What will you eat for your last meal in 2014?
New Year’s Eve is a time to splurge on something new or return to a favorite from the past year. Regardless, a bit of bubbly should be involved when the clock strikes midnight.
Here are six restaurants for you to consider with menus that will inspire conversation, salute culture and, above all, celebrate the end of another year.
Agave Restaurant
The atmosphere pays homage to Inman Park’s typical restaurant design, with exposed brick, low lighting and a crackling fireplace. Similar to a rustic canteen in New Mexico, Agave links convivial conversation and eclectic southwestern fare.
A five-course menu awakens your palate with the heat of hatch chiles, chorizo and chipotle. Offerings include sweet corn chowder, veal chorizo meatballs, baby arugula and Brussels sprout salad, and chipotle-glazed short ribs, all paired with Don Julio tequila-infused margaritas.
A Don Julio 1942 Snifter rounds out the meal as the chaser to a blueberry cream cheese tart. Pairings are $99 per person.
242 Boulevard S.E., Atlanta. 404-588-0006, agaverestaurant.com/tequila-dinner.
Common Quarter
This restaurant’s come-as-you-are mentality still holds true on New Year’s Eve, but the offerings are a bit more upscale.
You’ll forget the humble storefront exterior once you’re inside, where elements such as high-top communal tables and a marble slab bar elevate the spot.
Instead of a prix fixe menu, chef Jeffrey Gardner spins together decadent dishes such as the Millionaire’s Breakfast with soft scrambled eggs, foie gras and Georgia sturgeon caviar or grilled beef tenderloin with truffled potatoes.
A special kick-off-the-party special for $15 gets you a glass of champagne and truffled French fries.
1205 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta. 678-809-4040, commonquarter.com.
F & B Atlanta
Warm lighting and mahogany accents provide the backdrop at this Buckhead haut spot, known for a high-gloss crowd drawn in by both the atmosphere and its location on Peachtree Road.
Chef Philipe Haddad has revitalized France’s signature cuisine with an elegant interplay of rustic yet approachable influences.
A three-course prix fixe menu includes a choice of mains such as pan-seared Pacific sturgeon, braised venison shank or butter-poached Maine Lobster and beef tenderloin. The meal is $80 per person, and Laurent-Perrier champagne can be added for $75 per bottle.
3630 Peachtree Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-254-1797, fandbatl.com.
Gunshow
New Year’s Eve is the time to put on a show, and chef Kevin Gillespie plans to do just that. For this special evening, the restaurant’s free-form concept changes to a seven-course tasting menu.
However, Gillespie’s usual forward-thinking approach spans the menu, with such offerings as wild antelope filet, foie gras torchon with gingerbread, and Maine lobster and white truffle Hot Brown.
Dinner is $125 per person, and an additional $65 for optional beverage pairings. Call the restaurant to secure a reservation with a credit card.
924 Garrett St. S.E., Suite C, Atlanta. 404-380-1886, gunshowatl.com.
La Tavola
La Tavola celebrates “Buon Anno!” with a hearty, established cuisine reminiscent of an Italian village’s trattoria. The restaurant’s cozy corner space sits amid the buzz of Virginia Highland, while the dimly lit dining room encourages intimacy.
A three-course menu is centered around antipasti, secondi and dulce, allowing guests to be flexible in their choices between house-cured loza or house-made cotechino sausage, braised duck or risotto bianco with Nantucket Bay scallops, and apple crostata or fig gelato. The prix fixe menu is $55 per person.
992 Virginia Ave., Atlanta. 404-873-5430, latavolatrattoria.com.
Southbound
Rounding out a strong opening year, Southbound has earned accolades as Atlanta’s best new restaurant thanks to a combination of live music, bonhomie and toothsome dinner options.
In addition to the regular menu, eight specials include langoustine and leek terrine, oysters and artichokes, poached monkfish and winter truffle risotto. Reservations are encouraged, and can be made at seatme.yelp.com.
5394 Peachtree Road, Chamblee. 678-580-5579, southboundatlanta.com.
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