What are you doing New Year’s Eve?

Young Chang

Without last year’s Y2K jitters, millennium revelers are likely to

have a better appetite for parties, toasts and of course, food, according

to event organizers.

Whatever the local tastes, there seems to be something for everyone.

For the Persian in you, the Sutton Place Hotel in Newport Beach will

hold a French and Persian cuisine buffet at the Accents Atrium

Restaurant, including cocktails, a midnight champagne toast and

entertainment by Mortexa, a traditional Persian music band.

“We had demands for it,” said Barbara Eidson, director of public

relations at the hotel. “We had done a number of Persian weddings here

and Persian events, and maybe because it’s reminiscent of the ambience of

Europe.”

Eidson expects a lively crowd at this gathering.

The more mellow revelers will probably be in the hotel’s dining room

enjoying a five-course meal with a midnight champagne toast and jazz

music by the Gerard Barbut Trio. About 80 to 100 people are expected to

fill the room.

“That’s for people who don’t want all of the loud noise of the other

two areas,” Eidson said.

Finally, a four-course meal in the Deauville Ballroom will feature a

Maine lobster “martini,” Atlantic salmon and filet mignon with mushrooms,

premium wines and a champagne toast. Gerald Ishibashi and his 10-piece

Stonebridge band will entertain.

“They’re so lively and just get everybody involved in dancing and

singing,” Eidson said. “It’s a fun event.”

Costs and times very for each event at the Sutton Place Hotel.

At Tale of the Whale, a restaurant in the Balboa Pavilion at Newport

Beach, a complete buffet will feature main dishes including ham, roast

beef and turkey carved by the chef. Live music, a cash bar and 2,800

multicolored balloons will complete the annual scene, which begins at 7

p.m. Cost is $49.50 per person.

“Everyone dances all night,” said Judy Caouette, event planner for

Tale of the Whale. “It’s a complete dancing crowd.”

At the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Center in Costa Mesa, a

five-course dinner will be paired with wines from around the world for a

black-tie event beginning at 8 p.m. The menu includes carpaccio beets and

micro greens topped with goat cheese, poached Maine lobster with tuxedo

orzo, lobster emulsion, foie gras ravioli and rack of lamb.

A live band will ring in the new year. Cost is $150 per person.

Cindy Tuch, general manager at Robert Mondavi, believes people want to

be pampered entering the new year.

“It’s a special holiday,” she said, “And why not give themselves a

special treat?”

Carrie Olson, director of marketing at the Four Seasons Hotel in

Newport Beach, agrees.

“It’s just so much easier to go out and not worry about cleanup,” she

said.

Celebrating at a hotel, for visitors and locals alike who rent rooms,

is an added bonus.

“The children are right there and accessible, there’s no concern about

drinking alcohol and being on the streets. It’s a very, very safe way to

celebrate New Year’s Eve because you don’t have to worry about getting

behind the wheel,” Olson said.

The Pavilion at the Four Seasons will hold an early evening

four-course dinner from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., a

six-course meal, including roasted rack of lamb will follow with a

champagne toast, midnight balloon drop, party favors and live piano and

flute entertainment.

The hotel’s The Grill at Pelican Hill will have an early evening

four-course dinner from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. with a live guitarist. The New

Year’s Eve dinner party with a six-course gourmet dinner, featuring

dishes like grilled veal chop and pan-seared black bass, will start at

8:30 p.m.

And the Gardens Lounge and Cafe at the Four Seasons will hold a

celebration from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. with live music, dancing, party favors,

a balloon drop and a family style platter for each table to share.

Costs for each venue vary.

Eidson sticks firmly to the belief that a celebration is done best in

numbers.

“People mingle quite quickly,” she said. “And the decorations are

beautiful and just people are there to enjoy the end of the year, have a

good time, enjoy each other and toast to the future.”

FYI

* WHAT: The Sutton Place Hotel, 4500 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach.

(949) 476-2001, Ext. 5696

* WHAT: Tale of the Whale at the Balboa Pavilion, 400 Main St.,

Newport Beach. (949) 673-4633.

* WHAT: Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Center, 1570 Scenic Ave., Costa

Mesa. (714) 979-4510.

* WHAT: The Four Seasons Hotel, 690 Newport Center Drive, Newport

Beach. (949) 759-0808.