Much has changed since 1620, when the pilgrims came to America. Today, many would surely cry foul over the record prices for partaking of Thanksgiving Day turkey, as would the Indians.

For years, picking away at Tom Turkey at the Four Seasons restaurant has run $100 a person on Thanksgiving Day. This year, reflecting what it says are “higher costs,” the restaurant has boosted the price 25%, to $125.

The holiday is one of the biggest days of the year at the Four Seasons, according to co-owner Julian Niccolini, who estimates the restaurant will serve about 900 meals and generate sales of more than $100,000.

If you’re interested, make a reservation sooner than later, I’m told, because the restaurant’s Pool Room is pretty much booked and there is only limited availability left in its Grill Room.

The city’s most expensive Thanksgiving Day meal — which includes caviar and truffles — is served at a private chef’s table in the kitchen alcove of Café Gray, a pricey restaurant in the Time Warner building. The cost of the table, which seats 12, is $10,000. That averages out to $833 a person. If you want to save a few bucks, the restaurant’s regular dining room, which seats 130, goes for just $500 a person (both children and adults).

The entire affair at Café Gray, a repeat of an event the restaurant held last Thanksgiving, is largely a family event. In addition to turkey, it also features a breakfast at around 8:30, a private area for the family to view Macy’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade, a comedy and magic show for the children, and dessert and carving demonstrations by Café Gray’s chef and owner, Gary Kunz. The Thanksgiving meal, set to start at 12:30 p.m., will include Champagne, wines, and a myriad of desserts. Tips, I’m pleased to report, are included.

Even if you’re willing to ante up the big bucks for the Café Gray extravaganza, sorry, you’re too late. Reservations are all gone. All is not lost, however, as the restaurant’s public relations director, Stephanie Faison, explains: “We’re not sold out yet for 2008.” For the city’s turkey lovers, the word from David Trenk, a leading poultry distributor to city restaurants, sums it up: “Whether you dine in or you dine out, your turkey tab most likely will run higher this year.”

This financial heartburn is being borne out at such leading city dining spots and food stores as Zabar’s, Bouley, and Jean Georges, where record turkey prices have become a fact of life.

Mr. Trenk, president of Joseph Trenk & Sons, figures that, on average, consumers will dish out at least 10% more for turkey than they did a year ago. “I’m paying peak prices, more than $1 a pound,” he complains. He attributes the hike principally to a heat wave across the country that led to a high mortality rate among turkeys and higher feed costs, what with a great deal of corn now apportioned for use in the manufacture of ethanol.

His company also does a fair-size business in the sale of turkeys to companies that give them free to their employees for Thanksgiving. He says he expects the higher costs to discourage a number of firms from moving ahead with this tradition this year, or perhaps encourage them to cut back who receives the free turkeys. “There were cancellations last year and there could be more of them this year,” he says.

If eating out is still your thing but Café Gray’s tab seems too steep, reservations, as of this writing, are available at Daniel ($135 a person), Jean Georges ($128, versus $108 last year), Aureole ($115), River Café ($115), Bouley ($95), Le Cirque ($95), Café Des Artistes ($78), the Post House ($75), and Petrossian ($65).

Still too pricey for you? Try the city’s diners. Turkey plates with the trimmings abound, with prices generally in the $11.99 to $12.99 range.

If you prefer cooking at home, Zabar’s will be happy to accommodate you with a 15-pound turkey for $78, about $10 higher than last year. Told that the charge was very inflationary at a time when the government tells us inflation is low, about a 14.7% year-over-year increase, a spokesman for Zabar’s responded: “It is low; just stop eating and keep out of food stores.” If you want to buy a cooked turkey, an Upper East Side catering store, Flavor Zone, will roast one for you at $6 a pound. If you prefer a more elaborate presentation, it will add a host of trimmings, such as chestnut stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, at a price of $24.95 a person.

Happy eating.

dandordan@aol.com