Thanksgiving Eve Holiday Special
The Busiest Night for Bars in America & Cocktails for the Long Holiday Weekend
Today’s Thanksgiving Eve Holiday Special is available to all readers thanks to the generous support of Wynk Seltzer.
With Thanksgiving Eve upon us, whether you’re on the road, already at your destination, or preparing to host at home, throughout the holiday season the warm nostalgia of gathering with family can conflict with the reality due to the often-present complications of familial relationships. The tagline for Wes Anderson’s 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums succinctly sums up the sense of drama, conflict, anxiety, and dark humor many people face suddenly living under the same roof with their family once again: “Family isn’t a word… It’s a sentence.”
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Thanksgiving Eve Holiday Special
If you’re currently on a plane, in a train, or stuck in traffic on the highway, I wish you safe travels to your destination, wherever that may be, this Thanksgiving holiday. And if you’re making one last stop at Wegman’s or the local greenmarket to check off those last-minute items from your shopping list, good luck!
As with the tradition of our LAST CALL Holiday Specials, there’s a comfort in the familiarity of hitting the same beats year after year. Plus, there are many new readers joining us for the first time, and holidays, after all, are about creating and fostering traditions.
I spent the weekend running around a few Brooklyn grocery stores (including the Wegman’s in the Brooklyn Navy Yard), checking off my shopping list to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner. And even after a few quick pit stops throughout the week to pick up a few last-minute items, I’m sure I’ll need to make a mad dash for some ingredient or MIA item at some point today.
I picked up my turkey yesterday at Greene Grape Provisions in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Last year I switched things up and ordered a smoked turkey breast from Hometown Bar-B-Que in Red Hook, and while it was delicious, and one of the sleeper smoked meats at the acclaimed restaurant, the smokey poultry profile ultimately proved too overpowering for my palate during repeated visits to the leftovers in the fridge (I feel the same way about Benton’s Bacon. I love it and respect it, but can only enjoy it in moderation.).
So I went back to my usual Brooklyn turkey source and ordered an all-natural Nicholas breed turkey, hatched and raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and sourced from the fourth-generation family-owned Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wycoff, New Jersey. The spatchcocked bird (with legs and wings removed and breast cracked and flattened) is currently chilling atop a rack in a half-sheet pan in my refrigerator for two days, dusted with a dry brine of salt, pepper, and brown sugar. I’ll finish it on Thanksgiving with a maple-butter glaze using a recipe from Bon Appétit’s Chris Morocco.
I always make my Cranberry Sauce a few days before Thanksgiving, simply because it’s one of the easiest dishes to assemble and check off my list. So this joined the turkey in my fridge last night. Beyond the usual turkey sandwiches (standard and hot and covered), this year instead of my usual Turkey Tetrazzini I plan to put any remaining leftovers to work in a tray of shredded Turkey Enchiladas. What is Thanksgiving but looking forward to the leftovers?
Despite the holiday “break” I have an incredibly busy week with multiple work and writing deadlines but promised myself I will take time to enjoy leftovers and football and maybe even a weekend matinee of the Gladiator II. Thanks again for all of your engagement with this year’s lineup of Holiday Gift Guides. They’re always a lot of fun to bring together but the irony of all this daily holiday programing is that I’m working up to and through said holidays.
By the time today’s dispatch lands in your inbox I’ll be queuing up at Radio Bakery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to pick up my pre-ordered pies. This year’s offerings are a Caramel Apple Crumb Pie with an oat streusel and made with New York State apples, and the debut of a Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie with a honey graham crust adorned with a crown of brown sugar meringue. It’s always nice to see familiar faces among the communal experience and the buzz of pre-Thanksgiving errand running. And I always love to run into Radio Bakery chef and owner Kelly Mencin for a quick chat—her team has been working around the clock to prepare and box up more than 500 pies. I’m hoping she might still have some of the brand new Pretzel Potato Rolls for sale, but I won’t press my luck. At least I’ll be armed with pies.
Thanksgiving Eve: The Busiest Bar Night in America
The night before Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the busiest bar nights of the year. Imagine people three deep trying to catch the bartender's attention for a beer or something stronger. The people behind the bar are shaking, stirring, pouring. And finally, it's time—last call. The lights come up. The music goes down, and people head out the door. It's a time of ritual for bar staff, one that patrons rarely get to see. That ritual intrigued author Brad Thomas Parsons. So for his latest book, he traveled around the country to more than 80 bars, asking bartenders for their take on last call.
—Ari Shapiro, Host of All Things Considered
Just before Thanksgiving in 2019, I took the Acela down to Washington, D.C. to meet with Ari Shapiro and his producer at Service Bar, where we spent the morning talking about my new book, Last Call, along with Service Bar co-owner Chad Spangler, who made us drinks and spoke to the rituals and traditions of closing time from a bartender’s point of view. It was my third time (second in person) being interviewed by Shapiro, who is as smart, charming, and stylish as you might suspect, and despite being a tiny bit nervous I felt at ease as soon as he bounced into the bar with his magnetic energy. (Plus, I think he may enjoy interviewing me in person at bars and distilleries instead of via a remote studio connection as it usually involves the opportunity for some day drinking.)
Our interview aired the next week, timed to the busiest night for bars across America—Thanksgiving Eve. For year or two after the would rebroadcast it on Thanksgiving Eve. Give it a listen.
The Return of the Wild Turkey Ice Luge at Grand Army
For the fourth year in a row, Brooklyn’s Grand Army hosted the highly anticipated, always entertaining return of the Wild Turkey Ice Sculpture. It was originally held on the actual Thanksgiving Eve, but the past two years they’ve moved it to the Monday before Thanksgiving, which makes sense as more people are still in town and it lures in a bigger bar industry turnout. I was the first one to arrive, per tradition, and promised myself I’d be back home by 8:00 p.m. I had a great time and paced myself with a couple of Wild Turkey Whiskey Sours with short beer chaser, and stepped back into my apartment at 9:00 p.m., so not so bad. While it’s different from going back home and returning to your hometown bar and seeing familiar faces from your past, it’s a similar sensation as Grand Army was filled with friends, neighbors, colleagues, and a who’s who of off-duty New York City bartenders, distillers, producers, and brand representatives.
This year’s Ice Turkey had some subtle updates to three previous sculptures. The “Wild Turkey” branding was on one line versus stacked along with the addition of the Wild Turkey logo, which looked like a subtle watermark. It seemed a little narrower than in years past, but sturdy as ever. But beyond its stately beauty, the frozen turkey serves as an ice luge. Eager guests ascend a step ladder and get into position as Head Bartender Patty Dennison, nimble as a house cat, hops up on the other side of the bar to deposit a shot of 100-proof Wild Turkey into a chamber, sending the whiskey through a catheter-like tube running through the turkey’s innards and shooting out of.. well, its butt… and straight into the open mouth of the expectant guest perched atop the step ladder at the turkey’s hindquarters.
If you’re out and about this evening, try to have a little extra patience and be sure to tip well. And if you’re stopping by your neighborhood bottle shop to pick up a couple extra bottles of wine, be sure to be extra nice to the proprietor. And I know most LAST CALL readers likely have a bottle or two of amaro already on hand to break out for when you’re lingering at the table contemplating that second slice of sweet potato pie. But it’s also a perfect time to pick up a bottle of amaro to bring with you as a host/hostess gift. Happy Thanksgiving!
What are your favorite Thanksgiving Eve traditions? And if you’re hitting up a bar tonight, where are you going?
Thanksgiving Cocktails for Your Consideration
But wait, what about the cocktails? Don’t worry, I have a few suggestions for your Thanksgiving consideration, from some bittersweet highballs (including one that can be scaled up for a serve-yourself-punch to an an elegant aperitivo that takes inspiration from a dirty Martini to a classic Whiskey Sour.
Let me know in the comments what you’re drinking this Thanksgiving, and if you make any of these drinks feel free to share a photo or tag me on Instagram.
Sweet & Salty Bitter Bar Nuts
For years when I lived in Seattle I used to serve a cayenne and honey laced almond mix when people stopped by for drinks or dinner. These Sweet & Salty Bitter Bar Nuts were featured in my first book, Bitters, and went on to become a favorite bar snack for readers. My associate Marty is always whipping these up over the holidays and never fails to text me a photo. These are a riff on (and, really, a tribute to) the two addictive nut mixes served at the bar at Union Square Café and were featured in Danny Meyer's 2009 cocktail collection Mix Shake Stir. The bitters play backup in this sweet, salty, spley, impossible-to push-away party snack. Even if you don't reach for another cocktail. there's no doubt you'll be reaching for another handful of nuts. Park Slope’s Bar Louise even added them to their menu as part of their snack tray.
Makes 4 Cups
4 cups mixed unsalted raw nuts, preferably a mix of cashews, pecans, walnuts, almonds, or pistachios.
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Angostura bitters
1 tablespoon Maldon sea salt (or coarse sea salt or kosher salt)
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes, giving the pan a shake at the 5-minute mark.
While the nuts are toasting, combine the brown sugar, butter, rosemary, cayenne, cinnamon, honey, and bitters to a large bowl. Add the warm nuts to the bowl and mix them to thoroughly coat. Add the salt and mix again.
The nuts are best served warm, but they can be stored in an airtight container for a few days should you have any left over.
Cosmopolitan
Toby Cecchini, Odeon | New York, New York (1988)
There’s a whole generation of kids who come by The Long Island Bar and consider the Cosmopolitan an old-timey classic cocktail along the lines of the Martini or Manhattan, without realizing that it is the bar’s very owner Toby Cecchini—the wry, distinguished looking man welcoming guests at the door and ferrying trays of drinks to booths—who created this certified modern classic at The Odeon in 1988.
At first the Cosmopolitan was served only to The Odeon waitstaff but soon in-the-know guests and regulars were asking for the drink, and before long it became a must-order drink in the New York City bar scene. After stepping out of the spotlight for a while, the Cosmopolitan re-emerged in the summer of 1999 with a cameo in Sex and the City, where it went on to become a pop culture phenomenon as the signature drink of Carrie Bradshaw and her fashionable crew. It faded away once again as the modern cocktail revival became obsessed with contemplating Golden Age cocktails. Later, when COVID-related lockdowns in 2020 had everyone shaking up drinks at home, the Cosmopolitan started to be taken seriously and was primed for yet another revival.
Here’s an excerpt from my book Last Call, where Cecchini recalls the heady days of tending bar at The Odeon in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s and the origin of the Cosmopolitan.
What was it like tending bar at the Odeon?
Cecchini: The Odeon had been white hot, but by the time I got there it had lost a lot of its shine. The owners were complaining a lot about revenues being down even though everybody was there. I mean, Warhol and Basquiat were there nightly. I served Basquiat a steak the night that he died, which he went into face first and passed out. I read the next day that he was dead, and I was, like, yeah, not surprised actually. Madonna and Sandra Bernhard came in constantly. They were my lunch regulars. I was kind of terrified of them. They called me “boyfriend” and would snap their fingers at me. Madonna was kind of nice to me, but Sandra Bernhard was terrifying. Lou Reed was there. Sam Shepard was there all the time. DeNiro and Harvey Keitel had a regular table. Letterman was there. These were just regular regulars. And then you saw everybody else. That’s just kind of where they went. It was a super scene. I waited on the Rolling Stones. It was, like a $15,000 tab and Mick Jagger tipped me $15. I have loathed Mick Jagger ever since.
Can we talk about the Cosmopolitan?
Cecchini: Yeah, it’s all right. It is my albatross. But it is my albatross. I’ve had to make that clear.
I was working at The Odeon with a woman named Melissa Huffsmith who was in an all-girl punk band, and we worked Friday nights together. One night she said, “So I was out last night with these friends of mine from San Francisco who showed me this wild drink that I think is really cute. It’s making the rounds in gay leather bars in San Francisco. It’s called the Cosmopolitan.” So she showed me. Rail vodka with Rose’s lime juice and Rose’s grenadine. Up, in one of those V-shaped 1980s Martini glasses that we had then. Shaken with a twist of lemon. I was, like, huh, that’s cute but absolutely disgusting. I liked the look of it, and so thought I’d set about to make it better.
At the time we were making house Margaritas using fresh lime juice and Cointreau. There had been this brand-new, very exciting product from Absolut, Absolut Citron. It’s such a laugh to think of it now, but back then we were like, “Dude, the flavor is in the vodka.” We were so excited and buzzing around it, but nobody knew what to do with it. I was, like, I’ll use that stuff, which makes no sense because you’re putting lime juice in it anyway. I’ll just do like we do with a margarita. Cointreau is very fancy. Fresh lime juice is cool. How do I make it red? We had that jug of cranberry sitting there to make Cape Codders. Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail is very important. It changes it remarkably if it’s not Absolut Citron, if it’s not Cointreau, if it’s not fresh lime juice, if it’s not Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail. As silly as it sounds, it tastes really different.
Makes 1 Drink
1-1/2 ounces Absolut Citron vodka
3/4 ounce Cointreau
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
3/4 ounce Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
Garnish: lemon twist
Combine all the ingredients except the garnish in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with the lemon twist.
Cranberry Beret
Brad Thomas Parsons | Brooklyn, New York (2016)
This Thanksgiving Day highball is reboot of a cocktail with a not-so-sexy name, Cranberry-Spice Cocktail, that I created for Food and Wine in 2011. Cranberries, oranges, and apples are still at the heart of the drink, but I amped up the proof a bit with Laird’s apple brandy and played off the bittersweet orange notes of the Amaro CioCiaro and brightness brought on by the Aperol. It’s a great before-dinner drink to kick off a Thanksgiving gathering, a time when it’s good to keep people busy with a drink in their hand. You can also batch it up as a punch and have your guests serve themselves.
Makes 1 drink
1 orange wedge
12 fresh cranberries
1-1/2 ounces Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy
1/2 ounce Amaro Cio Ciaro
1/2 ounce Aperol
2 dashes cranberry bitters
Hard apple cider
Garnish: orange zest and 3 fresh cranberries, skewered
Combine the orange wedge and cranberries in a cocktail shaker and muddle until the fruit is just broken up. Add the apple brandy, Amaro CioCiaro, Aperol, and bitters and fill with ice. Shake until chilled and double-strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top off with the hard apple cider. Garnish with the orange zest and skewered cranberries.
Smithstreeter
Brad Thomas Parsons | Brooklyn, New York (2016)
This drink was inspired by Chris DeCrosta, a longtime regular at the former Prime Meats in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. He lived a few blocks from the bar and I always say him at the bar sitting on his favorite stool (B1). Before I actually met him, I only knew him by his Instagram handle, @smithstreeter. He’s inked up and obsessed with the brand Supreme and casts a cool, laid-back vibe, typically decked out in a T-shirt and ball cap. For the longest time, I thought he might be a fourth Beastie Boy, but it turns out he’s a successful retail real estate specialist. I always love running into him and wanted to create a drink in tribute to our friendship—something that I could envision him drinking from his favorite stool. Stay bitter, Chris!
Makes 1 drink
1 ounce rye whiskey
3/4 ounce Amaro Lucano
1/2 ounce cold-brew coffee
1/4 ounce Demerara syrup (2:1 Demerara sugar:water)
2 dashes orange bitters
Tonic water
Garnish: lemons zest
Combine the rye, Amaro Lucano, cold-brew coffee, Demerara syrup, and orange bitters in a highball glass over ice. Give it a few stirs to incorporate the ingredients. Top off with tonic water. Garnish with the lemon zest.
Note: I originally made this drink with crushed ice (as seen in the photo). If you’d like to use crushed ice, just add a couple ice cubes to a shaking tin and do a quick whip shake to avoid over-diluting before pouring over crushed ice, adding more ice if needed to top it off.
Safe Passage
Kenaniah Bystrom, Essex | Seattle, Washington (2013)
When Brandon Pettit opened the pizzeria Delancey in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, he was always experimenting with his own small-batch shrubs, bitters, ginger beer, and liqueurs. Years later, when the vintage umbrella shop next door closed, he opened a 12-seat craft cocktail bar called Essex. Spiked with Castelvetrano olive brine, the Safe Passage was created by Delancey’s then bar manager Kenaniah Bystrom as a tribute to the now closed and sadly missed Brooklyn restaurant Franny’s. Franny’s had a popular Sweet Olive cocktail and Bystrom created the Safe Passage as a tribute at a party hosted at Essex in honor of the Franny’s cookbook release (now out of print, the cookbook has become a bit of a collector’s item). The resulting drink is the perfect balance of salty, sweet, and bitter.
Serving: 1
1 ounce Amaro Nardini
1/4 ounce Aperol
1/4 ounce lemon juice
1/4 ounce olive brine from Castelvetrano olives
2-1/2 ounces Prosecco or other sparkling wine
Garnish: 2 Castelvetrano olives, skewered
Combine the Nardini, Aperol, lemon juice, and olive brine in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled and strain into a chilled coupe. Top with Prosecco and garnish with the Castelvetrano olives.
Rick Dalton Whiskey Sour
Dave Nurmi, The Long Island Bar | Brooklyn, New York
With all this talk about Whiskey Sours, you know I had to include my favorite recipe and with the likelihood of a carton of eggs behind handy, go ahead and shake one up (though I might save this as an after-dinner drink rather than while prepping the meal).
Dave Nurmi at The Long Island Bar tends to be the guy shaking up my order most of the time and I’ve taken to his particular spec. To ensure a frothy head, Nurmi advises adding one large 2”x2” ice cube along with a few 1.25”x1.25” cubes to the cocktail tin after the dry shake for better aeration.
Makes 1 drink
2 ounces 100-proof rye whiskey, preferably Wild Turkey Rye 101
1 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce simple syrup
1/4 ounce egg white
1 hearty dash Angostura Bitters
Garnish: orange twist and cocktail cherry
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing tin and dry shake without ice for at least 20 seconds. Add one large ice cube and several regular-sized cubes and shake until chilled. Strain into a double-old fashioned glass and gently add ice cubes to fill the glass while maintaining the top layer of foam. Express an orange twist over the surface of the glass and garnish with the orange twist and a cocktail cherry.
Try not to drink more than eight in one sitting.
Our thanks to Wynk for underwriting today’s Thanksgiving Eve Holiday Special dispatch.
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Wishing you the happiest, most perfect Thanksgiving, Brad!
pretzel rolls!!! 😍😍😍