New Year's Eve Dining at the Fontainebleau
New Year’s Eve on South Beach sells out in a flash! If you’re heading to Miami Beach and have yet to plan the perfect celebration, consider a table at one of the 5 star restaurants at the dazzling Fontainebleau Resort where celebrity chefs prepare set menus at early or late night sittings. Ring in the New Year with the gourmet stylings of Scott Conant at Scapetta, Alan Yau at Hakkasan or Alfred Portale at Gotham Steak.
Whether you choose upscale Italian, nouveau Asian cuisine or traditional prime beef, an evening of impeccable service awaits. Once the stomping grounds for Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, the Morris Lapidus designed Fontainbleau recaptures the glamor of Miami Beach in each of it’s celebrated restaurants. Decide which tastes best capture the spirit of the New Year and make your reservations as soon as possible.
Scott Conant - Scarpetta
SCARPETTA - Scott Conant
Scott Conant has achieved celebrity status as a judge on the Food-TV network’s popular competition series “Chopped.” His studied evaluations of New York City’s most eager new chefs has made his face as recognized as his stunning reviews for Italian cooking in the New York Times and throughout the culinary press. Scarpetta is an Italian term for the torn crust of bread used to sop up the last traces of sauce in a bowl of pasta and universally recognized as the best way to enjoy Conant’s amazing ability to transform the humble tomato into a rich and flavorful broth.
Rich and yet completely simple, Conant is able to communicate the best of “cucina rustica” - Italian rustic cuisine - with every soulful platter. A champagne supper at Scarpetta includes the INSPIRATION four course dinner at 6:30 and 7pm for $150 per person. The ANTICIPATION five course dinner starts at 9:30 and 10pm for $275 per person. Selections include a buratta salad, braised short ribs, creamy truffled polenta or grilled octopus followed by Conant’s signature pastas and a choice of grilled sirloin or halibut followed by dessert.
Alan Yau - Hakkasan
HAKKASAN - Alan Yau
Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant Hakkasan is celebrated throughout the United Kingdom for it’s unique approach to gourmet Asian cooking. Opening a glamorous dining room at the Fontainebleau imports this contemporary approach to Cantonese fare to a new and appreciative audience. A champagne supper at Hakkasan includes the INSPIRATION four course dinner at 6:30 and 7pm for $150 per guest. The ANTICIPATION five course dinner starts at 9:30 and 10pm with family style service for $275 per guest.
Early sittings include a family style service of crisp roast pork, duck salad or crispy fried shrimp followed by yellow bean roast chicken, baked Maine lobster, roast silver cod in champagne and Chinese honey, braised duck stuffed with chestnuts, stir-fried Cantonese BBQ pork ribs and crabmeat fried rice. A dessert selection of black truffle and hazelnut mousse or milk chocolate and wild strawberry sorbet topped with passion fruit and coconut completes the holiday meal. The later service ups the ante with house signature Peking-style duck, braised abalone and sea cucumber, sriracha Chilean sea bass and Yau’s famous dim sum starter.
Alfred Portale - Gotham Steak
GOTHAM STEAK - Alfred Portale
Alfred Portale is the toast of New York with his storied Gotham Bar and Grill winning “Most Outstanding Chef” accolades from the James Beard Foundation in 2006. Not just a meat and potatoes guy, Portale demonstrates a unique dexterity with fresh seafood and seasonal ingredients sparked with an Asian flair. His towering vertical presentations set culinary trends throughout the fine dining world and cookbooks highlighting his unique point of view top the New York Times best seller lists.
While Miami enjoys a number of top flight steak houses, Gotham Steak at the Fontainebleau has captured the imagination of local foodies and critics for it’s dazzling decor, professional service and imaginative riffs on American steak house fare. A champagne supper at Gotham Steak includes the INSPIRATION four course dinner at 6:30 and 7pm for $150 per person. The ANTICIPATION five course dinner starts at 9:30 and 10pm for $275 per person. Guests will also enjoy the jazz stylings of saxophonist George Butts and his all star band and have a chance to watch the ball drop in Times Square in the swank Gotham Bar.
Start with tender roast quail and foie gras, a seared Florida grouper, clam and shrimp dish and a 50-day dry-aged New York strip steak followed by white truffle mousse for dessert. The second seating adds an amuse bouche of manchego croquettes, wild mushroom veloute and Kumamoto oysters topped with American caviar.
New Year’s Eve on South Beach can be equal parts aggravation, perspiration and desperation if you haven’t made plans in advance. We will be posting news of gourmet offerings and celebrity night club appearances throughout the month of December so be sure to stay tuned!
The Fontainebleau Resort is located at 4441 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. Reservations for the New Year’s Eve dinners at Hakkasan, Gotham Steak and Scarpetta are first come, first served with 100% deposit required at the time of booking. Prices include tax and gratuity. For information and reservations call 305-695-2414