When Indians and Pilgrims broke bread four centuries ago, few famished eaters likely envisioned their din-din would evolve into a gluttonous celebration of enough tryptophan-laced turkey meat to sedate millions. But Thanksgiving has become our nation’s second-most-popular holiday, and in honor of this eaterrific day, we thought it fitting to put 10 of our favorite kitchen wizards—from Dan Barber to Alex Guarnaschelli to Craig Koketsu—through the Q&A wringer. You’ll never guess who cooked Thanksgiving dinner in the dishwasher...

Craig Koketsu
Park Avenue Autumn

What dish did your mom teach you how to make?
We called it “monkey bread”…which we only ate once a year for Thanksgiving. You take frozen white-bread dough and cut it up into little pieces, which you then dip in butter. Put the dough in angel-food molds, then let it proof. When you bake them in the oven, they come out all golden and crisp, just soaked with butter. It’s hard to go wrong with bread soaked with butter.

What’s your go-to side dish?
Definitely Brussels sprouts. People don’t like them, and they’re always surprised when they do. Here’s what I do: I buy baby Brussels sprouts, blanche them in hot water, then I color the outsides in some hot oil with a little garlic, sake and chicken stock. I finish them with miso paste and butter, then I put some bacon lardons and apples on the side and garnish with fresh mint. You’ll change your mind about Brussels sprouts after tasting these.

Which chef would you hire to prepare your Thanksgiving dinner?
I love to go back home and have Thanksgiving with my family. When you spend so much time working in the kitchen, it’s really comforting to go back and be taken care of. But if I had a chef cooking for me, it’d be cool to have Pierre Gagnaire. Because no one does Thanksgiving in France, it’d really be neat to see what spins he could put on tradition.

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Andy D’Amico
Nice Matin, Nizza

What dish did your mom teach you how to make?
She didn’t really teach me anything. I didn’t cook at my mother’s apron strings. My parents do southern Italian by way of Brooklyn.

When do you celebrate Thanksgiving?
Every year since I’ve been in the business, I’ve celebrated what I like to call a “Fake Thanksgiving.” The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I invite over 12 to 15 family members and friends, and we do a big celebration. I like to do most of the cooking on Fake Thanksgiving, though I usually let people bring a dessert or maybe a side dish. We try to make it fun. It’s a day of thanks.

Which chef would you hire to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for them?
You want me to out somebody? I can’t do that. Besides, who else would cook Fake Thanksgiving?

You only have enough space left for one last bite: What do you reach for?
Stuffing.

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David Shea
Applewood

Which chef would you hire to prepare your Thanksgiving dinner?
Myself. [Laughs] I prepare Thanksgiving dinner, but not for the public. We close the restaurant, clear out the dining room and invite our family and friends. Instead of destroying someone’s living room, we destroy our restaurant. But here, it’s really laid-back, and we spend all day cooking and drinking wine. I get things started, then sit back and let everyone take over.

How do you repackage your leftovers?
Turkey soup, if the weather’s actually cold. All the meat and bones go into a pot, carcass and all. It makes a really rich, comforting warming soup. I’m not so much for the turkey sandwich. I think I’ve had enough of those in my life.

You only have enough space left for one last bite. What do you reach for?
Final bite? I’m not allowed to go back to my favorite sides, am I? Well, if I can’t have Brussels sprouts, I’ll reach for a slice of our apple cake. It’s awesome—gooey and soft, soaked in brandy and topped with powdered sugar. Give me that with a cup of coffee, and I’d be good to go for the evening.

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Adam Shepard
Lunetta

Would you rather be cooking at home on Thanksgiving or at your restaurants?
Truthfully, I’d much rather be at my grandparents’ house in Maine eating my grandmother’s turkey. My grandparents had a huge garden on a couple of acres. They grew Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, onions, beets—we would cook directly from the garden. It was literally farm-fresh, walking out the door to see what we were going to make for dinner. Plus, there was always a pantry full of pickled vegetables like beets and sauerkraut to grab from.

What chef would you hire to cook your Thanksgiving dinner?
I suppose this would be a good place to talk about someone I admire, but I don’t think I would hire anybody. You cook Thanksgiving dinner yourself.

What’s your go-to side dish?
My roasted pumpkin agre dolce. When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of pumpkin.

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John Schaefer
Irving Mill

What dish should be barred from Thanksgiving menus?
Jell-O molds have no place in the kitchen.

How do you take the stress out of Thanksgiving?
Do as much prep work as you can ahead of time, so you can relax and maybe watch football. If you’re in the kitchen cooking all day, you just keep popping cold ones and pouring glasses of wine. Things can quickly get to be a mess.

Which chef would you hire to prepare your Thanksgiving dinner?
My father-in-law, but I don’t think he’d accept payment.

What’s your most novel cooking method for turkey?
The problem with cooking a turkey is that you want crispy legs and a good, moist breast, but sometimes it gets too dried out. So one year I removed the breast from bone and wrapped it in a couple packages of pre-sliced bacon and roasted it in the oven for 20 minutes. The legs got crispy, while the breast stayed perfectly moist. It’s hard to go wrong with anything wrapped in bacon.

Next page: Alex Guarnaschelli, Dan Barber, Marc Meyer, Tom Kearney, Chris Lee —>