relish, along with your favorite late-morning beverage, should begin things nicely. Follow this with a stunning choice of soup or salad, such as a butternut squash bisque with cinnamon and sour cream swirl, a lobster consommé with julienned carrots and fresh chives, or a tossed-green or Waldorf salad. The list of entrees includes smoked salmon Benedict with a zesty pink peppercorn-hollandaise sauce; a three-egg omelet à la Reine, folded around tender chicken and topped with a sauce of pepper confetti and gruyere cheese; or wild-mushroom brandied crepes, capped with a roasted garlic cream. Wild-rice pancakes and a stuffed tomato accompany the above. If you're more interested in standard Thanksgiving fare, even at brunch, the Arizona Inn offers roasted turkey with pecan-sage stuffing and giblet gravy, broiled lamb chops served with a fresh mint sauce, and prime rib. Desserts at brunch? Why not. Try the Arizona Inn's pumpkin pie, this time served with a cranberry whipped cream, eggnog cheesecake, strawberry-rhubarb cobbler or chocolate-pecan tart. If your typical, home-cooked Thanksgiving fare suddenly seems mundane by comparison, just wait until you hear about dinner: Appetizers, soups and the tossed green salad stay the same, but now there's a spinach salad with apples, walnuts and a blue cheese vinaigrette on the menu, followed by a sorbet to clear the palate for the main course. In addition to the turkey, lamb chops and prime rib, your possibilities expand to include a grilled portabello mushroom and wild rice risotto topped with roasted garlic and herbed butter; a pecan-encrusted salmon with brandy and brown-butter beurre blanc; and chicken apricot, a roasted breast stuffed with apricots, pistachios and a Grand Marnier cream. All the above entrees are served with a bundle of fresh vegetables, candied yams and saffron duchesse potatoes.
Not surprisingly, none of this comes cheap ($28 for the brunch or buffet, $34 for dinner); but the meal is popular enough to draw many of the same people year after year. In addition to the outstanding ambiance, service and food, dining room manager Renee Jensen says she thinks the experience provides valuable schooling for gourmands-in-training. "We're a teaching-type house," she says. "Children come in their little patent-leather shoes and fancy clothes, and in many cases, have their first experience fine dining. You know, what fork to use and when. That kind of thing." Perhaps as compensation for the booked Thanksgiving feast, the Arizona Inn will resume afternoon tea service beginning the week of the holiday. Served from 3:30 to 5 p.m., this high tea--including both black and herbal blends, as well as hot chocolate--is served with an array of finger sandwiches and platters of petit fours and cookies. Seating in the cozy Masterpiece Theatre-style library is on a first-come, first-serve basis and large parties are discouraged. Ten dollars will cover this Arizona nod to Anglophilia.
The Arizona Inn. 2200 E. Elm St. 325-1541. Breakfast
from 7 to 10:30 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner
from 5 to 10 p.m. daily. Sunday brunch served from 11 a.m. to
2 p.m. Afternoon tea served daily from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Full bar.
V, MC, AMEX, checks. Menu items: $4.95-$27. Reservations for Thanksgiving
1998 will be taken beginning October 27, 1998.
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Larger historical questions aside, a menu of predictable proportions
has emerged over the years: roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, yams,
cranberries and pumpkin pie. While at most other times of the
year many of us prefer more novel culinary endeavors, come November
we tend to crave the familiar..."just the way Mom used to
make," if possible.
The bad news is that, at least for this year, you're on your
own. Although the Arizona Inn only books reservations a month
and a day in advance, all available seats have already been filled
for this year's feast. Seems a late-fall visit here is an integral
part of many people's annual itinerary.
A buffet in the adjacent room offers diners fewer choices and
less tableside service, but that's where you'll find king crab
claws, a fruit tray, domestic cheese board, mushroom salad with
blue cheese and walnuts, and a sole Florentine made with spinach
and a pink peppercorn beurre blanc.
