Coco Pazzo Cafe, 636 N. St. Clair St., will be open Thanksgiving, offering a meal for $45. Some of the items on this menu include acorn squash soup; carnarolli rice folded with shrimp, basil pesto and kale; pan-roasted whitefish; herb-roasted turkey breast; and panettone bread pudding with amaretto sauce. Visit www.cocopazzochicago.com .
This holiday season, The Boundary, 1932 W. Division St., will serve Turkey Day-themed cuisine Nov. 24-30. Special menu items include turkey-and-mozzarella croquettes and hot turkey sandwich. Visit www.BoundaryChicago.com .
The W Hotel's Current, 644 N. Lake Shore Dr., will be open for Thanksgiving. Executive Chef Gregory Elliott will offer items such as shaved radicchio and persimmon salad, Slagel Family Farm turkey plate, seafood risotto and amaretto cheesecake. Call 312-255-4460 or visit www.CURRENTchicago.com
BBQ restaurant Smoke Daddy, 1804 W. Division St., is offering "Smoked-Turkeys-to-Go" for Thanksgiving. A whole slow-cooked turkey is priced at 11 pounds for $65, or 20 pounds for $85. (Pulled turkey is $16 per pound.) Pre-orders are being taken now; call 773-772-6656, or visit www.TheSmokeDaddy.com .
Benny's Chop House, 444 N. Wabash Ave., is offering a Thanksgiving meal for $49. The chef's traditional dinner will include natural turkey breast and braised turkey leg, creamy mashed potatoes, sage stuffing, sweet potatoes, green-bean casserole, and pumpkin pie with cranberry chutney and vanilla bean creme brulee, among other items. See www.bennyschophouse.com .
Howells & Hood, 435 N. Michigan Ave., will offer Thanksgiving-related fare Nov. 24-30. Among the items are turkey wings, hot brown smoked pastrami turkey, H&H turkey loaf and pumpkin-pie flan. See www.HowellsAndHood.com .
Oak Park's Marion Street Market is also offering Thanksgiving fare, for $24.95 per guest. Guests will receive unlimited visits to a cheese-and-charcuterie station as well as a station serving a variety of appetizers and composed salads. Then, patrons can choose an entree (roasted turkey breast, roasted pork loin and homemade tagliatelle pasta), and there will be a dessert station as well. Visit www.marionstreetmarket.com .
French restaurant Bistro Voltaire, 226 W. Chicago Ave., offers a three-course $29 Monday-night menu. Some of the selections are classic French onion soup, escargot de Bourgogne (braised snails with garlic and herb butter and topped puff pastry), ballotine de poulet (chicken stuffed with goat cheese, mushrooms, spinach and rosemary cream sauce) and warm chocolate cake. See bistrovoltaire.com .
The Thanksgiving menu at Chicago Cut Steakhouse, 300 N. LaSalle St., features such classics as butternut squash soup, autumn salad, candy-roasted sweet potatoes and maple-glazed roasted turkey. For dessert, guests can enjoy pumpkin pie with cinnamon whipped cream, apple pie with Homer's vanilla ice cream or Georgia pecan pie, also served with Homer's vanilla ice cream. Visit www.chicagocutsteakhouse.com .
For only the second time since Michelin began rating Chicago's booming gastronomy scene five years ago, the city is home once again to two three-star restaurants: Grace and Alinea, the Chicago Sun-Times noted. Only 115 restaurants of the more than 20,000 that Michelin rates in 23 countries currently have that distinction. In Uptown, chef Jake Bickelhaupt's 42 Grams earned two stars in its first year of operation.
The Michelin Guide announced the Chicago recipients of its 2015 Bib Gourmands, dropping the number of restaurants honored to 59 (from 69 last year), NBCChicago.com reported. These are restaurants that serve two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less; also, they're not eligible for Michelin stars. Among some of the winners are Avec, Browntrout, Cumin, Fat Rice, Slurping Turtle, Parachute, The Purple Pig, Untitled, Lao Hunan, Hopleaf and Ceres' Table.
Gemini Bistro, 2075 N. Lincoln Ave., a Lincoln Park eatery just three blocks from Lincoln Park Zoo, has announced a special three-course prix fixe menu launching Friday, Nov. 28, and lasting throughout ZooLights. Items include roasted tomato soup, spiced pumpkin risotto, loch duart salmon, free-range chicken and assorted cookies. See www.GeminiBistroChicago.com .
Brian Millman is the new executive chef of Atwood restaurant. Millman joins Atwood after two years as executive sous chef of the gastrolounge Sable Kitchen & Bar. He has launched his fall menu, which includes such items as duck confit pot pie, hunter's meatloaf (bacon-wrapped, with potato mousseline, roasted root vegetables, huckleberry demi) and Wisconsin stuffed cheese-curd meatballs. See www.atwoodrestaurant.com .
Old Crow Smokehouse, 3506 N. Clark St., is marking its first anniversary by offering specials throughout the day as well as an evening of live entertainment. There will be complimentary smoked turkey samples, Thanksgiving-inspired food specials and signature cocktail samples. The event is free; call 773-537-4452.
Sophie's at Saks, located on the seventh floor of Michigan Avenue's Saks Fifth Avenue store, will be hosting a dinner with views of the yearly BMO Harris Bank Magnificent Mile Lights Festival held on Saturday, Nov. 22. Sophie's plans to host dinner seatings at 5 and 7 p.m., accompanied by a Veuve Cliquot champagne bar and three-course holiday dinner priced at $38. Items include fennel-dusted diver scallops, pumpkin risotto or the chef's favorite. RSVP at 312-525-3400.
The Signature Room, 875 N. Michigan Ave., rings in the season at the "Holiday Kick-Off Party with Santa" on Saturday, Nov. 29, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Families are welcomed into the festively decorated private dining space to meet Santa Claus, decorate cookies with his elves, and write out holiday wish lists. The event costs $35 per adult, and $18 per child; tickets are available at 312-280-0465.
The JW Marriott Chicago, 151 W. Adams St. will host a "Ballerina Hot Chocolate Happy Hour" on Wed., Dec. 3, 4-6 p.m., with tutu-clad ballerinas on hand as the hotel offers free hot chocolate and cider to local and visiting guests in its lobby lounge. Also, there's a "Night at The Nutcracker Ballet" package that includes two VIP tickets to The Nutcracker, an overnight stay in a deluxe guest room and a swag bag, among other things (starting at $429). Visit www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chijw-jw-marriott-chicago/ or call 312-660-8200.
On Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m., celebrity Chef Jose Garces is inviting up to 60 Chicago gourmands to a holiday cooking demo and four-course dinner in the Barcelona Room of the tapas restaurant Mercat a la Planxa, 638 S. Michigan Ave. Among the slated dishes are serrand ham and fig salad; bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with almonds; garlic shrimp; charred Brussels sprouts; and Calaspara rice with butternut squash, golden raisins, and Brussels sprouts. Tickets are $75, with $50 from each ticket benefitting the Chicago Greater Food Depository; call 312-765-0524.
Travelle, 330 N. Wabash Ave., will hold an exclusive "Swine and Wine" chef collaboration dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11. Executive Chef Tim Graham has teamed up with Chef Nathan Sears of The Radler to feature a pork-based menu paired with international wines. Tickets are offered at $99 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity. Call 312-923-9988.
Le Colonial, 937 N. Rush St., has bun tom thit nuong as its November #OffTheMenu special. The $16 dish contains a mix of thinly-sliced barbeque pork and grilled shrimp, is served over a bed of angel-hair noodles and is topped with mesclun greens, pickled carrot, daikon and a lime-garlic fish sauce.
The women's board of the Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced that the triennial gala Wine Auction 2015 will take place Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, on the famous stage of the Ardis Krainik Theatre, 20 N. Upper Wacker Dr. Wine Auction 2012 netted a record-breaking $1.7 million, with Wine Spectactor Magazine naming the event one of the "Top Ten Charity Wine Auctions" of that year. Tickets are $1,500 each; call 312-827-5682 or contact lyricwineauction@lyricopera.org .
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