"In the kitchen at Tavern on the Green, steel vats bubble with wild mushroom and lentil soup. The aroma of sage wafts through the area while trays of stuffing are finished in the oven. All the while, the 90-year-old institution’s executive chef, Bill Peet, stands at the edge of the scene, checking off to-dos as they’re completed. He has run the kitchen since 2016, two years after the restaurant reopened following a temporary closure. Thanksgiving is the single biggest day of business for the entire year at Tavern on the Green (67th Street and Central Park West) and has been that way for the last decade — as long as the restaurant has tracked numbers. Peet says the holiday also has the highest number of covers. The establishment serves 1,900 people on Thanksgiving over 12 hours, and reservations are gone within minutes of when they open — two months before the day. The price of entry starts at $135 per person for a four-course spread. The lineup includes the soup followed by a choice of three appetizers, three entrees — roasted chateaubriand and grilled salmon, in addition to turkey — three desserts, and two family-style sides. Any misgivings about Tavern on the Green being an overpriced tourist trap can be put into perspective. Given its prime Central Park perch and the restaurant’s history, it is on the top of the list for New York visitors and some locals, too. Before he ran Tavern on the Green, Peet’s four-decade-plus career includes gigs at the fine-dining French restaurant Lutèce (now closed), where he was the sous and pastry chef for 15 years; he also ran the kitchen at Café des Artistes and Asia de Cuba. "This isn’t a Thanksgiving meal with forgettable food. It’s the quality of food that I would serve at home to my family times a thousand," he says." - Shivani Vora
