This animal-free affair (that means no dairy, honey or meat), hosted by the Triangle Vegetarian Society, started as a friendly potluck between a few dozen vegetarians over 20 years ago and has taken place at Café Parizäde in Durham since 1999. It has grown from a one-room event to a meal with multiple seatings, several buffet lines and upward of 600 people in recent years.

So many people have been turned away in the past that a second meal has been added at Spice Street in Chapel Hill's University Mall, said Dilip Barman, the society's president.

The meal at Parizäde takes place in the afternoon, and the Spice Street event will be an evening affair for up to 150 people. As of press time, Parizäde had sold out, but seats were still available at Spice Street.

Chef Baptist Knaven (kah-na-vin) of Spice Street has been preparing for his maiden voyage since last week.

The Netherlands native stresses he has no intention of presenting a faux turkey-based spread.

"We do not want anyone to think this is a 'replacement' traditional Thanksgiving dinner," said Knaven. "We don't try and create a substitute turkey for example. All the recipes are true vegan recipes and approved by the Triangle Vegan Society."

Barman said one of the original meals at Parizäde featured tofurkey - a tofu-based turkey substitute - and it has since been banned, though tofurkies do occasionally appear as raffle items. No offense to tofurkey, Barman said, but the possibilities are endless when it comes to delicious, healthy dishes made with plant-based foods.

Some dishes that are likely to be featured are a pesto-drizzled polenta layered with crispy seitan, eggplant, wild mushroom and spinach, a sweet and savory leek velouté, porcini-lentil cannelloni and Barman's own recipe for lime-marinated seared seitan with peppercorns and fig glaze.

The menu featured online does not include the "extras" the staff at Parizäde often makes, Barman said. For example, only a few desserts are mentioned ahead of time, such as the ginger-apple pie with frozen coconut cream, but each year there have been about two dozen presented.

Kelly Kendra, a vegetarian since 2005, had her first vegan Thanksgiving at Parizäde in 2006, then moved to Chicago the following year. That hasn't stopped her from coming back -- this will be her fourth vegan Thanksgiving in Durham. In addition to the menu, she says the camaraderie, "positivity" and fun of the raffle keep her coming back.

"No matter where I am in the world, I always want to be at vegetarian Thanksgiving," she said. "The food is simply delicious."

Most of the people who come are not vegetarian, said Barman, who was raised vegetarian by his Indian parents. He ate meat as a youth thanks to an Italian neighbor, but cut out meat in college and gradually turned vegan. Many dinner patrons are family members or friends of vegetarians who offer to humor their plant-eating loved ones, but wind up eating their words.

Barman recalls one couple from Florida who came to Durham to be with their vegetarian children. Originally upset that they would forgo the turkey, at the end of the meal the couple was ready to make this their new family tradition.

Chef Robert Adams has been preparing this meal at Parizäde for a decade, and though he is a meat eater, this meal has become a tradition for him as well.

"The vegan Thanksgiving at Parizäde has become an immensely popular Triangle event," Adams said. They try to keep the menu fresh and local, using turnip greens, kale and squash from area farms. But many of the ingredients he uses are difficult to find in large enough quantities and special orders are made weeks in advance.

Barman has worked with the restaurant staff to revamp the system so no one has to wait too long. Prepayment is now required, and patrons sign up for specific seatings, which are staggered every 30 minutes. People are not asked to leave, but are not expected to stay the whole time either - there are about 300 seats available at any given time.

For $23 a head for TVS members, $26.50 for non-member adults and $7 for children aged 5 to 10, Barman says this meal is quite a bargain. The TVS actually loses money on the food, but makes up for it during the raffle, which starts at Parizäde around 3:30 p.m. The raffle includes items that are animal-friendly, such as non-animal gardening supplies, fine chocolates and whole food products.

To those who still doubt the fulfillment one can find in eating a plant-based Thanksgiving meal, Barman points to history. The TVS website cites research by historian Rynn Berry that states the first Thanksgiving likely included beans, corn meal, nuts and fruit, in addition to some small wild game.

The idea of a turkey was made popular in the 1930s by a women's magazine, Barman said. "I actually think that what we offer is the only traditional Thanksgiving in the area."