It’s about that time when people generally...

It’s about that time when people generally toss out their plans to diet their way through the holidays. There are way too many temptations for the weak-willed. Here are a couple of those temptations:

Chef Louis Ludwig of Ventura’s Pierpont Inn has released his menu for “The Champagne Winemaker Dinner of the Year,” set for New Year’s Eve. For the occasion, Ludwig will be pairing his creations with a line of Champagne Louis Roederer.

Highlights of the evening’s fare include a barbecued fresh foie gras; a braised moon stone Alaskan scallop and giant prawn wrapped in salmon bacon served in a pool of Uni sauce; and a pineapple frappe served over Johannisberg Riesling ice chips. The main course will consist of breast of American pheasant with gala apple coulis, alligator fritters with a French-Quarter sauce, and white asparagus tips with a carrot and sauce supreme.

And finally, dessert (at which point the New Year’s resolutions start to include heavy exercising). It will be the “Choc-La-Tier,” three layers of chocolate-laced meringue interspersed with hazelnut, passion fruit, and raspberry mousses, and served with vanilla, caramel, and mango sauces.

Hors d’oeuvres will be served at 7:30 p.m., dinner at 8:30. Dancing will follow the dining, so a few of those calories should slide right off. Cost is $75 per person. Call 653-6144 for reservations.

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Restaurateur Giovanni Tromba has also designed a New Year’s Eve menu, this one for Giovanni’s Restaurant in Camarillo, the oldest of his several Ventura County establishments.

The evening will begin with a salad of mixed greens with fagioli, marinated mushrooms, roasted peppers and Reggiano cheese. Then comes a chicken ravioli dish served with sun-dried tomato pesto cream sauce, followed by grilled Chilean sea bass with brandy papaya-ginger sauce.

Tromba’s main course is veal scaloppine, sauted with shitake and porcini mushrooms in red wine, with rosemary roasted potatoes and stuffed yellow squash. For dessert, it will be a chocolate torte and coffee.

Dinner will begin at 9 p.m. with dancing to follow. Cost is $60 per person, wine not included. Call 484-4376 for reservations.