Thanksgiving is a lovely excuse to indulge in a leisurely meal and spend time with friends and family, watch (American) football on television and nap. In London we have to take things out of order sometimes, for example watching football after dinner rather than before. And since Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday, many of us still have to work on the day.
Whether you choose to cook a huge traditional feast on November 28, celebrate over the weekend or go straight to the turkey sandwich leftovers, there is no need to skip the holiday entirely. We’ve rounded up some resources to make pulling together an expat Thanksgiving as easy as . . . well, pie.
The Meal at Home
If you plan to host a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll need to put a little work into procuring ingredients. Turkey, traditionally served at Christmas in the UK, can be surprisingly hard to come by and the size is invariably smaller than our supersize American birds. If your oven in London is as small as mine, that is actually a blessing in disguise.
Whole Foods Market (various locations) turkey, cornbread, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and many pantry items, online ordering and delivery available. Whole Foods also sells fully cooked Thanksgiving dinners for any size group.
C Lidgate Butchers (Holland Park W11 4UA) whole turkey, boned and rolled turkey breasts, gravy, various stuffings, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and pecan pies. Online ordering and delivery available.
A handful of stores also carry familiar American ingredients (Jiffy Cornbread, Stove Top stuffing, graham cracker pie crust, canned pumpkin and sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce) that can be really helpful if you are not inclined to make everything from scratch.
Partidges (Sloan Square SW3 4LY and Kensington SW7 4PL)
Panzers (St. John’s Wood NW8 6PB)
American Food Store (Holland Park W11 3BG)
For more ideas if you’re cooking at home, see WLM’s Recipes for a Happy Thanksgiving.
Dining Out
If you don’t want to cook or if you are gathering for dinner after a day at the office, it may be more relaxing to book into one of these options, ranging from high-end to very casual:
Several hotels host luxury Thanksgiving dinners, including Claridge’s (Reading Room), Browns (Hix), 45 Park Lane (Cut), and Grosvenor House (JW Steakhouse)
American restaurants Christopher’s (Covent Garden) and Missouri Angel (the City) serve a well-regarded Thanksgiving dinner with all of the trimmings. The Benjamin Franklin House hosts an annual dinner to raise funds to preserve the only surviving home of the founding father.
New-comer The Lockhart (Marble Arch) will be offering a Southwest-inspired menu with pairings of California wines.
For those who must have a side of football with their meal, Bodeans (multiple locations) will be broadcasting the NFL games along with three courses of turkey, ham and pie.
The little extras
Some Thanksgiving-themed crafts and games will entertain the kids and keep them occupied while they wait for dinner. Consider creating some new traditions here in London, such as attending the American Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul’s Cathedral or visiting Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park while everyone else is at work/school.
For the extreme observers, there is a Thanksgiving celebration in Plymouth near the point where the Mayflower embarked on its fated journey to the colonies.
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