Who eats out on Thanksgiving? Plenty. Keens hosts almost 800 patrons who understand that dining out has its no-muss-no-fuss perks—and a five-course menu that offers not only the essential turkey and pumpkin pie, but also enough variety to please even the pickiest in-law. While many restaurants are closed on Thanksgiving, establishments like Keens have created their own tradition of holiday service. In fact, reservations at Keens have tripled in the last decade. With a $94 prix-fixe menu, that equals big business. If not properly organized, it also has the potential to be a big, overwhelming headache.

One-Shot Deal
Over the last seven-and-a-half years, Rodgers has refined the process of providing festive holiday meals. Unlike a romantic Valentine’s Day supper for two, it’s the large groups that make Thanksgiving a challenge. Patrons arrive at Keens’ door (steps from Macy’s Herald Square and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade) with their extended families in tow, often in groups of 15 or 20, ready for a celebratory meal.

Many historians believe that the first Thanksgiving meal dates back to 1621 when both the Pilgrim settlers and Wampanoag Indians shared a harvest feast. Later in 1863, during the Civil War, it was proclaimed a national holiday by President Abraham Lincoln. The Thanksgiving sentiment is beloved by Americans. It isn’t a meal you want to screw up. “It is a one-shot deal,” says Rodgers, “like an opening night on Broadway. I don’t get much sleep and I hope to God I did my planning right.” To help him plan, Rodgers follows a detailed timeline. This 30-day culinary road map itemizes specific steps, large and small, necessary for getting the food to the table and keeping Rodgers on track. It includes everything from canceling regular menu deliveries and ordering specialty produce to writing staff food descriptions. Cleaning baby pumpkins, making 45 containers of mashed potatoes, cooking butternut squash for soup and chopping multiple garnishes are just a few reminders from a long and comprehensive list.

Keens always serves large numbers (often 600 on Saturday), but Rodgers says that holiday meals “require us to switch gears because we are serving food we don’t normally do. It changes how we prep, plate and expedite.” Rodgers, who has a B.A. in music, acquired his culinary skills in New York City while working in great kitchens with great chefs—Tom Colicchio at the four-star Quilted Giraffe, Thomas Keller at Rakel and Mondrian, and Rodgers was the executive chef at The Noho Star. Despite his impressive experience or because of it, he says, “Each year we tweak and improve. It’s a balancing act to make sure there is enough food, but not much left over.”

Rodgers also learns from his mistakes. “The first two years I tried to do too much on my own,” he says. “Now I delegate between myself and three sous chefs. We are each responsible for the planning and execution of certain dishes.” Rodgers takes on the turkey. The organic, free-range turkeys are ordered from Quattro’s Game Farm. The Monday before Thanksgiving, Rodgers places the 50 freshly killed turkeys in 55-gallon drums filled with a brine of sugar, salt, ice water and herbs for 24 hours. They are then moved to a dry-aging room. The turkeys are slathered with butter, herbs, cut lemons and split garlic, and Rodgers begins roasting (in nine ovens) on Thanksgiving morning at 4:30 a.m. Each plate is served with stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy, and complemented with family-style sides of glazed carrots, smashed candied yams, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, fine string beans and Brussels sprouts with bacon.

Creating a Tradition
Founded in 1885, Keens houses a substantial collection of turn-of-the-century memorabilia and the largest assemblage of churchwarden pipes in the world—the 50,000 thin-stemmed pipes hang from the ceilings of several dining rooms and are a tribute to the former pipe club that resided here. The membership roster of the Pipe Club contained more than 90,000 names, including those of Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Albert Einstein, J.P. Morgan, General Douglas MacArthur and “Buffalo Bill” Cody.

With its spectacular history, handsome dark wood and fireplaces, the setting feels like the perfect place for a festive meal. Thanksgiving is not the only holiday celebrated at Keens. They open for Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Father’s Day. During December, it’s common to have three to four customized parties per day (there are four private rooms), which run simultaneously with regular dining-room service. That makes menu selection critical. Rodgers starts with an idea and presents a tasting to owner George Schwarz.

“We make adjustments, taste again and make more adjustments until we finalize the menu,” says Rodgers. “Once a dish is approved, I figure out how to make it 250 times. I have to be confident that we can pull off the quantity and the logistics. I have to know who is making the dish, and if they have the skill and proper equipment to do it. Everything has to be thought out. The key to the Thanksgiving menu is that it can’t be grandiose. You can’t have three cooks spending five minutes per plate.” Given the parameters, it is impressive that the five-course menu offers a generous selection of entrées—turkey and the mutton chop, but also a King’s Cut prime rib of beef, Dover sole and surf ‘n turf (Maine lobster and prime filet).

Thanksgiving at Keens means everybody works long and hard. The staff gathers at noon for a communal dinner. At 1:00 p.m. the doors open and it’s time to rock. Rodgers says that when you take on the challenge of a holiday meal, you need to know that you have done everything to prepare, and that you have competent staff backing you up. “That makes it manageable,” he says. “And once it’s over, we all have a huge sense of accomplishment. It was worth the effort. Customers are happy and the turkey was great.”

Lynn Schwartz, a former New York City restaurateur, is a writer based in Maryland.