WHERE TO EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY THIS CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S EVE |
By Cornelia Fortier, Contributing Editor
Whether your holiday wish is for a merry little Christmas dinner with family and close friends or a New Year's Eve on the dance floor with a savvy DJ spinning, or a low-key meal out with your effervescent little ones, expect to be delighted by what Fairfield County's restaurants, pubs and night spots are planning for you this season. There are delicacies added to the menu, interiors with lights twinkling and decorations shimmering, and, in some cases, entertainment and favors to pump up the celebration. With all of these sparkling special features in store, your holiday get-togethers are sure to glow.
In Fairfield
Ashcreek Saloon, 93 Post Road, Fairfield, 203-255-5131
Ashcreek's holiday entree specials include roasted osso bucco and rack of lamb. And of course, those renowned ribs. With its laid-back atmosphere and Western-themed interior, it's just the spot for a multi-generational gathering or a convention of friends for some auld lang syne. Holiday hours: Christmas Eve, 11 AM to 10 PM; New Year's Eve, from 11:30 AM to 10 PM and New Year's day, from 10:30 AM to 3 PM for their brunch menu with complimentary mimosa or bloody mary.
La Colline Verte, 75 Hillside Road, Fairfield, 203-256-9242
The traditional buche de noel, the definitive French Christmas dessert with cake, cream and glaze, is on chef/owner Jean-Pierre Rudaz's menu but he will also weave his spell on Christmas Eve with elegant beef and fish entrees. His New Year's Eve fete will feature 3,000 balloons, a master magician, an accordionist, flowing champagne as well as foie gras, lobster and other festive offerings. Open Christmas Eve, from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM; New Year's Eve, first seating at 6:30 PM for prix fixe of $75 and $95 for the 10 PM seating.
St. Tropez & O Bar, 52 Sanford Street, Fairfield, 203-254-8094
With two seatings, at 5:30 to 6:30 and 8:45 to 9:15 PM and a New Year's Eve menu that includes filet mignon in puff pastry served with porcini and Madeira sauce or sauteed sea scallops, St. Tropez is a gracious place to welcome the new year with friends and family. Follow up your elegant meal there with a visit next door to O Bar, for its special New Year's Eve martinis, dancing and a DJ spinning. And no cover charge.
In Greenwich
Restaurant Jean-Louis, 61 Lewis Street, Greenwich, 203-622-8450
Food lovers consider Restaurant Jean-Louis divine, but this year its Christmas Eve dinner promises to be especially heavenly. Among the evening's menu offerings will be pan sauteed Dover sole, bay scallops with black truffles and medallion of New York strip venison. For dessert, buche de noel aux marrons (chestnuts) glacee. New Year's Eve is also the restaurant's 20th Anniversary, for which chef/owner Jean-Louis Gerin and wife Linda are planning to break out some "amazing wines" from their award-winning cellar. Christmas Eve seatings are at 6:15 PM and 8:45 PM. New Year's Eve will have two seatings, at 6:30 PM and 9:30 PM.
Sundown Saloon, 403 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, 203-629-8212
Cancel the babysitter because New Year's Eve at Sundown Saloon promises to be a straight shot of fun with the focus of their evening on a pre-midnight party for families. Beginning at 5 PM, there will be colorful confetti flying, bubbly cider sparkling, and noisemakers squeaking and squawking (not to mention the kids) as the adults settle in for specials of steak and fish and children select from a list of their favorites on the kids' menu. Reservations are necessary but this evening of gaiety for girls and boys and their parents is worth committing to.
In New Canaan
The Roger Sherman Inn, 195 Oenoke Ridge, New Canaan, 203-966-4541
The Roger Sherman Inn offers what the holidays make us yearn for: a sense of tradition combined with inventiveness and fun. For New Year's Eve, there is both a dinner menu and a black tie dinner and dance. A Rotary Club of New Canaan charity fund raiser, open to the public, is the reason for a Christmas Day lunch. The menu includes tenderloin of beef, Long Island duck and other choices, as well as buche de noel. The prix fixe is $54 for adults and $38 for children. New Year's Eve dinner begins at 6 PM, and offers selections including grilled filet mignon with a black fig port wine reduction or halibut and lobster with saffron hollandaise sauce. The New Year's Eve dinner dance, $150 per person, has a similar gourmet menu, as well as dancing to the music of band Cloud Nine.
In Norwalk
Black Bear Saloon, 80 Washington Street, Norwalk, 203-299-0711
Relaxed and festive, Black Bear is holding a New Year's Eve party that promises to be sheer fun. For $80 per person, there is a five course dinner and drinks, as well as a DJ and dancing. Their elaborate dinner menu includes lobster bisque, Alaskan King Crab Legs, grilled chili rubbed 10 ounce rib eye steak with gorgonzola cream sauce or grilled twin filets with lobster medallions and much more! Drinks and dancing, without dinner, is $60.
In Old Greenwich
Beach House Café, 220 Sound Beach Avenue, Old Greenwich, 203-637-0367
Always a great spot for fun lovers, New Year's Eve at Beach House Café will rock to the sounds of local band The Avengers, from 10:15 PM to 1:30 AM. Holiday dinner specials include sea bass over lobster and garden pea risotto, drizzled with sherry lobster cream sauce; tenderloin topped with Stilton cheese and served with garlic herbed shrimp and seared tuna with Chinese spices. Dinner is a la carte and the New Year's specials will be served with champagne. There is no cover charge.
In Ridgefield
Bernard's, 20 West Lane, Ridgefield, 203-438-8282
Its reputation is for year-round excellence, but holiday meals at Bernard's are especially splendid. A Christmas Eve dinner, from 5 PM to 8:30, is $65 and includes an extensive and elegant menu with selections including breast of pheasant filled with foie gras, wrapped in puff pastry; sauteed medallion and venison chop and beef wellington. Two New Year's Eve dinner seatings, one at 6 PM with a 5 course dinner for $75 and the other for $165 at 9 PM with a 6 course dinner, include live music as well. Expect all to be stunning.
Stonehenge, Route 7, Ridgefield, 203-438-6511
Critically acclaimed Stonehenge is bringing lots of holiday cheer this year since it plans to be open on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. The menu for each will include such savory selections as wild mushrooms in puff pastry with port wine sauce; oysters on the half shell topped with creme fraiche and caviar; roast rack of lamb with couscous and fresh rosemary sauce and Maine lobster out of the shell with champagne sauce and basmati rice, among others. The New York Times said Stonehenge's meals "linger in the memory for days," as will your holiday meal there. Christmas Eve seatings are at 6 PM and 8:30 PM with a prix fixe of $65; Christmas Day dinner is served from 1 PM to 5 PM and is $80 per person and New Year's Eve has two seatings, 6 to 6:30 PM and 8:30 to 9 PM for $85.
In Riverside
Baang Café & Bar, 1191 East Putnam Avenue, Riverside, 203-637-2114
There is always celebration around Baang's exotic and enticing menu selections: ginger glazed jumbo shrimp, spareribs barbecued in a sesame honey glaze, five spiced grilled chicken with tempura sweet onions, are just a few. For New Year's Eve, the holiday revelry begins after dinner, when the evening's DJ starts spinning and couples take to the dance floor. Dinner is a la carte but an open bar from 10 PM to 2 AM with hors d'oeuvres at midnight and favors complete the $50 New Year's package. A stylish place to ring in the New Year.
In Stamford
Thirsty Turtle, 84 West Park Place, Stamford, 203-973-0300
Music chosen by two Djs on two different levels, dancing, four bars, a plentiful buffet of many varieties of finger foods as well as prizes and give-aways are bound to make Thirsty Turtle's New Year's Eve a hard one to top next year. Open until 3 AM, admission is $60 for advance tickets and $75 night.
Zinc Bistro & Bar, 222 Summer Street, Stamford, 203-252-2352
Zinc offers stylish French food in a hip, sophisticated setting and for New Year's Eve, its selection is especially large. This holiday evening choices can be made from an a la carte menu or a special prix fixe menu. Entrees include baked sole stuffed with crab meat, shrimp and Champagne sauce or filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables and foie gras sauce, among many others. Be sure to try their martinis before or after the champagne. Prix fixe dinner is $65 including a glass of champagne. Dinner will be served from 5 PM until 10:30 PM.
In Westport
Balducci's, 1385 Post Road East, Westport, 203-254-5200
Teaming up with Westport/Weston's First Night celebration, Balducci's is holding a pre-New Year's Eve celebration on December 29th, from 3 PM to 7 PM to start the buzz on the upcoming First Night and offer a preview of that event's entertainment, including face painters, balloon artists, clowns, live music and entertainment by Puttin' on the Ritz. Balducci's will offer food samples, making it a great opportunity to taste just some of the exceptional gourmet food this specialty market is known for. First Night buttons will also be on sale.
Bobby Q's, 42 Main Street, Westport, 203-454-7800
Also part of Westport/Weston's First Night celebration, this lively spot with its delicious ribs and other down home favorites, will feature River City Slim and the Zydeco Hogs for some Louisiana music that's great to listen to while you're digging in to barbecue or cornmeal-pecan crusted catfish, and to dance to, between courses.
Conte's Grill, 540 Riverside Avenue, Westport, 203-226-8745
Luckily, holiday plans at this upscale seafood restaurant include their regular menu, with its appetizers like Maine Jonah crab claw cocktail with Joe's famous mustard sauce and entrees like the Idaho rainbow trout with virgin mashed potatoes or the seafood pot pie with salmon, tuna, swordfish and scallops in lobster dijon sauce. And there will be holiday specials including prime rib, 2 to 3 pound lobsters, and caviar as well as the music of Third Sister, an R&B group, starting at 10 PM on New Year's Eve.
Seminara's Ristorante, 256 Post Road East, Westport, 203-222-8955
Seminara's New Year's Eve menu is another reason to celebrate. Just some of the specials offered will include parmesan crusted sea scallops with saffron lemon aioli over fennel salad; warm lobster salad with avocado and gorgonzola crusted New York strip steak with cabernet sauce. Two seatings are planned, at 6:30 and 8:30 PM, in this comfortable, cozy restaurant, with its superb Italian cuisine.
Splash, 260 Compo Beach Road South, Westport, 203-454-7796
With its Long Island Sound views and Food Network's rating as "Best of New England" for waterfront dining, Splash has an exquisite array of seafood, and other entrees. For New Year's Eve, there will be a DJ and dancing, party favors and an open bar from 10 PM to 2 AM, and hors' d'oeuvres at midnight. Some of the menu's stellar entrees include Chilean sea bass baked in banana leaf with coconut rice cake and mango salsa; pan seared Atlantic salmon with glazed shitake mushrooms and wasabi potato springrolls and a 16 ounce grilled ribeye steak. Dinner is a la carte; the New Year's Eve dancing to DJ'd music, open bar and favors package, from 10 PM to 2 AM, is $50.
