Gourmet restaurants do Thanksgiving right

Traditionally, Thanksgiving means that mom, dad, possibly grandma, an aunt, some cousins and any other family members old enough to handle a knife spend the entire day in the kitchen, peeling dozens of potatoes, pulling out turkey gizzards, chopping piles of vegetables and struggling with flour, sugar and the KitchenAid mixer to produce an extravagant meal without creating a disaster area.

In my household, Thanksgiving also includes a big football game on the street, having to tell everyone at the table what we are most thankful for, going to the movies and getting out the boxes of Christmas decorations. But there are plenty of people who, understandably, aren’t into the ceremony that comes with Thanksgiving, and the restaurants industry is here to help. An extensive line-up of top-tier eateries are offering multi-course, pre-fixe meals on This Holiday is All About Dinner Day (Thursday, November 27), and it couldn’t be easier to take advantage. Make a phone call, drive to the restaurant and enjoy. It’s Thanksgiving the 21st century, instant-gratification way. Remember to give thanks for Wolfgang Puck.

Rosemary’s Restaurant

869-2251

Three courses with options, $55 plus tax and gratuity. 2 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Reservations suggested

Sample dinner: Roasted breast of turkey with creamed potatoes, green beans and bacon, sage and onion dressing, cranberry sauce and mushroom gravy

Sample dessert: Pumpkin pot de crème with cranberry white chocolate cookies or gooseberry cobbler with cinnamon ice cream

Aureole

Inside Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, 632-7401.

Tasting menu, $95 main dining room, $105 Swan Court, $65 wine pairing

Sample dinner: Roasted butternut squash ravioli, free-range organic chicken, roasted rack of New Zealand venison, sweet potato puree, duo of Sonoma Hills squab

Dessert: Spiced pumpkin cheesecake, blackberry swirl ice cream

Mr. Lucky’s

Inside Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Three courses with options, $15.95. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Sample dinner: Roasted butternut squash soup, herb roasted free-range turkey with cranberry sauce, chestnut dressing, baked sweet potatoes, braised red cabbage

Dessert: Homemade pumpkin pie, warm deep dish apple crumble with vanilla ice cream or chocolate crème brulee

Ago

Inside Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Five courses with options, $49.95.

Sample dinner: Butternut squash risotto, roast organic turkey and maple pork loin

Dessert: “a traditional holiday dessert with hand-selected wines”

Pampas Churrascaria

Inside Planet Hollywood, 737-4748.

$42.95, 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Dinner: Rodizio dinner service of unlimited servings of freshly roasted meats, plus all-you-can-eat roast turkey, dressing and gravy

Dessert: Apple and pumpkin pie

STEAK

567-8325

Three courses with options, $29.99. 3 p.m. - close

Reservations suggested

Sample dinner: butternut squash soup with sage cream, turkey with gravy or prime rib with au jus and creamy horseradish, or duck breast with cranberry cabernet reduction, served with homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams and sweet corn

Dessert: Pumpkin cheesecake with whipped cream

Verandah

Inside Four Seasons, 632-5000.

Four courses with options, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Sample Dinner: Traditional free-range, oven-roast turkey, apple sage cornbread stuffing, autumn vegetables, cranberry tangerine sauce and giblet gravy or mushroom-crusted beef tenderloin chop, with roasted root vegetables and crispy potato cake, green peppercorn sauce or pesto-crusted Atlantic salmon and Chilean sea bass with caramelized shallots, fall vegetable barley risotto and baby vegetables and Chardonnay lemon butter sauce or autumn vegetable sampler – roasted root vegetables, fall vegetable barley, crispy potato cake and organic quinoa

Dessert: Pumpkin pie with cinnamon sweet cream and butter pecan ice cream or milk chocolate and orange velvet cake with vanilla-infused citrus chutney and red orange latte gelato or oven-roasted mango with honey walnut crumble, caramelized almond gelato cake and s'mores ice cream

Spago

Inside Forum Shops at Caesars

Tasting menu, $65.

Sample dinner: Butternut squash soup with cardamom cream served with cranberry goat cheese panini and roasted free-range turkey roulade featuring pretzel bread stuffing knödel, green bean casserole, sweet potato puree with brown sugar, yellow fin mash potato, fresh cranberry-apple chutney and clove turkey natural jus

Dessert: Triple silken pumpkin pie

CUT

Inside the Palazzo

Tasting menu, $65.

Sample dinner: Celery root soup with roasted quince and cranberry compote, red jewel sweet potato puree, bourbon red natural-raised heritage turkey, sourdough stuffing with wild mushrooms and sweet onions

Dessert: Spiced pumpkin pot de crème with maple whipped cream or apple vanilla stuffed donuts with toasted pumpkin seeds and Moravian cookies and cream ice cream

Specialty cocktails ($14): Hot buttered rum with Meyers dark rum, butterscotch schnapps and nutmeg; mulled cider with cinnamon, orange rind and Hennessey VSOP cognac; Hot toddy with bergamot-infused earl grey tea and wildflower honey; Cranberry martini with Absolut currant vodka and cassis liquor

Postrio

Inside the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian

Tasting Menu, $39.

Sample dinner: Puree of pumpkin soup with toasted pumpkin seeds and coriander-scented crème fraiche, roasted free-range turkey breast with brioche stuffing, haricot verts, cranberry compote, herb gravy or braised beef short rib with Hanson Mills polenta, braised greens and Madeira jus

Dessert: Pumpkin pie with cinnamon ice cream and nutmeg whipped cream

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill

Inside the MGM Grand

A la carte menu

Dinner ($28): Wild arugula salad with citrus vinaigrette, dried cranberries, toasted almonds and aged pecorino, $14. Oven roasted free-range turkey breast with braised leg, Oregon chanterelle stuffing, Yukon potato puree, honeyed yams, buttered green beans, orange-cranberry relish and herbed turkey jus

Dessert ($8): Pumpkin cheesecake with gingerbread crust, cranberry compote and nutmeg whipped cream

Trattoria del Lupo

Inside the Mandalay Bay

A la carte menu

Dinner: Butternut squash soup made with apple and golden raisin compote, cranberry sauce and pumpkin seed oil, $11. Honey glazed turkey breast with mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry relish and herb gravy, $29. Grilled pork chop and braised belly with apple-fennel marmalade and sage, $36.