Crypto News: This Thanksgiving, forget all the rules

Hi hi, it's Kate the food editor, dropping in just in time for the kickoff of holiday season.

So now should be the time when I start talking turkey. Normally I'd wax on about finding a gorgeous heritage bird for roasting, and some terrific new way to prepare potatoes and a fabulous new pie you hadn't considered. Not this year. For the first time ever, I don't know anyone who's making Thanksgiving dinner.

Yes, I'm currently based in London, where the holiday has a complicated history for other reasons; still, it's a shocking state of affairs. In years past, I've always been invited to an expat's house where we do our best to re-create a big fat American-style spread, including sourcing a decent UK version of an American pie. (Turns out there are several solid, pecan pie-adjacent treacle tarts out there, including at the excellent breakfast spot Ester's in Stoke Newington.)

If you feel like time-traveling in London this Thanksgiving, head to the Mayflower. Courtesy: The Mayflower

This year, everyone I know who's celebrating Thanksgiving in London is doing it outside their home. They're headed to the historic Mayflower pub, which dates back centuries and is the location from which the original Mayflower ship set sail. Or they're going to a hotel, where the staff knows its American clientele: One notable spread this year is at the Hoxton Grill in Shoreditch, where Mississippi-born chef Slade Rushing will have cornbread-pecan stuffing and spiced pumpkin pie.

(For the one home-cooked UK Thanksgiving feast I've heard about, the host surprised guests with a Splitwise app; the cost was shaping up to be around £80, or $101, per person.)

A rendering of the new Locanda Verde Hudson Yards, where Thanksgiving dinner will not be served. Source: Roman and Williams

Shockingly, things aren't much different for my friends in the US. I can name half a dozen restaurants where my New York crew are headed on Thanksgiving. Some are going to the Dutch in Soho, which serves a family-style feast, for example. I know people who annually go to its sister restaurant Locanda Verde in Tribeca for an Italian feast and will again this year. (The brand new Locanda Verde in Hudson Yards won't be open for Thanksgiving, sadly.) Another friend is going to the outstanding tofu specialist restaurant Cho Dang Gol in Koreatown because, she says, it's the only day you have no trouble getting in.

So why is everyone I know abandoning their kitchens this holiday season? It could of course be the very divisive US election. But even before Nov. 5, my people were making plans not to cook. Maybe it's because it's been an exhausting year. Or because there are so many festive season options for eating out or ordering in. In New York, chefs became meal-kit experts during the pandemic and several have continued the business. Take Aquavit, a staunchly Scandi spot in Midtown Manhattan: It's offering a to-go kit for the holiday (the turkey is flavored with caraway, and lingonberries are subbed for cranberries).

And mail-order expert Goldbelly is thriving for the holiday—they now have eight holiday categories to choose from, including all-in-one boxes, turkey alternatives and both pies and other dessert categories. "We're seeing an early surge in volume on some of our Thanksgiving top categories," says Goldbelly founder Joe Ariel about this year's sales. "Pies notably are up 20% year over year. We're seeing increasingly creative offerings from regional artisan bakers." The same is true, he says, of another top seller, the Piecaken.

Pecan pie-adjacent treacle tart from Esters, if you're in London for Thanksgiving. Photographer: Kate Krader

Speaking of cake: Next week Pursuits contributor Kat Odell will be rounding up cool new bakers if you're in the New York area and not a pie person. And if you are a pie person, high recommend on Goode & Co's pecan pie, which you can mail-order from Texas, and which won a Bloomberg newsroom taste test a couple years ago.

Hi, Rene Redzepi, see you soon in Kyoto. Source: Noma

And what am I doing for Thanksgiving this year? Eating something on an airplane. I'm headed to Japan for Noma Kyoto, where chef Rene Redzepi will be cooking a meal that will be in an entirely different universe from traditional holiday cooking (lots of crab, I hear). I plan to return to my regularly scheduled Thanksgiving programming next year.

Maybe the above rant hasn't dissuaded you from immersing yourself in a home-cooked meal. I applaud you and am offering up some of my favorite recipes and tips for Thanksgiving and this time of year overall from Pursuits' fun Lunch Break column.

Roast carrots loaded with flavor and texture that I made in 2021 on Melissa Clark's recommendation! Photographer: Kate Krader/Bloomberg

A Thanksgiving Fixer Gives Three Surprising Recipes for Your Feast
Melissa Clark believes there should be squash pizza on the table.

Snoop Dogg's Surprisingly Solid Tips for Thanksgiving Dinner
Not exactly what you'd think.

A Star Chef's Roast Vegetable Tart Solves Many Holiday Problems
The Thanksgiving showstopper features in an unconventional cookbook from Jacques Pepin.

Chefs Share Last-Minute Tips for a Spontaneous Thanksgiving Meal
Potato-chip gratin, taco seasoning, and boiled turkey breast are all on the table this year.

A Julia Child Pumpkin Pie Recipe to Delight the TikTok Crowd
A New York Times cookbook reintroduces the world to a legendary twist on a holiday classic.

Salted Fudge Brownies That You May Just Want to Make for the Holidays
I've been known to serve my brownies at Thanksgiving and will just say, they're very popular.

'Tis the Season for Potato Chip-Crusted Fried Chicken
To celebrate Hanukkah, a recipe that goes big on frying from the Peas Love & Carrots cookbook.

Although isn't it always drinking season these days?

Why You Should Order the Weirdest Drink on the Cocktail List

Trendy Sparkling Wines to Get Your Holiday Parties Started Right

What 15 Experts Are Drinking on Election Night, Win or Lose

New Indian Single Malt Whiskies Hold Their Own Against Scotch

The 11 Booze-Free Drinks to Keep Dry January Going All Year Long

A World's Best Bartender Knows How to Mix the Perfect Holiday Drink

What else I'm consuming

For books: I've lost count of how many times someone has recommended All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bingley (Vintage Publishing). Finally I stopped nodding and bought it. I'm only midway through, so no spoilers please, but if you want to be enchanted about the job of being a security guard at what is literally one of the world's most beautiful places—and also about the meaning of time—here you go.

Rare Charity auction at Claridges. Items on offer include a tasting menu at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. Source: Rare Tea

For charity: Last weekend, I got to enjoy a hugely indulgent, boozy tea for a good cause. I joined my esteemed colleague, Bloomberg Opinion writer Howard Chua-Eoan for a Sunday afternoon meal to raise money for Rare Charity, which was started by Rare Tea Co. founder Henrietta Lovell to provide an education for the people who work hard to allow us to have multiple cups of (underpriced) tea every day. (Some online auction items are still available on the website.) The meal included the world's best sausage roll, courtesy of Lovell's husband, Richard Hart, founder of Hart Bageri in Copenhagen.

It's Bagels makes me think I'm in New York. Photographer: Kate Krader

For breakfast: As a native New Yorker, it's my birthright to be exceedingly picky about bagels. I've spent two-plus years in London ignoring them, even as the noise around them got louder. But now there's a new outpost of It's Bagels in Soho and I've got to admit, they do get it very right. They've got a stellar chew and a crust with a little but not too much give—and generous seeds if you get the sesame. I've also trekked to the outpost in Primrose Hill and was gratified to see a framed vintage Sports Illustrated cover featuring New York Knick Patrick Ewing.

So you had some questions…

We call for queries weekly on Pursuits Instagram account. Here's what you were dying to know about this week.

A very extravagant hostess gift this year. Source: Louis Vuitton

It's the merry season. What gifts do you suggest when someone is hosting a party?

Funny you should ask. We have been working hard on gift guides that you'll see in the December issue of Businessweek and online in the next couple weeks. So I'll do a spoiler alert and tell you a couple of the things I would want from that list. One is an adorable Alessandra Baldereschi Fish Glass Bottle from the MOMA gift store; another is any kind of confection from Pump Street Chocolate, which specializes in genius flavors like croissant and sourdough and salt; they're big here in the UK and are now available in the US. Or if your budget is more generous, Louis Vuitton has a new silver bag this season.

If you're a regular at a restaurant, should you tip your regular servers better around the holidays?

You are the diner that everyone wants in their restaurant. Andrew Carmellini chef and co-owner of the Dutch and Locanda Verde restaurants featured above applauds you. "Tipping a server that always looks after you is an ace move," he says. "Cash! Discreetly."

Consider a savory pie from the reopened Georgian instead of a Thanksgiving meal. Photographer: The Georgian

Thanksgiving is shaking me to the core. I'm staying home alone. What should I eat?

I feel you. I'm not sure where you're based, but if you're in London and decide to go out, I would have an afternoon tea—which is kind of like the anti-Thanksgiving meal right? I'm enchanted by one that we just featured at the newly reopened The Georgian at Harrods. You'll be sitting in a room with 24 chandeliers and loops of velvet booths with a parade of finger sandwiches, scones and cakes coming at you. Or if you want more of an event dish, go for dinner where the king of savory pies, Calum Franklin, is now turning out gorgeous centerpiece pastries.

And if I can convince you to go out in New York, my other home town, I would encourage you to hit Koreatown.

But if you've made up your mind to stay home I would order in the best Chinese food you can get delivered and like me, decide that next year will be the year to celebrate.

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