HUNTER LEWIS
@NOTESFROMACOOK
10 NOVEMBER 2019
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NO OTHER AMERICAN HOLIDAY has rhythms and rituals like the big dance of Thanks-
giving. Like me, you’re probably already thinking about the menu, and shopping
lists will soon give way to prep plans and table settings. Then the culinary musical
chairs begins in kitchens across the country, that seasoned choreography of roast-
ing pans, casseroles, and pies shuttling from oven and stove to buffet. Thanksgiving,
without a doubt, is the most extra of all the holiday feasts.
And no one is more extra than Angie Mar. As a person, as a restaurateur, and
as a chef, the 2017 F&W Best New Chef brings next-level flavor and style to every-
thing she does. For this Thanksgiving issue, we joined Mar and Pat LaFrieda, her
butcher and world-class meat purveyor, for two days of duck hunting and cooking
at a lodge in Arkansas rice country (p. 94). They lugged (as chefs do) two 150-quart
coolers of the most extra ingredients from New York City (truffle butter, 120-day-
aged rib eyes, magnums of Champagne) and conjured a menu filled with duck
and beef that would not have been out of place at Mar’s opulent Beatrice Inn if it
weren’t hung on a makeshift A-frame, smoked over bourbon barrel staves, and
served in a rustic cabin in the woods.
You’ll find Mar’s spirit of extravagance all over this issue. It’s in the stunning
smoked turkey on our cover and the lakeside Santa Barbara Thanksgiving dinner
that goes with it hosted by Alecia Moore—aka pop icon P!nk—who, it turns out,
makes great wine and sets a beautiful table (p. 114). (Like Moore’s chef, I’ve taken
to smoking my turkey to amp up the flavor and free up oven space.) It’s in the
modern classic desserts of pastry chef Joanne Chang (don’t miss the double-decker
pecan-pumpkin pie on p. 124). And it’s in the arsenal of new side dishes for your
holiday table, from the pull-apart milk bread wreath (p. 16) to Ann Taylor Pitt-
man’s kale salad with Gorgonzola-rye croutons (p. 60)—one of several contribu-
tions from our network of F&W Cooks.
When it comes to Thanksgiving recipes, everyone has their nonnegotiables. For
my family, that’s sage-laced dressing with crusty edges, sweet potato casserole
studded with pineapple, and a shaved brussels sprouts salad. Yet we should
always make room for new traditions. Senior Editor Kat Kinsman’s essay (p. 34)
reminds us that the most important prep work we can all do for this most over-
the-top of feasts is to make sure that everyone at our tables feels welcome. From
my table to yours, happy Thanksgiving.
From the
Home Office
3
GRILL OFF
There are two camps in
the F&W test kitchen when
it comes to grill-smokers
used during the testing
of the cover recipe. I’m a
fan of the Big Green Egg
(the clay retains humid
heat and keeps meat
juicy) while Senior Food
Editor Mary-Frances Heck
swears by Traeger, the
wood pellet–fired electric-
ignition grills. Well, make
that three camps: The
classic Weber Kettle grill
will never fall from favor.
Extra Credit
2
REMEMBER MERLOT?
Every so often a wine
comes along that you
can’t get out of your head.
For me right now that’s
the 2015 Mayacamas
Merlot, an earthy, brightly
acidic wine made with
tannic mountain fruit
that’s infinitely more
structured than the heavy
Merlots that were given a
bad rap in the 2004 film
Sideways. “Stick to your
guns,” the wine seems to
say, “and the cool kids
will come back around to
great Merlot.”
1
READING LIST
F&W and Jacques Pépin
will celebrate Angie Mar’s
new cookbook, Butcher
+ Beast, at The Beatrice
Inn Oct. 23. Cowritten with
Jamie Feldmar, it captures
Mar’s singular style with
recipes for going big at
home. I’m also cooking
from Oaxaca: Home
Cooking from the Heart
of Mexico, co-authored by
Bricia Lopez, of the family
behind L.A.’s Guelaguetza
restaurant, and F&W Cook
Javier Cabral, starting
with the black bean and
breakfast recipes.
photography by RAMONA ROSALES
