As much as I love spending Thanksgiving day prepping, cooking, serving, and cleaning for my oh so gracious family, I’m always left scrambling to throw on mascara and an outfit not covered in mashed sweet potatoes right before they arrive.  And, I can never quite figure out how the hell one irons a round tablecloth.  Thus, I’m headed to New York for Thanksgiving with the fam to enjoy some quality NYC dining (deciding between The Smith, Sarabeth’s, Five Points, and the Lamb’s Club; suggestions welcome) and to let someone else do the cooking and cleaning.  If you feel like giving your oven a rest this year, here are some great Thanksgiving dinner options in Miami.

The Dutch

For diners looking to eat a home-style meal this Thanksgiving, without slaving over a hot stove all day, The Dutch, at W South Beach Hotel & Residences,will do the work for you. The foodie favorite is putting its own unique spin on Thanksgiving dinner this holiday season with their special menu sure to please the most discerning diners. Enjoy Crispy Turducken, root beer sweet potatoes, confit turkey leg stuffing, spiced cranberries and green bean casserole, priced at $55 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity, and can be served individually or family style. The special Thanksgiving menu will also be offered from noon to 9 p.m.  The Dutch is located inside W South Beach Hotel & Residences, 2201 Collins Avenue, in Miami Beach, Florida, 33139. For reservations, call (305) 938-3111 or book online at http://www.opentable.com/the-dutch-miami.

Quattro Gastronomia Italiana

Quattro Gastronomia Italiana will offer a Northern Italian Thanksgiving Prix-Fixe Menu put together by twin chefs Fabrizio and Nicola Carro. The three course menu offers diners a choice of antipasti including pancetta croccante served with baby Boston lettuce, crispy pancetta, grape tomato, candied walnuts and blue del Moncenisio dressing or a Fontina fondue with quail egg and Altamura bread crostini. Patrons can choose from braised turkey breast, T-bone of lamb or housemade mini gnocchi all accompanied by seasonal side dishes. Desserts include a pumpkin tart or zeppole with four dipping sauces. The menu is priced at $55 per person exclusive of tax and gratuity. Quattro is located on 1014 Lincoln Road.   www.quattromiami.com.

Meat Market

Lincoln Road’s Meat Market is putting a spin on traditional Thanksgiving with some special holiday offerings. Themed entrées created by Executive Chef/Co-owner Sean Brasel include a fresh Bell and Evans turkey leg roulade stuffed with brioche, Asian pear and lobster served with a spicy aji pumpkin sauce, fresh cranberry gastrique and bok choy ($32) or a Bell and Evans fresh juniper and white cranberry marinated sous vide turkey breast,wood-grilled with sweet potato flan, braised beet greens and vanilla Jack Daniels sauce ($35). Also on offer is a mixed grill of three featuring smaller portions of the Bell and Evans entrees and the Meat Market house made “ham” Kurobuta pork belly with orange and King crab salad and roasted macadamia nuts ($42).  A specialty dessert of homemade chocolate chip pecan bourbon pie served with sour cream ice cream ($12) will also be available.  Meat Market is located at 915 Lincoln Road on South Beach.  The Crudo bar opens nightly at 5 p.m.; the full dinner menu is served nightly beginning at 6 p.m.  www.meatmarketmiami.com

The Rusty Pelican

Be thankful for Key Biscayne’s Rusty Pelican’s special Thanksgiving Day Brunch Buffet and Thanksgiving Prix Fixe Menu. The buffet will be served upstairs from 10:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. and priced at $75 per person and $30 per child (ages 4 to 11), excluding tax and gratuity. Entrées include carvings of free range Vermont turkey with gravy as well as Ancho Chili Rubbed Beef Top Round, with sides such as roasted shallot mashed potato, apple sausage stuffing and blue cheese buttermilk biscuits. The homemade dessert station will serve some of the season’s most sought-after sweets including pumpkin pie, baked apple tart, pecan pie and apple pie. The Thanksgiving Prix Fixe Menu, priced at $49 per person and served downstairs, includes choice of pumpkin & andouille sausage soup, free range turkey or pan seared Atlantic cod with a sage-pumpkin risotto paired with a host of side dishes such as sweet potato brulee topped with marshmallows, cranberry sauce with dried apricots, cardamom and port wine. Desserts include pumpkin tart with a cinnamon crème Anglaise or pecan pie with vanilla ice cream. The Rusty Pelican is located at 3021 Rickenbacker Causeway in Key Biscayne.

-Shari