Celebrate Thanksgiving Eve with world-class food, soup or awesome sauce

Thanksgiving Eve -- or Black Wednesday, as college kids like to call it -- is a day designed for building those hangovers you'll suffer through tomorrow while dealing with nosy relatives and a plate full of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy. But before you get totally sloshed, you can dine at Linger or help raise funds for a saucy soup cookbook.

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Starting at 5:30 p.m. today, Linger is featuring a five-course dinner created by chef/owner Justin Cucci and his team that will take traditional Thanksgiving dishes out for an eccentric, ethnic spin, with dishes like sweet potato Dahl, quince gratin and Hasty pudding. Tickets are $55; call 303-993-3120 for a reservation.

Local burlesque performer Frenchie Renard considers herself "a professional home cook." With five children to cook for, the "most nourishing thing I think you can make is soup," she says. So she's hoping to self-publish a cookbook with 26 soup recipes and photos of various Denver burlesque performers -- with your help. Renard will hold a fundraiser at 8 p.m. at Monkey Barrel, just down the hill from Linger; the event will feature a burlesque show, homemade soup, live music and a silent auction of everything from artwork to a date with Sid Pink. Admission is $10; for more information, visit her website.

And continue on into LoDo, where Howl at the Moon is hosting a Thanksgiving pregame party starting at 7 p.m. tonight. Drink specials will run from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and include bottomless Coors Light and Skyy Vodka drinks, $4 American Honey shots and $20 for 86 awesome sauce buckets. Entrance is $10 for students with a valid ID and $15 without.

For information on dozens of culinary events around town, visit our online Food & Drink listings -- and if you have information for a culinary event you'd like included in our online calendar, send it to cafe@westword.com.

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