It’s Auld Lang Dine, as Eateries Offer Ways to Welcome the New Year

Year out and year in, the traditional New Year’s Eve ingredients stay the same--champagne and caviar for some folks, beer and party mix for others, nonalcoholic drinks for the designated drivers. But beyond that, every bar and restaurant in town has its own recipe for a perfect evening. A sampling:

For the bargain-conscious, the Airporter Club at the Atrium Marquis Hotel gives a nod to the old year on Saturday night with a buffet and show for $19.94. Dinner is served from 5 to 7:30 p.m., and your buffet ticket guarantees a seat for lounge pianist Greg Topper’s show (age 21 and over) and dancing from 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. If that’s not enough, the coffee shop stays open until 4 a.m., and the $59 room rate includes a continental New Year’s Resolution breakfast.

Byron Gemmell, best known for posts at Gemmell’s, Chanteclair and Cassis, is now executive chef at the Atrium Marquis (formerly the Airporter Garden Hotel). In the Palmira Grill, Gemmell offers a four-course New Year’s Eve meal with choice of appetizers including tureen of scallops with spinach and entrees including rack of lamb. Early dinner seatings, $80 per couple without tax or tip, begin at 6 p.m.; the “gala” seating, $140 per couple, begins at 9 p.m. and includes reserved seating at the Topper show.

Epicures might head to Gustaf Anders. A five-course menu promises Osetra caviar with souffleed blini; black truffle ravioli with parsley beurre blanc; steamed salmon on lemon-scented spinach and pear compote; venison with morel sauce and celery root timbale, and a dessert buffet. The 6 p.m. seating is $80 per person; 8 p.m. seating is $95 and includes entertainment and dancing; both prices include a bottle of Champagne but not tax or tip.

Revelers can find fine food at a fine price at Amici Trattoria, at least at the early seating. From 5 to 9 p.m., the restaurant offers soup or salad, choice of four entrees-- including veal chop with truffles and fontina cheese or venison in peppercorn and wild berry sauce--and a side of pasta for $30 per person plus tax and tip. A second seating, $75 per person all-inclusive, begins at 10 p.m. and features four courses as well as live music and dancing.

For its five-course dinner and Roaring ‘20s-style New Year’s Eve party, the Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Center eschews Champagne in favor of its top-of-the-line Reserve wines. Courses include a lobster scallop pot pie and baked Alaska. Suggested attire is black tie or vintage clothing. Dinner at 8 p.m., dancing until 12:30 a.m. The price is $135 per person, including tax and gratuity, but there is a waiting list.

New Year’s Eve can be murder on those who get carried away. At the Sheraton Newport, it can be “Murder at Cafe Noir,” a four-course dinner (dessert is an almond cone with white and dark chocolate mousses, creme anglaise, raspberry puree and caramel), performance of a 1940s-style whodunit by Mystery Cafe (kids welcome) and post-show party; $69 per person is all-inclusive.

A main ingredient for a successful New Year’s Eve is being with someone you love, or someone you hope to love, or even, for Auld Lang Syne, someone you loved once upon a time. But the most important ingredient may be a late-night cab ride: Don’t drink and drive.

Airporter Club and Palmira Grill, 18700 MacArthur Blvd., Irvine. (714) 833-2770.

Amici, 655 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa. (714) 850-9399.

Gustaf Anders, 1651 Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana. (714) 668-1737.

Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Center, 1570 Scenic Ave., Costa Mesa. (714) 979-4510.

Sheraton Newport, 4545 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach. (714) 833-0570.

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Everything’s just ducky since McCormick & Schmick opened its Pilsner Room recently, but they’ll be duckier still at both the restaurant and pub through Monday.

About 50,000 fine feathered fans of the Oregon Ducks are expected to flock here for the Rose Bowl, and the Portland-based chain is rolling out the yellow and green carpet with Dandelion Salad and Lion Tail Soup inspired by the Ducks’ opponents, the Penn State Nitanny Lions.

Bona fide Duck fans--i.e., those who can sing the school’s fight song or who wear green and yellow attire--can enjoy a free piece of Jake’s Famous Truffle Cake.

The Pilsner Room will serve a commemorative Pasadena Red, created for the occasion by Nor’Wester Brewing Co.

McCormick & Schmick’s, 2000 Main St., Irvine. (714) 756-0505.