It’s almost time for my favorite holiday of the year: Thanksgiving!  Maybe it’s because all of the food involved?  Yep, probably.  🙂

I was recently invited to TART restaurant, just inside the iconic Farmer’s Daughter Hotel for a preview of their new “Friendsgiving” feast and I could not pass up the chance to check it out!  If you are in the L.A. area and want to celebrate Thanksgiving with an inventive menu, Chef Keith Shutta has you covered!  He has adding a twist to the festivities by basing each dish on a character from the sitcom Friends!  Ready to check it out?

By the way, if you have not yet dined at TART, you probably have seen the glowing neon pink letters outside.  It’s located in the historic Fairfax District, just across from the Farmer’s Market.  It’s just adjacent to the cute and quirky Farmer’s Daughter Hotel, which I took a quick tour of after my dinner.  One of my favorite touches was the pool with a flock of rubber ducks, some of them with costumes on!  🙂

The inside of the restaurant itself is gorgeous.  I sat inside near the pretty bar, but the outdoor space was beautiful before and after the sun went down.

Speaking of the bar, we perused the cocktails and chose the…

On Chef Keith’s suggestion, we chose this cocktail with a spicy kick!  Also, I love drinks with frothy egg whites.  Yum!

Wait, what?  Each of the dishes is inspired by a Friends character and named the same way the show titled their episodes!  I’ll drop a hint for each dish, in case you were living under a rock during the 90’s.  😉

Let me take you on a tour of this traditional Thanksgiving entrée with all the trimmings!

I love stuffing, especially cornbread stuffing.  Yum!

Black-eyed peas remind me of living in Nashville.  Comfort food for the win!

At home, I’m in charge of making the yams.  Maybe this year I’ll leave it to TART?  🙂

Oh right, the turkey!  The Roulade was stuffed with get this…

… turkey meatloaf!  Chef Keith took the dark meat and made a beautiful, moist meatloaf, which he then stuffed into the middle of the roulade.  So clever and delicious!

I simply adored the colors in this dish.  In all honesty, I wouldn’t mind being a vegetarian on Thanksgiving if I could eat this dish!  The aroma was so heavenly, I couldn’t help but attack this dish first before the other ones.  Yum!

P.S. – This is totally Phoebe on a plate.  🙂

Oh, Monica.  We are kindred spirits in that we are both OCD and chubby girls at heart.  🙂  This entire night was like a greatest hits collection of dishes that I miss from when I lived in the South.  The pan purdue was glorious: sweet, soft, and addictive.  Cranberries are a fruit that I’ve not craved before… until now!  Perhaps this needs to stay on the menu past Friendsgiving?

As we enjoyed coffee, something interesting came to our table…

… a turkey sandwich with all the trimmings for the next day!  It includes the turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mayo, served on a baguette with a side of gravy.  So not only did I get a fantastic dinner, I enjoyed it all over again for lunch the next day.  Yayyy!

In addition to the dishes above, here are a couple more that are on the menu:

• The one who doesn’t share food : A selection of chicken and turkey with all the sides make up this an epic entrée  (Joey!)
• The one who hates Thanksgiving : TART burger with blue cheese, bacon, caramelized onions, mustard aioli and fries and a side salad  (Chandler)


So what are you waiting for?  Friendsgiving dinner at TART is available from November 15 to November 27, 12pm to 10pm daily.  The meal is a friendly $35 for a choice of entrée, dessert and the next day turkey sandwich.  Or if you’re just into the sandwich, it’s available for $12 either at the restaurant or for pick-up if you want to have a holiday picnic!  I might just have a couple extra Thanksgiving meals this year, thinking about that sandwich again… 🙂

Tart Restaurant
115 S Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
www.tartrestaurant.com
(323) 556-2608