MARY FURR -- Dining Out

New Year’s Day will mark a first for owner Peter Andriet and the

Huntington Beach Beer Co.: It will be the first time since opening on

Main Street that their 2 a.m. weekend closing time will allow the

restaurant and pub to celebrate a New Year and a new millennium in the

style they like.

There will be two seatings -- 6:30 p.m. ($29.99) and 8:30 p.m. ($35.99),

complete with party favors, a martini bar and a cigar bar. You name it,

they’ll try to have it.

As Assistant Manager Chris Cunningham, a Huntington Beach High School

grad, says, they have the beer -- six big vats at the entrance -- and the

food to make New Year’s a memorable event.

On the three-course set dinners, there’s a choice of filet mignon, salmon

or chicken, served with a vegetable medley of yellow squash, zucchini,

carrots and the plumpest fresh mushrooms, and something you don’t find

often -- perfectly boiled red-skin potatoes, firm but fluffy. The thin

red skin adds a special flavor. Finish with dessert and complimentary

handcrafted ale, wine, champagne or soft drink for the designated driver.

Steaks and chops are Beer Co. favorites: A 12-ounce New York Steak

($13.95) is at least an inch thick, grilled to perfection with those red

potatoes and vegetables. For an extra treat, add mushroom-peppered gravy

($2), creamy rich and gently spiced.

Kitchen Manager Pablo Guttierez does the delicately boned rack of Cajun

lamb ($12.25) just right. Six small chops with a faint garlic scent are

brushed with a chipotle sauce of roasted jalapeno chiles that gives them

a warm spiciness.

A dessert we tried, chocolate chip calzone for two ($4.25), has a flaky

but chewy crust like pizza dough, filled with white and dark chocolate

chips and baked in the wood-fired oven. Two scoops of meltingly rich

Dryers ice cream nestle beside it -- a rich treat for chocoholics.

“The Huntington Beach Beer Co. is about beer and good food,” says our

server, Victoria, looking forward to the unique New Year’s festivities

the crew is planning.

Cunningham said the New Year will be rung in by times zones, beginning

with the East Coast and ending with the West Coast, with prizes and party

favors adding to the fun as midnight strikes in each time zone.

“We at the Beer Co. hope this year will set a standard for celebrations

to come,” he said.

There is something about the rebirth of Downtown that fits right in with

the beginning of a new millennium.

Climb the stairs to the Huntington Beach Beer Co., dine on the patio

overlooking Main Street or gaze out the tall windows at the Pacific and

you’ll know this is the place.

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments or

suggestions for her, call (562)493-5062.

HUNTINGTON BEACH BEER CO.

WHERE: 201 Main St., Huntington Beach

HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday; open until 2 a.m.

Friday and Saturday.

CALL: 960-53543

MISCELLANEOUS: The restaurant will offer two special seatings on New

Year’s Eve. Reservations are required.