By Sue Cullen

Thanksgiving has to be the quintessential family holiday for Americans.  Idealized images portray generations gathering around a laden table --with a perfect burnished bronze turkey centerpiece--teeming with gratitude and filled with good food and harmony.

Then, there’s reality.

Even the professionals, chefs, restaurant owners and managers, have treasured stories of Thanksgiving family warmth, fun and disaster.  So don’t feel badly if your family holiday tradition involves making reservations or if you’re wondering whether this is the year to skip all the pressure and opt for one of the many dining out options available.

One thing is clear.  While other fare may be offered, local restaurateurs are hewing close to the traditional Thanksgiving menu.  Here are a few of the many choices for dining out on Thanksgiving along with some choice holiday memories from the area’s restaurant pros.

The Bijou Café is offering a chef’s special menu featuring roasted Carolina turkey and all the trimmings from its new executive chef Stephen Phelps, who hails from Canvas Café and Mattison’s Steak House.  Owner Jean-Pierre “JP” Knaggs says he and the staff are energized by Phelps’ creative new menu ideas and passion for food.

Knaggs also shared a memory from years ago when he and his family had Thanksgiving dinner with a friend’s parents.  Dinner was a long time coming, and when a smallish turkey did arrive, the friend’s two beefy brothers “tucked right in and practically demolished the turkey in front of us,” he said. They left hungry, Knaggs said, and “I hate to admit this but we made a stop at McDonalds on the way home. Since then I have made all our Thanksgiving dinners at home.”

In keeping with a “this will be funny later” theme, Caryn Hodge, marketing director for the Chiles Restaurant Group, recalls the time she blew up a dish of mashed potatoes.  “One year I took a Pyrex dish from the refrigerator and set it on the stove top,” Hodge said.  “The burner wasn’t on, but the heat from the stove caused it to blow up in a million pieces 10 minutes before I was supposed to serve it.”  She was still finding tiny shards of glass and dabs of mashed potato in her kitchen’s far reaches in July.

All of the Chiles’ restaurants, the Sandbar, Beachhouse and Mar Vista, are serving traditional Thanksgiving fare.  Sandbar and Mar Vista will have stone crab claws, and the Beachhouse will carve king and queen cuts of prime rib.  Hodge says any one of the restaurants is perfect for those who like to enjoy their turkey in a nontraditional waterfront setting.

The irrepressible Tommy Klauber of Lakewood Ranch’s Polo Grill and Bar is enthusing about his 30 item holiday buffet.  Carving stations will dish up roast turkey, locally-sourced ham, whole grouper and steak plus all the trimmings and more, like curried squash soup and maple and brown sugar whipped sweet potatoes.

As the family’s chef, Klauber said he always carved the turkey, meaning that the best parts were usually gone by the time he finished.  One year he played a trick on his family by placing a roasted pheasant inside the turkey.  After pretending to be mad because there were no good parts left for him, he said “never mind” and whipped out the pheasant, watching as jaws dropped.  “Now it’s family lore,” he said, “and I’ve never had to carve the turkey since.”

Lynn Christensen of Harry’s Continental Kitchens says her family now serves a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but that was not always the case.  Having had enough of turkey and the standard trimmings after hours of preparation at the restaurant, their Thanksgiving meal tradition was to serve steak with Florida lobster caught on the family vacation.  Nevertheless, Harry’s patrons can expect a traditional Thanksgiving meal at the restaurant, and the deli is offering several options, including whole roasted turkeys for those who want to eat at home on the holiday without a lot of fuss.  The deadline for deli orders is Nov. 22.

Cosimo’s Too’s Christopher Covelli, general manager and executive chef, gets his ideas of Thanksgiving bounty from growing up in an Italian family from New York City. “One Thanksgiving when I was about 12, I was so impressed with the cooking that I kept eating and eating, and even at the end of the evening I actually had a piece of stuffing between two slices of bread,” Covelli said.  The Westfield Sarasota Square Mall restaurant will be open Thanksgiving and serving a traditional sit-down holiday meal.  In an inclusive gesture on a not-so-vegetarian-friendly holiday, there also will be vegetarian lasagna on the menu.

Nothing says old-fashioned home cooking like the area’s Amish-style restaurants.  Troyer’s will offer a Thanksgiving buffet with roast turkey, glazed ham and old fashioned pot roast beef, said Ruby Sommers, office manager.  Having grown up in a small town in the heart of Ohio’s Amish country, Sommers recalls that one year an encampment of homeless men, known as tramps, was living in an old factory.  “A tramp came to our house, and my Mom fixed a big plate of food for him,” she said.  “We were delighted my Mom shared that wonderful meal with the tramp.”

What a fitting gesture for this holiday.  Sharing our bounty and generosity of spirit are qualities for which to be thankful at any time of year.