Ushering in the new and stylish

HOW will Los Angeles’ newest restaurants celebrate their first New Year’s Eve? Our fair city saw dozens of openings this past year, from big ticket steakhouses in Hollywood to modest vegan eateries in the San Fernando Valley. And just about all of them will be welcoming revelers this Saturday night, mostly with prix fixe menus that emphasize luxury ingredients.

At Sterling Steakhouse in Hollywood, for instance, the five-course menu ($125 first seating, $175 second) starts with Maine lobster bisque and a blini with osetra caviar and ends with raspberry chocolate parfait with almond crunch. Between, there’s butternut squash ravioli with crisp sage, a pink grapefruit granita with vermouth, and a choice of salmon in puff pastry with lobster mousse or filet mignon with truffle macaroni and cheese.

Chapter 8 in Agoura Hills, another modern steak place that debuted in 2005, is also offering five courses ($175 per person with admission to the adjacent club afterward). Menu highlights include foie gras with pineapple-vanilla bread pudding and a filet with truffle-infused potatoes.

Meanwhile Taste, the stylish eatery on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, is forgoing its signature “pizzettes” for the evening. Instead, the four-course menu ($69 per person) leans American, with options such as a grilled Cajun-spiced shrimp skewer and a smothered pork chop paired with braised greens.

Seafood loving foodies will be drawn to the nine-course menu Michael Cimarusti has put together at Providence in Los Angeles ($125 per person, $195 with wine pairings). It’s one fabulous-sounding dish after another: rouget de roche with eggplant, red wine and crisp chorizo; Quinalt River steelhead with red beets, salsify and dandelion greens; and to finish, a chocolate truffle tart with candied kumquats and vanilla bean ice cream.

At Ortolan, on West 3rd Street, early revelers will be treated to a five-course menu ($100 per person) featuring such delicacies as foie gras confit with quince gelee, and venison pastilla with truffle celery. The later crowd will enjoy all the same, plus three additional items for a total of eight courses ($165 per person). The bonus dishes include roasted scallops with bacon and morel mushroom ravioli.

Don’t do meat? Or fish? Or dairy? In Tarzana, Madeleine Bistro’s David Anderson has put together a seven-course menu ($65 per person) sure to delight any vegan. What’s not to like about chestnut tortellini with roasted garlic and flourless chocolate cake petit fours with white chocolate mousse and cherry coulis?

For diners who want to keep it simple, Brentwood’s Pecorino is doing something refreshing. It’s offering the regular menu. That means you could do a simple salad, a nice piece of branzino or some pumpkin risotto, maybe some tiramisu.

What a novel idea for Dec. 31.

-- Leslee Komaiko