THE ART OF GRATITUDE

It’s 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, and Petra Levin is already in the kitchen. But instead of stuffing a turkey, she’s grinding espresso beans, scrambling eggs, folding smoked salmon into little rosettes, and arranging balloons around the breakfast table. The elaborate spread is a ritual Levin has been upholding every Thanksgiving since her daughter, Davina Dresbach, was born, on November 24. Because the birthday falls so close to—or, like this year, right on—the holiday, Levin didn’t want one event to overshadow the other. So, every year she makes a big deal of both.

“We have a double celebration every Thanksgiving,” she says. “A little more work for me, but it makes me very happy.”

Levin, a German-born philanthropist and art collector who calls Miami Beach home, is happiest when celebrating life’s special moments surrounded by family and friends. Today, she beams brightest. Despite the hours of cooking

Clockwise from top left: Bronze Rat by Banksy watches over the dining room table; Untitled (Robots AMAZE) by Barry McGee is a life-size sculpture of three graffiti artists making their mark.

“Thanksgiving reminds me of [our] family celebrations in Germany, when everybody came together over a meal. There was always such warmth in the room, and gratitude.”

and scene-setting, all of which she does herself, she is full of energy and anticipation. Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday. “I come from a family that always celebrated Sunday dinners,” says Levin. “Thanksgiving reminds me of those family celebrations in Germany, when everybody came together over a meal. There was always such warmth in the room, and gratitude.”

The breakfast plates are barely cleared when Levin goes into Thanksgiving mode. Since a lot of the prep was done the day before, she starts with the birds. (Yes, birds. Why have one when you can have three?) In the spirit of a multicultural celebration, she roasts not only a turkey but also a duck and a goose, the idea being to please every palate. “I love the American tradition, but I also have to bring in the German culture,” she says. “That’s why we have all the birds and German traditions like the red cabbage kraut and the dumplings.”

Not a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving, perhaps, but it works.

While the birds are in the oven, Levin goes to work on the dining table. She combines a 3D silicone Join Bubble placemat by Finell with an asymmetrical leather mat by Lind DNA, then adds Manufacture Rock plates by Villeroy & Boch and glassware by FFerrone. She keeps the flowers smaller in scale so people can talk to each other across the table, and she adds an unexpected conversation piece: My New Flame LED candles, designed by Ingo Maurer and Moritz Waldemeyer.

Clockwise from above: Untitled (Flats), a triptych by Alex Israel, anchors the dining room; Mickalene Thomas’ Portrait of Quanikah claims a spot in a hallway; Levin’s contemporary Thanksgiving table.

Levin surrounds herself with art, such as KAWS Chair Pink by KAWS and Estudio Campana, and plenty of opportunities for fun, including stylized billiards and foosball tables.

Though Levin’s tablescapes are never the same, they tend to lean modern with an artistic vibe, in harmony with the surroundings. An art collector for more than 20 years, she has amassed a thrilling mix of contemporary pieces that range from sculpture to street art, and from figurative to abstract. Skulls are a recurring theme. The Skull Beneath the Skin by Damien Hirst, hanging over the sectional in the living room, is the most imposing of the lot. The skull it depicts feels so alive that you can’t help but wonder whose skin once encased that perfect bone structure, gaping orbital cavity, and super-white teeth.

That, in fact, is what Levin loves about it. “A lot of people are afraid of looking at skulls,” she says. “To me, they are a reminder that we are all equal. We can dress ourselves up or down, we can make ourselves prettier, more exciting or less exciting. But underneath, we are all the same.”

Though serious, Levin’s collection is displayed with a sense of humor that suggests the lady of the house is spirited and a whole lot of fun. Next to the dining room table, for example, the paintbrush-wielding Bronze Rat by Banksy stares sideways at diners, as if it was distracted mid-tag by some lovely aroma. And in the middle of the great room sits Untitled (Robots AMAZE) by Barry McGee, a life-size sculpture of three graffiti artists sitting on each other’s shoulders, bombing a column.

Also front and center in the great room: a glass foosball table by Teckell and a glass billiards table by Calma e Gesso, both testaments to the fact that form doesn’t necessarily follow function. The game tables are literally the first things you see when the front door opens. “That was intentional,” Levin says of the transitional space. “People walk in and are instantly in a good mood.”

That is certainly the case on Thanksgiving. Her children, with whom she is very close, arrive two hours before “ludi”—Levin’s invented portmanteau of lunch and dinner—to finish the meal together, which is code for getting the party started early. “We put on music and dance throughout the day and just have a really good time together,” Davina says.

Putting a German spin on Thanksgiving is part of the fun at Levin’s gathering. Here, she sculpts the knödel, German potato dumplings, before poaching them in hot water.

After a first course of butternut squash soup, guests load their plates with turkey, duck, goose, stuffing, maple bacon brussels sprouts, and German staples like rotkraut and knödel.

“Plus, this is a really special meal that I look forward to all year.”

The birthday girl prepares maple bacon brussels sprouts and sausage stuffing while the hostess puts the finishing touches on the rotkraut, a pickled red cabbage dish that’s popular in Germany, and popular in this house, too. “I always make a huge pot, for leftovers,” Levin says. “But there’s never any left over.”

Her son, Daniel Dresbach, arrives with armloads of sweets—Saint Honoré cake from Sant Ambroeus, donuts from The Salty Donut, and a trio of pies from Fireman Derek’s. Every year, Daniel is assigned dessert, and he takes his job very seriously. “I like to get an assortment of pies and seasonal cakes—pecan and pumpkin are always Thanksgiving favorites—and an assortment of donuts or pastries,” he says. “I like having a greater variety of smaller cakes rather than a few larger ones.”

Friends file in from near and far, and soon the atmosphere is charged with laughter and warmth. Some gather outside to sip Champagne by the dock, others congregate by the kitchen counter, and a couple take up a friendly game of pool under the watchful gaze of Cavern with the Eroded Melpomene by Daniel Arsham and Wagon Wheel by Miami photographer Greg Lotus. Every

Untitled I, stencil on drywall by Hijack (the son of Mr. Brainwash), hangs over the buffet.

Clockwise from above: Elisabeth Kohn, Victoria Shusterman, Malinda Krantz, and Joanne Rosen sip poolside; Krantz, Marissa Matthews, Jill Herzberg, and Shusterman mingle before dinner; Saint Honoré cake from Sant Ambroeus; Davina Dresbach and Leah De Ment Caso play a game of pool.

space is occupied by happy people, which is just the way Levin likes it.

She watches the activity from the kitchen while she makes the knödel—her favorite part of the meal. These traditional German potato dumplings are lighter and fluffier than mashed potatoes, so they serve as the obligatory starch. Levin dips into the batter and rolls a tennis ball–sized sphere between her hands, getting it nice and smooth. Then she carefully tucks a buttery crouton in the center, as if hiding a treasure. “The secret is, the crouton makes the dough softer,” she says. “When you put it on the plate, it literally falls open and you can pour the gravy into it.”

When the knödel are done, that’s everyone’s cue that dinner is served. After enjoying butternut squash soup at the table, guests go to the buffet table and serve themselves a bit of everything. It isn’t Thanksgiving if

Petra’s Secret Weapons

…AND THEIR INSTAGRAM HANDLES FLORALS: Jared Tuchinsky, Perak Floral Boutique, Miami Beacwh (@perak_florist) GLASSWARE: FFerrone Design, Milan, Italy (@fferronedesign) LED CANDLES: Luminaire, Coral Gables (@luminaire) PLACEMATS: Lind DNA, Aarhus, Denmark (@linddna) PLATES: Villeroy & Boch (@villeroyboch) BREADS AND PASTRIES: True Loaf Bakery, Miami Beach (@trueloaf) DUCK, TURKEY, GOOSE: Bush Brothers Provision Company, West Palm Beach (@bushbros) CAKES: Sant Ambroeus, Palm Beach (@santambroeus); The Cheesecake Factory (@cheesecakefactory) BREAKFAST PASTRIES: The Salty Donut, Miami (@thesaltydonut) PIES: Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop, Miami (@fdpies) KNÖDEL MIX: Pfanni Teig für KlöBe (pfanni.de)

Clockwise from top: The dessert buffet; siblings Davina and Daniel Dresbach team up for foosball; Drogo, Levin’s Norfolk Terrier, takes it all in.

plates aren’t overflowing. And the “ludi,” which starts around 4 p.m., continues well into the night.

Levin and her children wrap up the evening with a game of Uno—one of the traditions Davina cherishes most. “We’re a very competitive family so the games get very intense,” she says. “My brother and I sit on either side of my mom so we can gang up on her, because she will ruthlessly give us ‘Draw 4’ [cards].”

It’s all part of the good vibes of the holiday, for which Davina credits her mother. “She is the light of the day,” she says. “Her excitement is contagious.”

For Levin, it’s the simple things that make the celebration: family, friends, and good food. “The day is super relaxed and all about togetherness,” she says. “How can you not feel grateful?” «