New Year's Dish
New Yorkers have many customs for welcoming the New Year. Whether it is eating 12 grapes at midnight — a traditional Cuban practice — standing among throngs and counting backwards in Times Square, or any of a variety of other practices, the city's restaurants are ready to help revelers celebrate.
FESTIVE FARE
Tamales are a traditional New Year's dish in Mexico, and At Los Dados (73 Gansevoort St., between Greenwich and Washington streets, 646-810-7290) a four-course dinner is $75 and includes chicken tamale with molé poblano and scallion créma, as well as a live mariachi band and a midnight toast.
GOOD FORTUNE
New Year's Eve is La Festa Di San Silvestro in Italy, and lentils are eaten because of their resemblance to coins, making them harbingers of good fortune. At Lunetta's Manhattan location (920 Broadway at 21st Street, 212-533-3663), the $90, 9:30 p.m. menu includes a chestnut-and-lentil soup with croutons made from the festive panettone bread — and a prosecco toast. Chef Adam Shepard will add sautéed foie gras to the soup for an additional $12. He will also add Umbrian black truffles to your mushroom risotto for an extra $18.
LUCKY 12
Eat your 12 grapes and enjoy the music of Cuban musician Juan Carlos Formel at Havana Alma de Cuba (94 Christopher St., between Bleecker and Bedford streets, 212-242-3800). The $125 menu includes a four-course Cuban meal, a bottle of Champagne, and two other drinks. It also includes grapes at midnight.
NIGHT OF NOODLES
Noodles on New Year's Eve are customary in many Asian countries, as their length symbolizes long life. At Megu Midtown (845 UN Plaza at 47th Street at First Avenue, 212-964-7777) they are served as toshikoshi soba, a Japanese buckwheat noodle dessert traditionally eaten in honor of the occasion. The $180 prix-fixe, six-course meal also includes the chef's sushi and sashimi selections and grilled filet mignon. Diners also can watch a live Webcast of the ball dropping in Times Square.
MUSIC AT MIDNIGHT
A traditional New Yorker's setting would be Gotham Bar and Grill (12 E. 12th St., between University Place and Fifth Avenue, 212-620-4020). It is featuring a gala reception and five-course, prix-fixe menu, starting at 8:30 p.m. for $260 a person. The Cliffsiders, a seven-piece band, will be playing jazz and contemporary standards, rhythm and blues, and rock 'n' roll.
CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION Boqueria (53 W. 19th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-255-4160) and Suba (109 Ludlow St., between Rivington and Delancey streets), 212-982-5714) are offering tapas and an open bar, including a midnight cava toast. Both cost $225 — of which $50 will be donated to Food Bank for New York City.
Mr. Thorn is food editor of Nation's Restaurant News. He maintains nrnfoodwriter.blogspot.com.
