LONDON OLD PARK LANE LAS VEGAS HARD ROCK LAS VEGAS CAESARS PALACE 903 North La Cienega Boulevard Nobu Los Angeles opened in the spring of 2008 and was designed by world renowned architect David Rockwell in the famed L'Orangerie space on La Cienega Boulevard, West Hollywood. Nobu Los Angeles has three separate dining rooms and an elegant bar lounge. Each of the dining spaces - the main dining room with sushi bar, the atrium, and the terrace - has its own unique character and feel. The bar and lounge has become a local Hollywood hangout and offers a tapas menu designed for a more relaxed dining experience. In addition to Nobu Matsuhisa's signature dishes, Nobu Los Angeles also offers local specials like Wagyu Tacos, Seabass Jalapeño Miso, and Kanpachi Sashimi with Baby Artichoke and Yuzu Dressing, which already have a loyal following.YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsRestaurants There are at least a couple of ways to deal with the fact that you have yet to plan Thanksgiving dinner: reservations at any of the dozens of restaurants that will be celebrating the holiday, or takeout.

In addition to the listings below, check your local grocer for takeout options. And besides many notable hotel dining rooms, restaurants all over the Southland are offering wonderful menus for Thanksgiving dinner. where to buy tuna sushi gradeYou've got choices from the traditional to the not-so-traditional to the vegan. sushi in oxford miOh, and there's sushi. sushi gioco onlineAmmo is offering Thanksgiving takeout, everything priced a la carte, including house-cured salmon with crème fraîche; gry sushi pack 212- to 14-pound Willie Bird free-range turkeys, cooked ($85) or uncooked and oven-ready ($75); where to find sushi fish monster hunter

roasted sweet potatoes with spicy maple butter; and whole-grain chestnut and sage stuffing. Among the dessert choices: pumpkin pie with brandied whipped cream. where buy sushi grade tunaOrder by 3 p.m. Sunday for pickup on Nov. 25, from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with heating instructions. where buy sushi grade tuna1155 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles; . Auntie Em's Kitchen in Eagle Rock, in addition to pickup orders, is offering delivery for $25 extra. The meal centers on either a turkey breast or a vegetarian savory nut pie, with all the basic fixings (gravy, stuffing, sweet and mashed potatoes) for $35 per person, plus a variety of sides, $9.95 to $12.95 for servings for four. Finish with an assortment of pies ($18.95) or cupcakes ($3.50 each). 4616 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles; . See Bottega Louie under Dine-in.

See Campanile under Dine-in. Clay Oven in Irvine is preparing its tandoori Thanksgiving, with a 10- to 12-pound free-range, skinned turkey that is marinated for 48 hours in a blend of fresh spices, then cooked in the mesquite-fired tandoor oven. It comes with basmati rice stuffing and cranberry chutney, and, at $54.95, serves six people comfortably. Orders must be in by Monday, and pickup is Thanksgiving Day, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 15435 Jeffrey Road, Irvine; . See Fiamme Restaurant & Bar under Dine-in. See Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood under Dine-in. At Grace, Neal Fraser is deep-frying turkeys ($145 for eight servings) and offering a dozen other dishes, including thyme and black truffle turkey gravy, braised baby vegetables and cream cheese and chive biscuits. Desserts include a sweet potato pecan pie with toasted bourbon marshmallow and orange crème anglaise and sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce and cranberries (each option is $30 for eight servings). Orders must be placed by 5 p.m. Nov. 24 and picked up 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 25.

7360 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; . Guelaguetza is preparing Oaxacan-style turkeys with a deliriously rich stuffing of prunes, raisins, olives, capers, ground beef and potatoes. The turkey is marinated (and injected) with a spicy wine sauce. The meal serves six to eight, comes with potato salad, bean paste and chiles vinagre, all for $65. Add an order of mole negro for an additional $10. Order before Nov. 25. 3337 1/2 W. 8th St., Los Angeles; . Gus's Barbecue will prepare your holiday meal with all the trimmings: 10- to 12-pound smoked turkey, 1 quart of gravy, 1 quart of corn bread stuffing and 1 quart of cranberry sauce. An oven-safe bag is provided for the turkey as well as reheating instructions. Serves 4 to 6 people, for $60. Place your order by Friday (Nov. 20) and pick it up Nov. 25. 808 Fair Oaks Ave., South Pasadena; . Joan's on Third offers Thanksgiving a la carte, so you can order as much or as little as you'd like. A 12-pound turkey is $65, a quart of gravy is $17, wild mushroom bread pudding for four is $18, and so on.

There are numerous sides, salads, breads and desserts from which to choose. Open for walk-ins on Nov. 25 or order by Thursday, Nov. 19. 8350 1/2 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles; . For take-home Thanksgiving trimmings from Josie, you can order from a selection of appetizers, soups, salads, side dishes and desserts. Options include quiche with wild mushrooms and Gruyère (9-inch, $30); butternut squash soup (1 quart, $24); corn bread stuffing with wild sage, baby artichokes and mushrooms (small, $22; large, $44); pumpkin or pecan pie (9-inch, $30); and sticky pecan pumpkin cake ($54). Order by 1 p.m. Nov. 24. Pick up on Nov. 25. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 2420 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica; Seizure Led to FloJo's DeathHis 104 scores make his caseRestaurant review: South Beverly GrillBrutal Murder by Teen-Age Girls Adds to Britons' ShockComaneci Confirms Suicide Attempt, Magazine Says As families gather for home-cooked food this Thanksgiving, there's one acclaimed Los Angeles chef who expresses her gratitude for local flavors by getting out in nature.

On a recent day, we find chef Niki Nakayama and her wife, Carole Iida-Nakayama, in the mountains of the Angeles National Forest. They trudge through the dry vegetation with master forager Pascal Baudar, gathering unexpected ingredients to use at their restaurant, N/Naka. At one point, they come across a black mustard plant, growing wild. Urban Foraging: Unearthing The Wildcrafted Flavors Of Los Angeles "It has a little bit of a flavor like gasoline," Baudar offers. "When you exhale after chewing it, it's almost like the fumes come out of your nostrils," laughs Iida-Nakayama. "That's the flavor of Los Angeles right there," Baudar says. Nakayama sometimes uses this plant in her kitchen. And she makes sauces and garnishes out of California sagebrush, mugwort and pine needles. Baudar supplies her by scouring the Los Angeles wilderness. "You have to be insane to do what I do," he says. We stop at a eucalyptus tree and Baudar pulls down a branch. Leaf by leaf, he scrapes off little white specks, which he collects into a glass jar.

"This is our famous lerp sugar," he says. "Basically, there's a little insect that sucks the sap of the eucalyptus and poops sugar." It takes hours to fill up a small jar with lerp sugar ... enough for an entire season in Nakayama's kitchen. "We don't tell the guests until after they've had it what they've had. And the look on their faces is always very exciting for me," says Nakayama. The crunchy sugar tastes like Rice Krispies. "I think it adds a really nice accent when we can sprinkle a little bit on ice cream." For the restaurant, Baudar has collected rocks that heat up soup bowls and pieces of bark, which he's varnished to use as plates. Nakayama and her wife — who's her sous chef — have also whittled chopsticks out of mulefat branches. Nakayama says all of this flora goes along with the philosophy behind the traditional Japanese meal known as kaiseki. Kaiseki, she explains, is about "feeling grateful to nature and trying to represent where you're at seasonally, ingredient-wise.

The more that we can find things that are closer by or from here, the ingredients are going to be better, everything's going to be fresher. It's more local, more seasonal. So I think that's the heart of kaiseki." In the front yard of their Culver City home, Nakayama and her wife also grow vegetables, fruit and herbs for their restaurant. Here at home, the chef elaborates on the tradition of kaiseki — a meal presented during tea ceremonies or in elaborate, multicoursed feasts. Kaiseki, she says, is rooted in Buddhist and other Eastern traditions. "The idea and philosophy behind it is the appreciation of nature, seasonality and focus into the moment that is in front of you, the moment at hand," she says. "And I think that comes from the zen background of it." The 42-year-old chef was born in Los Angeles and grew up working at her parents' seafood distribution warehouse. She lived in Japan, where she learned various regional techniques, and went to culinary school in LA. Today, Nakayama is known for serving up a reimagined, modernized version of the ancient kaiseki tradition.

She's one of the few women in the world to be considered a master of this refined style of Japanese cooking. She was featured on the Netflix documentary show Chef's Table. At N/Naka, her tastefully low-key restaurant in Culver City, Nakayama meets each diner personally. The waiting list to get in is three months long, and it's not inexpensive. For nearly $200 each, diners can enjoy a 13-course culinary experience. It's Kyoto by way of LA. One dish features caviar on dashi foam that took eight months to prepare. Some artfully arranged dishes use a single delicate flower and microgreens from Nakayama's home garden. "You can just see how much passion and artistic dedication that she puts into it. Just gorgeous," says Nicole Nguyen. Like other diners, she comes here to celebrate very special occasions. "The food is always fantastic. It's like a work of art, every dish." While we might not get to eat so extravagantly every day, chef Nakayama says we can still bring gratitude to every meal.

If you've ever thought about becoming a more mindful eater, take a lesson from the Japanese ritual of kaiseki. Kaiseki is an ancient meal tradition that pays homage to the natural world and the changing seasons — so the ingredients are local and seasonal. One form of kaiseki is served as a simple meal before tea ceremonies. The other is a multicourse meal meant to be enjoyed in good company, which is why a fine sake rice wine is considered the standard accompaniment. Just about every detail of the kaiseki meal promotes thoughtful, slow eating. Vegetables are cut into delicate shapes to reflect the seasons — like these carrots and pumpkin in the shape of leaves, signaling fall. Ingredients are artfully arranged in shapes meant to subtly evoke some element of the natural world — for instance, piled into a small mound meant to evoke Japan's Mount Fuji. Kaiseki is rooted in Eastern philosophies that emphasize a unity in nature, explains Julia Ford of the Embassy of Japan's Information and Culture Center.