SFoodie's series asking some of our favorite San Francisco food people about the dish they just can't celebrate Thanksgiving without.
Chad Newton is culinary director for
FK Restaurants and Hospitality, a consultant company floated by ex-Fish and Farm owner Frank Klein. (They recently opened Café Discovery in the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito.) Newton's girlfriend is Grace Nguyen, chef de cuisine at Out the Door on Bush.
Newton: The thing I love is the skin on the turkey. Doesn't matter that I'm a chef, the eldest always does the carving. So if my stepfather is carving the turkey, I'm the one snagging all the fatty juices and skin pieces, the really crispy pieces.
My family, uh, my parents: One side lives in Mountain View, the other side in Los Altos.
This year I have Thanksgiving off, Gracie has Thanksgiving off. So we're able to split up between the two houses. I remember when I was living in Boston, my mom came out to visit. I did Southern fried turkey parts, fried Tasso stuffing ― I went all out. Now we tend to cook for Christmas, and always let my parents do Thanksgiving ― this time of year I'm usually just too beat down. My family tells me to take it easy and lay on the couch. They tell me, "Just watch football!" So that's what I do.
Other Thanksgiving essentials in this series:
-Jonathan Kauffman's Brussels sprouts with prosciutto
-Jun Belen's stuffing balls
-John Birdsall's braised turkey legs with polenta
-Roger Feely's relleno negro
-James Freeman's wonky turkey roasting, lots of coffee
-Marcia Gagliardi's giblet gravy
-Irvin Lin's green bean casserole
-Bridget Batson's steak, then stuffing
-Russ Moore's sticky rice and Chinese sausage stuffing
-Liza Shaw's pumpkin cheesecake
-Laura Beck's vegan pumpkin lasagna
Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
