November looks to be a busy and exciting time for many restaurants.
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Tucker’s Restaurant in Southwick has planned an Olde Burnside Beer Dinner for Nov. 9.
Scheduled to start at 6 p.m., the event will be featuring beers brewed by Olde Burnside Brewing Company, an East Hartford, producer of microbrewery style beers and ales.
Chef-owner Michael Anderson has developed a five-course menu that will kick off with a selection of hors d’oeuvre before being followed by Anderson’s caramelized pumpkin bisque.
A presentation of grilled shrimp will follow; the main course is to be cedar-planked pork roulade.
For dessert Anderson plans to create a “fruits of the forest“ waffle that he’ll serve a la mode. Dinner is $55 per person, with tax and gratuity included in that price. Advance reservations can be made by calling (413) 569-0120.
If you’re thinking of going out for Thanksgiving dinner this year, it’s certainly not too soon to make reservations. As the popularity of letting pros do the Turkey Day feast has grown, so has the need to plan ahead.
Many eateries now open for the day, so plenty of options are available, offering all sorts of menus and prices points.
Classic venues like the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, the Publick House in Sturbridge and the Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield will all be featuring traditional Yankee fare.
Storrowton Tavern in West Springfield will be offering two alternatives – a sit-down, table d’hote menu of holiday favorites in the restaurant and a Thanksgiving buffet in the Carriage House.
If you’ve got gaming other than football in mind for Thanksgiving, the restaurants in the Mohegan Sun Resort Casino complex in Uncasville, Conn., have planned a wide variety of dining specials with which to tempt you. Thanksgiving menus, both traditional and inventive, are slated for Seasons Buffet, Todd English’s Tuscany, Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain, and Ballo Italian Restaurant & Social Club.
Some operators will be offering feasts-to-go, with all-inclusive packages ready for pickup either the day before or on Thanksgiving morning.
One unique wrinkle to Turkey Day dining is the Thanksgiving Harvest Brunch at Chez Josef in Agawam. Billed as a way to go out for a festive meal and still get home in time for the game, the brunch is offered with seatings scheduled from 10:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
A full buffet is planned, including omelet station, chef-carved turkey and ham, a seafood bar, dessert table, and more. The buffet is priced at $28.95 plus tax and service fee; reservations can be made by calling (413) 786-0257.
The Munich Haus in Chicopee will be hosting a Wild Game Dinner on Nov. 17.
Slated to begin at 6:30 p.m., the dinner will feature a wild game buffet. Included in the spread will be assorted appetizers, a cheese board, and a salad station.
A carving station with bear, venison, bison, kangaroo, and a whole roasted boar will be available, as will a selection of buffet dishes such as ostrich Marsala, wild game sausages, and a wild game stew.
Tickets, which are $45 per person, must be purchased in advance. The Munich Haus takes reservations at (413) 594-8788.
The restaurant also has its monthly Hops Club evening planned for Nov. 21 with Hacker-Pschorr Original Oktoberfest the featured beer. The event, which will begin at 6 p.m., includes a dinner buffet and a complementary stein of the featured beer. Advance ticket purchase ($15) is required.
Definitely suitable for a guys night out, the Log Cabin Banquet and Meetinghouse in Holyoke is featuring “Something Worth Fighting For,“ a program that includes a steak dinner and an amateur boxing card. To be held on Nov. 12, the program benefits the Kevin Ambrose Memorial Fund, a charitable effort that honors Springfield police officer Kevin Ambrose, who died in the line of duty earlier this year. Doors open at 5 p.m., dinner will be served at 6 p.m., and the first matchup on the boxing card is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the event, which are $50, can be ordered on-line at logcabin-delaney.com or reserved by calling (413) 535-5077.
Though this summer’s drought is expected to translate into a bacon shortage next year, near-term supplies of pork are plentiful and cheap, as producers sell off their herds rather than pay the skyrocketing cost of keeping their animals in feed.
Restaurants, therefore, have the ability to live high on the hog over the next few months. Expect chefs to be featuring pork in many forms – chops, roasts, ribs, and the like – as well as experimenting with other cuts such as pork shank. This short-term pork price break is likely to give “the other white meat“ the kind of menu exposure it’s not enjoyed for decades.
Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community College’s hospitality and culinary arts program and has over 35 years of restaurant and educational experience. Please send items of interest to Off the Menu at the Republican, P.O. Box 2350, Springfield, MA 01102; Robert can also be reached at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com