2005 will be here before you know it and your favorite Boston-area restaurants
are ringing in the New Year with an array of festive menus and celebrations.
Scroll down to see what they’ve got in store for both New Year’s Eve
and New Year’s Day and make your reservations soon.
33 Restaurant & Lounge
33 Restaurant & Lounge will be offering three seating for their New Year’s Eve
festivities. The first two seatings, which are at 5:00 and 7:00pm, feature
a “welcome beverage” and four courses from chef Anthony
Dawodu for $79 per person, not including tax and gratuity. The third seating,
which is at 9:00pm, costs $99 for four courses and includes a glass of champagne
and party favors. Choose from dishes like pan seared jumbo scallops with smoked
salmon, Yukon potatoes and caviar champagne cream; roasted venison chop with
caramelized cauliflower, chestnuts, baby carrots and mole sauce. Call 33 at
617.572.3311 to make your New Year’s Eve reservations.
Aujourd’hui
Aujourd’huihas a couple options for New Year’s Eve. Early revelers can drop in for the
four-course menu, available from 5:30-8:00pm, before heading on to another
destination. Dinner costs $125 per person including tac and gratuity. For
those who would like to make a night of it, chef Jérôme
Legras will be preparing a six-course menu for the gala dinner. After
dinner, guests can enjoy live music and dancing until the wee hours. The gala
dinner costs $225 per person. Aujourd’hui will also be open for brunch on
New Year’s Day. Whether you’re in recovery mode or starting the new
year bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, brunch at Aujourd’hui will be a delightful
way to inaugurate 2005. Brunch costs $80 per person and will be available
from 11:30am-2:00pm. Call Aujourd’hui at 617.351.2037 for reservations.
Azure
Chef
Fathman rings in the New Year at Azure
with an enticing holiday menu that showcases his whimsical creativity. The
evening has two seatings – one at 6:00pm, which costs $85 per person for three
courses and one at 8:30pm, which costs $100 per person for five courses. Dishes
include Maine crab and yucca stuffed shrimp with Meyer lemon and sour orange
mojo sauce, scotch bonnet tartar sauce; pan roasted salmon with sage gnocchi,
chanterelle mushrooms, Swiss chard and house cured lardo; and champagne-pear
sherbet with gingersnaps and poached pear compote. Call Azure at 617.933.4800
for reservations and more information.
blu
blu hosts a glamorous night on the town on New Year’s Eve, offering revelers the option of dinner overlooking the city and a New Year’s bash to remember. Make reservations at blu for a five-course prix fixe menu at 6:30pm or 6:45pm or a seven-course prix fixe menu with a champagne toast at 9:00pm or 9:15pm. Both menus feature seasonal favorites from chef Dante de Magistris like winter’s greatest vegetable salad with blood orange vinaigrette and olive oil poached Maine lobster; Wolf’s Neck farm all-natural beef tenderloin with a potato-celery root timbale, blue cheese and glazed green beans and baby carrots; and chocolate caramel torta with blood orange. The five-course menu costs $85, the seven course costs $125. Call blu at 617.375.8550 to make reservations and request more information. The New Year’s Eve party kicks off at 9:30 pm with dancing to the tunes of DJ Spindler, snacks, party favors and a cash bar. The party is open to diners as well as the general public.
Bonfire
Bonfirewelcomes the New Year with a five-course prix fixe menu created by chef Jenny
Cates. Courses include pan seared quail with foie gras; roasted turnip
coup with seared diver scallop and white truffle; Kobe beef ribeye with truffled
potato frites; and bananas foster. The prix fixe menu costs $90 per person.
Drop in later in the evening for Bonfire’s New Year’s Eve party from 10:00pm-2:00am. Tickets for the latter portion of the evening which includes dancing, party favors, a champagne toast and nibbles like lobster tails, caviar, Kobe beef
tartare and tempura shrimp, cost $125 per person. Call Bonfire at 617.262.3473
for reservations and more information about the evening’s festivities.
Bricco
Briccocelebrates New Year’s Eve with an a la carte menu of boutique Italian cuisine,
plus a selection of holiday specials from chef Marisa
Iocco. Guests who are around when the clock strikes midnight will enjoy
party favors and a champagne toast. Call Bricco at 617.248.6800 for reservations
and more information.
Caffe Umbra
Celebrate
New Year’s Eve at Caffe
Umbra. Chef Laura
Brennan has whipped up a three-course tasting menu boasting options like hand made Maine Jonah crab ravioli in lemon mascarpone brodo with black trumpet mushrooms; grilled veal chop au jus with braised artichoke heart stuffed with Serrano ham and Jerusalem artichokes; and upside down pear tarte tatin with amaretto ice cream and amaretti pear praline. The three-course dinner costs $65 per person.
Make reservations by calling 617.867.0707.
Coriander
Chef
Crawley invites guests to join him for New Year’s Eve at Coriander
in Sharon. He and his kitchen staff will be preparing a four-course prix fixe
menu of dishes like foie gras two ways with crimson lentils and sauce Banyuls;
she-crab bisque with sevruga caviar and crème fraiche; fresh seared
Long Island duck breast and confit leg with toasted cous cous and sauce bigarade.
Dinner costs $90 per person not including tax and gratuity. Call Coriander
at 781.784.5450 for reservations.
Grotto
On
New Year’s Eve, chef Scott
Herritt welcomes guests to Grotto
for either of two seatings for dinner. Herritt will be offering both a three- and a four-course menus for $45 and $55 respectively.
He and his staff are still putting the finishing touches on the evening’s menus, so check back for more information or call 617.227.3434 to make reservations.
Hamersley’s Bistro
Hamersley’s Bistro celebrates the arrival of the New Year with a four course prix
fixe menu that’s got choices to please all palates. The evening’s menu includes
options like terrine of lobster with fennel and vanilla vinaigrette, rabbit
consommé with leeks and black truffles; and grilled beef tenderloin
with Roquefort custard and winter greens. The fourth course will be a dessert
plate of sweet inspirations. The dinner costs $95 per person. Reservations
are recommended (though an a la carte menu will be available at the bar for
those who’d like to take their chances without a reservation), so call 617.423.2700
to enjoy a New Year’s Eve menu from chef Gordon
Hamersley.
Julien
Juliengreets 2005 with an extraordinary gala dinner from chef de cuisine Mark
Sapienza. The New Year’s Eve dinner features a six-course prix fixe menu
complete with a champagne toast at midnight and dancing to the Jeffrey Moore
quartet. The dinner costs $210 per person, not including tax and gratuity.
Call Julien at 617.451.1900 extension 7120 for reservations and menu information.
L’Espalier
Chef
McClelland‘s New Year’s Eve menu starts with hors d’oeuvres like
mille feuille of house smoked salmon, caviar and Maine crabmeat and never
looks back. Celebrate the arrival of 2005 at L’Espalier
with dishes like baked Wellfleet oysters on the half shell in Meyer lemon
and salsify custard with chervil and Iranian Ossetra caviar; and roast duck
in clementine orange, star anise and chocolate with grilled foie gras and
baby bok choy. Dinner costs $175 per person. Opt for the vintner’s tasting
for an additional $75 per person. Call L’Espalier at 617.262.3023 for reservations
and the complete menu.
Masa
In
celebration of the arrival of 2005, chef Philip
Aviles will be offering a three-course prix fixe dinner at Masa
in the South End. Dinner, which will be available from 6:00-11:00pm, costs
$75 per person and includes a champagne toast. In terms of post-dinner festivities,
there will be live musical entertainment, salsa dancing and tapas served until
midnight. Call Masa at 617.338.8884 for reservations and more information.
Meritage
Chef
Bruce invites guests to bid 2004 farewell and greet 2005 at Meritage
where he’ll be offering a five-course prix fixe menu from 5:00-11:00pm. The dinner costs $125 per person, which includes accompanying wines selected from Meritage’s 12,000 bottle collection. Dishes on the evening’s menu include maple smoked Atlantic salmon with melted leek custard and caviar toast; crisp confit of Long Island duck and seared duck breats over black barley and poached Cape cranberries; and proscuitto-wrapped venison loin with black lentilragout, crispy bacon and black currant sauce. Call Meritage at 617.439.3995 for reservations and more information.
No. 9 Park
Ever
the perfectionist, chef Barbara
Lynch is still putting the finishing touches on her five-course New
Year’s Eve Chef’s Tasting Menu, which can be enjoyed in No.
9 Park‘s dining room from 5:00-7:00pm for $135 per person or for $185
from 7:30-10:45pm. The menu will also be available a la carte for diners who
would prefer to sit at the bar. Call 617.742.9991 for more information and
to make reservations.
Rialto
Celebrate
the dawn of the new year at Rialto
with either a four-course or a seven course menu from chef Jody
Adams. The first seating, at 6:00pm, is ideal for guests who have other
plans for the actual stroke of midnight and costs $85 per person. Guests who
choose the 9:00pm seating, which costs $135 per person, will enjoy a seven-course
meal, a champagne toast and live tunes from Toussiant and the China Band.
Menu items peppered black and blue tuna with beet chutney and horseradish
crème fraiche; roasted rack of lamb with truffled flageolets, celeriac
and crisp bacon; and creamy vanilla-filled baba soaked in house-made grapefruit
liquor and honey citrus salad. Call Rialto at 617.661.5050 for reservations
and more information.
Rustic Kitchen
Ring
in the New Year in style at Rustic
Kitchen in Cambridge, where chef de cuisine Mark
Usewicz has created a decadent four course menu featuring all that is
festive. Each course has four options including options like cocoa-coffee
crusted venison carpaccio with pomegranate; spicy Maine crab zuppa with sea
urchin and mussels; roast and confit duck with gingered quince, braised radish
and chard; and warm chocolate cake with raspberry creamsicle gelato. The dinner
costs $65 per person with a $25 per person optional wine pairing. Seatings
will be offered at 6:00, 8:00 and 10:00pm. For reservations and more information,
call Rustic Kitchen at 617.354.7766.
Spire
Spend New Year’s Eve at Spire
at the Nine Zero Hotel where chef Gabriel
Frasca‘s four-course menu features seared Nantucket bay scallops with
sunchoke puree, meyer lemon and smoked bacon; Chantenay carrot soup with Maine
lobster, plumped cranberries and hazelnuts; and loin of Vermont rabbit with
whole grain mustard spaetzle, Serrano ham, haricots verts and Marcona almonds.
Dinner costs $105 per person. Reservations are available from 5:30-10:30,
so call 617.772.0202.
Umbria
The
Financial District’s newest dining spot, Umbria,
welcomes New Year’s Eve revelers to join them for either of two seatings (at
6:00 or at 8:30pm) for an a la carte menu augmented by celebratory Umbrian
specials from chefs Marisa
Iocco and Michael
Scelfo. Diners who’d like to stick around for the rest of the evening
will be offered admission to the upper level night-clubs for an hors d’oeuvres
and dessert buffet, open bar and dancing to the house DJ for a mere $35. Call
Umbria at 617.338.1000 for reservations and more information. Of course, even
if you’ve got other plans for dinner, you can still buy tickets for Umbria’s
New Year’s Eve party (from 10:00pm-2:00am in the upstairs nightclub) for $75
per person.
UpStairs on the Square
UpStairs on the Square plans on ringing in the New Year in style with early and
late seatings in both of their dining rooms. Join them downstairs in the Monday
Club Bar for seatings between 5:00-6:30pm. Susie
Regis will be whipping up a four-course menu for $75 per person. The late
seating, which begins at 8:30pm costs $100 per person and includes the four-course
tasting menu, champagne at midnight and the rollicking tunes of Catherine
and the Greats. The early seating, which begins at 5:30pm, upstairs in the
Soiree Room features a special four course holiday menu from chef Amanda
Lydon for $85 per person. The late seating, which starts at 8:00pm, features
a six course menu, champagne and music from Catherine & the Greats and
costs $150 per person. UpStairs on the Square will also be open on New
Year’s Day. The comforting menu will offer lots of oysters and smoked
salmon blinis, some foie gras, their famous pizzas, and steak and eggs from
12:00-8:00pm. Call 617.864.1933 to make reservations.
