Pimp my side.
New York foodies with money to burn are transferring from the gravy train to the cranberry carriage this Thanksgiving, stopping at Old Homestead Steakhouse in Manhattan’s tony Meatpacking District to sample what’s being called “the world’s most expensive” sauce — which costs an arm and a turkey leg at nearly $200 per dollop.
The tony topper is laced with gold, truffles and other upmarket accoutrements — and the absurdity is the point, said Greg Sherry, who runs the storied 150-year-old steakhouse with his brother Marc.
“Every year we try to do something different, a little more extravagant,” the razzle dazzle-giving restaurateur told The Post. “The palates of the American people are changing. There is a large percentage of people now that like to go extraordinaire, and we try to provide that.”
In 2019, the prime meat paradise notably served a $180,000 Caligula-worthy Thanksgiving spread that featured “gilded” gobblers and gravy infused with $3,650 per bottle Louis XIII cognac. They also offered the “world’s most expensive wings” on Super Bowl Sunday — a dozen slathered in foie gras, caviar and Louis XIII Cognac-infused cream for $4,900.
This year, it’s the tart holiday heavyweight getting a considerable glow-up — starting with Sherry’s late grandmother’s cranberry sauce recipe, which is then “elevated” by the addition of $1,500-per-pound white truffles, the now-ubiquitous 24K edible gold flakes and sought-after Manuka honey from New Zealand.
And if that weren’t ritzy enough, the crimson condiment is then infused with a $4,400 bottle of Taylor Fladgate Scion Vintage Port — essentially putting the sauce on the sauce.
“It was a tradition to my brother Mark and my family to have her special cranberry on the holidays,” Sherry said of his beloved relative’s table staple, a tradition he noted dates back 50 years.
“She passed away a couple of years ago, and Mark and I were sitting around and said ‘you know what… let it out of the box,’ and we’re letting it out the box right now.”
The revamped version runs $195 for a single dollop — far more than other so-called upscale entries like the ritzy $16 per pint sauce offered by pricey Upper East Side grocer Eli Zabar’s this year.
For anyone hoping to splash out, time is a factor — the gold-plated garnish will only grace the Old Homestead menu on Thanksgiving Day, Sherry said.
The rest of the special Nov. 28 menu is comparatively minimalist — $85 for a roasted turkey dinner with all the traditional trimmings (including cranberry sans high-karat inclusions) or $105 to add filet mignon.
The special sauce will be by request only.
Sherry acknowledges that the astonishing accompaniment won’t be on every table. “No, I don’t expect a lot of people,” he confided. “I expect the gourmet people that are looking for something over-the-top to have it.”
“It’s not how many we serve. It’s doing it the right way to make sure that what we do is accepted by the customer and he walks out saying, ‘You know what… it was a lot of money, but it was worth it.’”
