Food News: New Year's Eve roundup

The year 2011 is drawing to a close and New Year's Eve is the last opportunity to live it up before the resolutions kick in Jan. 1.

Most restaurants around Prague have something planned for Dec. 31, with feasting and music and dancing, a befitting celebration of saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new. So before you start worrying about getting back to the gym to work off Christmas dinner or counting your crowns a bit more carefully, here is just a sampling of the foodie fireworks that will be going off around town to make sure you end - and begin - the year in high style.

For a straight-up good time at a proper boozy do, Iron Curtain in Old Town is throwing an all-inclusive New Year's Eve Party, starting at 7 p.m. and going strong till 7 a.m. The cost of 1,350 Kč (pre-sale; 1,500 Kč at the door) takes care of all your hedonist needs, with an all-you-can-eat buffet of goulash, grilled chicken, ribs, pork, beef, salads, cheeses and more, and an open bar of all-you-can-drink beer, wine, soft drinks, gin and tonics, vodka tonics and Cuba libres. DJs Axel and Ted Otis will keep the party rocking long into the morning hours of 2012. Tickets are available at Iron Curtain, Michalská 12, Prague 1-Old Town. Tel. 242 480 728.

For a truly civilized evening at one of the city's most ornate upscale restaurants, Francouzská restaurace in the stunning Secessionist Municipal House is celebrating both New Year's and its centennial anniversary with a set menu accompanied by live piano music. The menu, which costs 3,950 Kč per person, includes an amuse bouche, confit duck leg with sautéed snails, ravioli stuffed with young mussels and topped with celery truffle cream, roasted monkfish with risotto, herbs and saffron jus, Tanzberg sparkling wine sorbet, Tournedos Rossini of veal tenderloin with Périgueux sauce, terrine of fresh goat cheese flavored with white-truffle oil, melted cake of Kayambe milk chocolate with ice cream of salted butter from Brittany, coffee and mignardises. To reserve, call 222 002 770.

Italian dining spot Vino di Vino, also in Old Town, has an evening menu for 1,800 Kč per person that includes Brut Montina made by the Franciacorta method with oysters and caviar canapés; tuna tartare with avocado, sesame and croutons; egg noodles with lobster sauce all'Isolana; mixed grill of fish featuring Orbetello bass, giant crawfish and imperial shrimp, flavored with extra-virgin olive oil and herbs; mixed seasonal salad with arugula; warm chocolate cake with whipped cream and strawberries; and, after midnight, lentil and sausage with quail eggs and truffles. For more information and to book, call 222 311 791.

For a Cuban flavor of New Year's, cocktail bar La Bodeguita del Medio offers three four-course menus, including a vegetarian one, for 1,680-1,900 Kč. A tapas menu at the bar costs 800 Kč, and there's a promise of fireworks at midnight. For more information on the individual menus and to book, check out Labodeguitadelmedio.cz.

In Malá Strana, Kampa Group's Hergetova Cihelna, right on the river just steps from Charles Bridge, has a celebratory offering of a three-course meal featuring an amuse bouche of salmon tartare with horseradish cream; Torchon of duck fois gras with black truffles, apricot chutney and aged balsamic; choice of either butter-poached lobster Veronique with celery puree and artichokes or veal tenderloin with risotto cake, glazed topinambur and creamy morel sauce; and chocolate Marquis with vanilla Bavarois. For all four courses, the menu costs 5,500 Kč for tables in the restaurant. A three-course meal taken on the terrace costs 4,500 Kč. For more info and reservations, call 296 826 103.

Ambiente's Brasileiro, at its U Radnice location, hosts a party to ring in the new year in Brazilian style. With a carnival ball livened by music from the Tam Tam Orchestra, there will also be samba lessons for those looking to improve their moves. Entry of 2,495 Kč includes a welcome-drink Caipirinha, the restaurant's churassco meats and buffet, and a champagne toast at midnight. Call 224 234 474 to reserve a spot or for more information.

A bit farther afield, steakhouse El Asador has several menu options for New Year's, starting with a welcome drink, four-plate tapas menu and post-midnight buffet for 990 Kč. For 1,490 Kč, the five-course menu features a welcome drink, five gourmet courses and post-midnight buffet; for 2,450 Kč, unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks are added to the previous menu. The big splash comes for 5,800 Kč per person, which includes all of the above, a bottle of champagne and unlimited cocktails. There'll be live music, DJs, dance lessons, a midnight surprise, free parking, and free pickup for those who live within 10 kilometers. For more info, check out Elasador.cz.

For more listings of events and dinners on New Year's Eve, please check Praguepost.com/blogs.

Fiona Gaze can be reached at
fgaze@praguepost.com