Dine, dance on New Year’s Eve

GREER WYLDER

Looking for a fresh place to hear “Auld Lang Syne,” pop a champagne

cork and shout “Happy New Year” at midnight? Restaurants throughout

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa have big bashes planned to make the last

night of the year memorable.

Here are four suggestions: The terminally trendy Sutra Lounge, the

new dining and nightclub concept, relies on aphrodisiac-inspired

dishes, an exotic atmosphere and one of the few dance floors in town

to entice club-hopping revelers. Last month, after opening just six

months ago, it announced an expansion. Sutra both offends and pleases

guests with its religious decor symbols. The sprawling restaurant

also features three bars, private rooms, patio seating, curtained

booths, Moroccan accents and a life-size wooden Buddha. For New

Year’s Eve, Sutra’s chef, Stephane Beaucamp, is preparing a special

holiday menu. Beaucamp serves mostly small plates that blend

aphrodisiac ingredients with cuisines from Asia, the Middle East, the

Mediterranean and Latin America. Reservations for bottle service

tables only. Prices depend on the number of people and placement of

the table.

Regular club and restaurant hours: Open for dinner at 6 p.m.

Monday to Saturday. Two seatings for dinner, at 6 p.m. and at 8 p.m.

Club nights are Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. (Tuesday and

Wednesday dinner only.) There’s a $20 cover charge to enter the club.

At 10 p.m. you have the option of reserving a table for bottle

service.

Starting at $250 you can purchase a bottle of Sky Vodka, or other

liquor, which includes four mixers and a table for the night.

Sutra Lounge is on the second level of Triangle Square at 1870

Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa. (949) 722-7103

The upscale Chat Noir, a French bistro and jazz lounge, offers an

early and late New Year’s Eve seating. The restaurant offers a first

seating at 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for $95 per person. The four-course

menu includes a glass of Nicolas Feullatte Premier Cuvee. The second

seating is from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. for $150 per person. The five-course

menu includes a glass of Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne in etched

commemorative glasses. Entertainment is provided by the George

Griffen Quartet in the Moulin Rouge lounge area from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

with a dance floor set up on the enclosed Left Bank patio.

The two menus are virtually the same; the late night menu also

includes amuse bouche and, after midnight, assorted petit fours and

chocolates. A few appetizer choices include Butternut Squash Bisque

with lobster and fromage blanc ravioli; and Yukon Gold Potato Blinis

with smoked trout, horseradish creme fraiche and Russian caviar; or

Duo of Coquilles St. Jacques with Foie Gras served with 25-year-old

balsamic vinegar reduction. Entree choices include Roast Sonoma Duck

Breast with apples and Champagne cabbage, foie gras and Cabernet

essence; and Sole en Paupiette with lobster sauce Americaine; Filet

Mignon with wild mushroom and black truffle crust sauce Perigourdine;

or Rack of Lamb with Parisian potatoes and sweet garlic confiture.

Dessert choices includes Hot Callebaut Chocolate Souffle with

Cointreau cream; and Alsatian apple strudel with apple, golden raisin

with caramel sauce and cinnamon ice cream; and warm berries and

seasonal fruit nage with vanilla bean ice cream.

Regular restaurant hours: Open for lunch, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Monday to Friday; afternoon menu 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to

Friday.

Open for dinner 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday; 5 p.m. to

11 p.m. Thursday to Saturday; late night menu 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Sunday to Wednesday; 11 p.m. to midnight. Bar is open until midnight

Monday through Wednesday; and until 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

655 Anton Boulevard in Costa Mesa. (714) 557-6647

Roy’s at Fashion Island serves Hawaiian-fusion cuisine. For New

Year’s Eve, it offers open seating, and reservations start at 5 p.m.

until 11 p.m. The four course menu offers many options. Prices range

from $55 to $85, determined by the entree. Champagne toasts at

midnight.

Choices of one appetizer include Hawaiian Big Eye Tuna tartar with

pine nuts and garlic chipotle aioli; steamed and pan crisped lobster

potstickers with spicy sesame miso soft shell crab appetizer stuffed

with lobster and crab, mango salsa, nam pla vinaigrette; carpaccio of

Australian Kobe Beef with shiso pesto yuzu and truffle; or three

cheese raviolis with arugula Rockefeller-style sauce. Soup or salad

include cappuccino-style lobster basil bisque with porcini confetti;

teriyaki-glazed Muscovy duck breast salad with passion fruit

vinaigrette; or ponzu-yaki U-10 sea scallops, baby frisee, prosciutto

and balsamic soy. A few entree choices include herb seared salmon,

vegetable quiche and Port wine star anise buerre blanc ($55); jade

pesto steamed Hawaiian mahi mahi, braised baby bok choy and Chinese

soy sauce ($65) and Volcano Style Dungeness crab baked Hawaiian ono,

chirashi rice, wasabi nitsume sauce ($60). Dessert is included.

Regular restaurant hours: Open for dinner, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Sunday to Thursday; 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 453

Newport Center Drive in Newport Beach. (949) 640-7697

www.roysrestaurant.com.

New Year’s Eve at The Ritz offers two dinner seatings. The first

is from 5 to 6 p.m., departing at 8 p.m. It costs $85 per person,

plus tax and gratuity. (Cocktails and wine are additional.) The

second seating is from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. It includes a caviar bar,

music, dancing, party favors and fun. It costs $175 per person, plus

tax and gratuity. (And cocktails and wine are additional.)

The pre-set menu includes a Russian caviar and vodka, with a

choice of soup or salad, entree and a Ritz chocolate dessert medley

and Champagne toast. Soup or salad choices include Maine lobster

bisque laced with Armagnac; wild mushroom “cappuccino” with morel

foam; spring mix salad with goat cheese, pears and walnuts. Entree

choices include roast holiday goose with lingonberry sauce; tournedos

Rossini with goose liver and Madeira sauce; Dover sole Veronique with

pink Champagne sauce; Piero’s special Osso Buco with fettuccine. A

credit card deposit is required with reservation. Regular restaurant

hours: Open for lunch 11:30 to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. Open for

dinner 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Friday and Saturday; and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday at 880 Newport

Center Drive in Newport Beach. (949) 720-1800.

* BEST BITES appears Thursdays. Send information to Greer Wylder

at [email protected] or to 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA

92626.