Brasserie Beck
This might be the only place in town where beer gets top billing over Champagne: Robert Wiedmaier’s brasserie is pouring Aventinus Ice Bock ($15), a German lager that comes from one of only two kegs in the country. An à la carte menu will be available from 5 to midnight, with entrées ($19 to $39) such as roasted venison with sausage, pear, and turnip purée as well as seared scallops with wild mushrooms and risotto. Finish things off with a triple-chocolate terrine with espresso anglaise. Call 202-408-1717 for reservations.
ChurchKey and Birch & Barley
There’ll be no cover at this beer-focused bar, but get there early—the place is mobbed even on weeknights. Open from 5 PM to 3 AM, it’ll feature specials on beer flights to go with flatbreads, panini, charcuterie, and mac-and-cheese sticks ($8 to $15 each), all served until 1, and there’s a toast at midnight. Downstairs, Birch & Barley is offering a slightly fancier evening, with two seatings and two menus. The first seating—from 5:30 to 8:15—features a $55 three-course menu, which includes French onion salad with beef-broth vinaigrette; and beef strip loin with potato purée and braised red cabbage. The second seating, from 9 to 10:30, offers a $90 five-course menu. Dishes include oysters with green-apple mignonette; risotto with butter-poached lobster; and venison with squash purée, wild rice, chestnuts, and cranberries. Call 202-567-2576 for reservations.
CityZen
At Eric Ziebold’s restaurant at the swank Mandarin Oriental hotel, two seatings are available: The first, from 5:30 to 7, will offer a $185 six-course menu. The second, from 8 to 10, features a $225 seven-course menu, a dessert reception, and Champagne toast at midnight. Call 202-787-6006 for more information.
Co Co. Sala
At this chocolate lounge in DC’s Penn Quarter, there’ll be a six-course, symphony-themed menu. Courses include a porcini terrine with macerated cherries; chestnut-apple soup with an artichoke tart; and the “grand finale,” chocolate truffles served with Champagne. There’s an early seating, from 5 to 8:30, when customers can order à la carte. The second seating ($110 to $150), from 8:30 to 10, requires the full six-course menu, and it includes a midnight toast, party favors, and a DJ.CommonWealth
The first part of this gastropub’s celebration starts at 5, with a three-course dinner ($45 per person) that includes a lemon-tarragon crabcake with bacon hollandaise and a poached egg; beer-braised lamb leg; and farro risotto with wild mushrooms and sheep’s-milk cheese. Starting at 9, there’ll be a “vicars and tarts” costume party with prizes and a midnight Champagne toast. No cover is required for the party, and the pub menu and drink specials will be available all night.
Evening Star Cafe
This low-key Del Ray neighborhood restaurant will have a six-course, $70 tasting menu and a performance by the local band Brother Seamus in the cafe’s No. 9 Lounge. Menu options will include sweet shrimp with Tasso-ham grits as well as braised short ribs with mashed potatoes and haricots verts.
Fyve
Lots of seafood is on the New Year’s menu at this American restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City. Chef Amy Brandwein’s five-course meal includes an oyster-and-blood-orange amuse-bouche; clementine salad with peekytoe crab; Maine lobster with potato gnocchi and cauliflower; and a seared scallop with grapefruit-caviar beurre blanc. The dinner, $115 per person, ends with warm chocolate cake with roasted pineapple or a Champagne mousse with a liquefied red-currant center.
Hank’s Oyster Bar
Both locations of this seafood restaurant are hosting celebrations, with an à la carte menu from 5:30 to 11:30. Dishes include Nantucket bay-scallop cocktail with micro greens and a clementine vinaigrette as well as lobster ravioli with crabmeat sauce. At both locations, you can expect a Champagne toast at midnight and, at the bar, a special cocktail with St. Germain elderflower liqueur, pomegranate juice, and sparkling wine.
Kaz Sushi Bistro
At Kaz Okochi’s downtown sushi restaurant, a seven-course tasting menu is available December 28 through January 9. The menu features appetizers such as an omelet with soy-braised shrimp and eel and small-plate entrées such as Japanese tai-snapper carpaccio as well as green-tea crepes for dessert. The menu is $90 per person; sake pairings are an additional $25.
Kellari
This spacious Greek restaurant, a New York import, has lots of seafood on its New Year’s menu, beginning with an assortment of clams, mussels, crab legs, and oysters on the half shell. Small plates include sashimi-grade tuna tartare and saganaki, a flambée cheese. Main courses are simply dressed cuts of fish, such as barbounia, plaki, lavraki, and sinagrida, as well as Corfu-shrimp risotto; shellfish with orzo; and a 16-ounce New York strip with fries. Dinner start at 4.
La Tasca
All four locations of this Spanish restaurant have a “gala dinner” from 5:30 to 7:30, where $40 gets you unlimited tapas plus a bottle of wine per couple. From 8:0 to 10:30, there’s the Fin de Año celebration for $85 per person, which includes unlimited tapas, a bottle of wine per couple, party favors, live music, and dancing plus a Champagne toast and celebration at midnight. Tapas for both events include a tenderloin medallion with blue cheese and sweet potato as well as scallops sautéed with grapes in wine sauce.
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