Photos by Steven Visneau
Styling by Todd Ramos
Makeup by Edward Sanchez
Hair by Melissa Ivanic for Estilo Salon and Spa
Shot on location at Heights Mercantile and Yale @ 6th apartments
Eunice
Artisans
Artisans
Celebrate friends and family at this French classic from 11am-3pm with an exceptional five-course lunch ($99/person). Sweet potato soup with lump crab; Canadian lobster tail; roasted turkey with creamy mushroom sauce, and pumpkin opera cake are just a few of the sumptuous courses.
Bludorn
Bludorn
Known for French-inspired, New American fare, chef Aaron Bludorn is whipping up a Thanksgiving spread of comforting classics and savory specials. The three-course menu ($105/adult, $55/child) features appetizers such as maitake mushroom with cashews and preserved lemon vinaigrette; Heritage turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce; dry-aged New York strip with beef jus, potato gnocchi with butternut squash brown butter foam; anddesserts. Sweet potatoes, stuffing, mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts are served for the table. The menu will be offered from 3pm-7pm. Reservations required.
Brennan's of Houston
Brennan's (photo by Kimberly Park)
Leave the details up to this Houston Creole icon and indulge in its holiday menu for lunch or dinner Thanksgiving Day. The three-course prixe fixe menu includes a variety of classic dishes for the whole family ($84/adult, $30/child).
Back Table Kitchen & Bar
Check out this deal: Back Table Kitchen & Bar in The Woodlands will be offering an eye-popping lunch buffet Thanksgiving Day ($75/adult, $32/child, ages 5 and under eat for free). Begin with freshly baked croissants and specialty breads from the bakery shop, curated meats, artisan cheeses and more from the butcher’s block, and on to custom omelets from the omelet station and classic breakfast staples. Hit the seafood and raw bar, and then indulge in braised beef short ribs, cornmeal fried catfish, Yukon gold mashed potatoes, smoked prime rib and roasted turkey. Satisfy your sweet tooth with pumpkin tarts, cranberry orange bread pudding, pistachio almond panna cotta, and spiced apple crisp. What more could you ask for?!
Etoile
Etoile
The bustling Uptown Park spot is offering a four-course French affair ($92/adult, $28/child) for lunch and dinner on Thanksgiving Day. Reserve ahead for delicacies like butternut squash soup with truffle cream; duck foie gras with praline mousseline; roasted turkey; beef short ribs, and Etoile’s vanilla-bourbon-pecan pie.
Eunice
This chic Upper Kirby eatery will offer a special Thanksgiving menu until 4pm on Thanksgiving Day. Menu highlights include Dan Dan delicata squash with spicy aioli, pickles and herbs; pumpkin bisque; Cajun-stuffed turkey and fixings with sweet potatoes, dressing, satsuma cranberry marmalade; and pumpkin pie tart with toasted meringue, and pistachio ice cream. Reservations can be made here.
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar
Fleming's
The venerable steakhouse opens early at 11am on Thanksgiving Day. Its three-course menu features traditional style herb-roasted turkey, filet mignon or prime bone-in ribeye. It includes a starter, all the side fixings, and dessert (starting at $53, three-course kids menu also available).
Gatsby's Hospitality Group
Join Gatsby’s Hospitality as they celebrate Thanksgiving Day for lunch and dinner at both of their concepts, Gatsby’s Prime Steakhouse and newer Gatsby’s Prime Seafood. Both restaurants will offer regular menus for guests, in addition to a turkey entrée option with all the fixings.
Indianola
EaDo’s Indianola will host Thanksgiving this year with a prix fixe menu. Expect elevated Thanksgiving favorites, from hors d’oeuvres like andouille sausage puffs with Creole mustard, to Cajun Heritage turkey with citrus cranberry sauce and herb gravy, and sides including toasted pecan brussels sprouts and roast kabocha squash, all served family-style ($65 adults, $25/child, kids under 3 eat for free). Love a certain dish? Just ask the server for seconds!
Le Jardinier
Le Jardinier
Relish a fine-dining experience in the heart of the Museum of Fine Arts at Le Jardinier, The Bastion Collection’s modern restaurant led by Michelin-star chefs. The menu ($165/person) includes an amuse bouche, three courses, sides for the table, and artful desserts. Highlights include foie gras royale with pumpkin emulsion and red port; citrus cured ora king salmon with beets and yuzu; and Heritage turkey ballotine with confit. Kids get their own menu with a la carte options. The restaurant will be open from 12pm-7pm. on Thanksgiving Day.
Musaafer
Tandoori-spiced turkey (photo by Raydon Creative)
Spice up your holiday at this exotic Indian destination serving lunch and dinner on Thanksgiving Day. Its dine-in plate ($40/person) includes tandoori-spiced turkey, spiced cherries, cranberry chutney, mushroom bacon Brussel sprouts, truffle fries, baby carrots, and makhini sauce. Add on the complex Maple Kheer Kadam dessert — coconut shortcake with mango strawberry compote, nut cluster, maple cremeux and almond sable.
Roma Ristorante
Roma (photo by Pop Studios)
Roma will open Thanksgiving Day for lunch and dinner with the option of a classic Thanksgiving plate by chef Kevin Bryant including house-roasted turkey with dressing and brown gravy, green bean casserole, yams, mashed potatoes, a house salad, butternut squash soup, and a dessert of choice ($59/person).
The Annie Cafe & Bar
The Annie
Relax in a chic setting Thanksgiving Day with the three-course prix-fixe menu at lunch or dinner ($90/person, $35/child). Anticipate butternut squash with cinnamon veloute; Texas shrimp & grits; roast breast of Heritage turkey with stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauces; prime rib toast; mouthwatering sides, and dessert. Grab complimentary hot apple cider and pumpkin cookies on the way out!
Tonight & Tomorrow
The elegant eatery inside historical La Colombe ‘d Or boutique hotel will be open for lunch and dinner on Thanksgiving Day. Expect an a la carte menu of traditional flavors with an elevated twist, such as sweet corn tamales with duck mole and Maine lobster pot pie. Entrées include roasted Heritage turkey bacon-wrapped turchetta with wild mushrooms and cornbread dressing, French green beans, giblet and boudin gravy; blackened prime rib; and seared scallops with Gulf jumbo lump crab, spinach, and marble potatoes. Save room for apple crumble served with vanilla ice cream.
Tribute
Gather and give thanks to Texas holiday favorites like Post Oak wood-grilled turkey with whipped sweet potatoes and candied pecans, cornbread dressing, haricot verts, and cranberry relish, or smoked prime rib with jalapeño potato gratin, and grilled asparagus. Open for lunch and dinner on Thanksgiving Day with complimentary valet parking.
Alissa Firsova (photo by Serban Mestcaneanu)
You can congratulate your listening skills if, upon hearing The Planets’ powerful, opening movement, “Mars, the Bringer of War,” you catch yourself thinking, “Man, that reminds me of Darth Vader.” While The Planets has certainly been mined by John Williams and many other fine film composers, hearing it on its own is a transcendental experience. New Zealand-born Gemma New conducts, and guest Camille Thomas is the soloist in Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
Also on the program is Die Windsbraut (“The Bride of the Wind”), a sweeping orchestral work by the Russian-born British composer Alissa Firsova. New conducted Die Windsbraut in Manchester in May, and was so taken by the piece, she brought it to the attention of the Houston Symphony.
It was inspired by the expressionist painting of the same name by Oskar Kokoschka, which portrays the artist lying awake next a sleeping Alma Mahler. “I find her very intriguing,” says Firsova of Alma, whose biography is titled Malevolent Muse. “Even though she was a very difficult, and sometimes hugely unpleasant person. She was also a very talented composer. Who knows what would have happened if she had been allowed to continue to compose?”
Kokoschka painted more than 100 works inspired by Alma, and hoped that one day, a poet would “transcribe their love into music” to show the world how deeply they loved each other. “When I read those words, I thought, ‘This is a challenge for me,’” says Firsova, who resolved to fulfill Kokoschka’s wish with music.
Firsova, 36, is the daughter of two highly revered composers, Elena Firsova and Dmitri Smirnov, who were both successful in their home country but were blacklisted by the Union of Soviet Composers, an organization created in 1932 by Joseph Stalin.
In 1991, the parents told Firsova and her brother to pack their favorite things for a trip, and the family fled to the safety of England. “I really felt growing up in England was like growing up in a paradise,” says Firsova.
Sadly, Firsova’s father died of Covid-19 in April 2020. “I still feel so much how he is still alive,” say Firsova, “because of all the love that he gave us and his enthusiasm for life.” Firsova still plays her father’s music, and his works continue to be performed across the globe.
Gemma New (photo by Roy Cox)
'Bride of the Wind,' by Oskar Kokoschka, 1913
While this weekend’s concerts are first and foremost about music and the stimulating interplay between contemporary and classical styles, it would be naive to say such programming has come together without a reckoning in classical music in the wake of the pandemic, the #MeToo movement, and Black Lives Matters protests.
Today, among the 25 largest American orchestras, there is only one female music director. In interviews, New, who was recently appointed the first female principal conductor of the 75-year-old New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, is reluctant to discuss the gender disparities in classical music, preferring instead to let her skill and passion for conducting and inventive programming speak for itself.
Meanwhile, the Houston Symphony has always included women in its orchestra, going as far back as 1931, when violinist Josephine Boudreaux made her debut as concert master with the symphony. If progress still feels slow, it’s encouraging to consider the Houston Symphony’s history of inclusivity, and the potential that exists thanks to pressure on arts organizations by a new generation of listeners and musicians.
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