There’s no dearth of places to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Tucson. But I’m finding more people want to celebrate it their way. Some like the idea of partying through the midnight hour. Others prefer an earlier celebration — maybe tied to the Times Square ball drop at 10 p.m. our time — so they’ll be off the road later at night.
With that in mind, I offer a rundown of some of the various celebrations I’ve heard about around town, divided up by the style you may want to celebrate. Wherever prices are included, it’s without taxes or gratuities.
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For the crowd that likes the big midnight blowout there are the following. In each case there are rooms nearby for those who don’t want to walk to the place where they will rest their heads that night.
• Jazz Gala at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa, 3800 Starr Pass Blvd. — www.tucsonjazz.org — This annual music dinner and dancing party put on by the Tucson Jazz Society this year will feature artists Rick Braun, Richard Elliott, Jeff Golub, Brian Bromberg, Gregg Karukas, Ricky Lawson, and New York City’s Urban Jazz Coalition. It starts at 6 p.m. Admission is $175 per person. There are also hotel specials available. Something new this year, the concert will be streaming live online at the Arizona Jazz Network, www.azjazz.net.
• Janos and J Bar, 3770 E. Skyline Drive on the grounds of the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa — www.janos.com (520) 615-6100 — While both restaurants will offer early prix fixe dinners until 6:15 p.m. ($75 per person in Janos, $45 in J Bar), the special events of the evening are the special dinners later in the evening and then the J Ball when the J Bar dining room is turned into a disco, flashing lights, balloon drop, party favors, and disco music by Terry Thomas. The special dinner at Janos is a six-course affair ($110 per person, wine pairings are extra) and in J Bar it’s a four-course prime rib dinner ($70; wine pairings extra). In each case, there’s no cover to get in to the J Ball, which costs $20 otherwise. Another option to the designated driver routine if you do this one is to make a room reservation at the resort.
• Acacia at St. Philip’s, 4340 N. Campbell Ave. in St. Philip’s Plaza — www.acaciatucson.com (520) 232-0101 — A prix fixe menu ($75 per person) with first seatings at 5 p.m., then live music by guitarist Ed Delucia from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and dance music by the Naim-Grubic Quartet from 9 p.m. to midnight and a champagne toast at midnight. For $260, two people can enjoy the evening, then spend the night in a suite at the Windmill Inn in St. Philip’s Plaza.
• Flying V Bar & Grill, 7000 N. Resort Drive at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort — www.
flyingvbarandgrill.com (520) 615-5495 — will have both specials and its regular menu. Afterwards, head over to the resort’s Cascade Lounge for George Howard playing contemporary jazz in the Cascade Lounge starting at 10 p.m. with a special midnight toast and party favors. That goes on until 1 a.m. and, since it’s a resort I’m certain you can probably make an overnight of it but you might want to plan that.
• Miguel’s, 5900 N. Oracle Road in La Posada — www.miguelstucson.com (520) 887-3777 — will have a two seatings for a three-course prix-fixe dinner. The first seating ($30 per person) is from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and the second seating ($45 per person) starts at 8 p.m. and goes all the way to 2 a.m. Again, worth noting, La Posada has rooms for the party hardy crowd.
Meet me at midnight, maybe
These are some of the celebrations that aren’t necessarily intended to go to midnight. If you plan on drinking, make sure you designate a driver or plan on taking a cab or other transportation.
• Harvest, 10355 N. La Cañada Drive, Oro Valley — (520) 731-1100 — for its first New Year’s Eve is offering a three-course dinner with options and champagne ($55) starting at 5 p.m., with a final seating starting at 11 p.m. and a midnight toast.
• Armitage Wine Lounge & Café, 2905 E. Skyline Drive in La Encantada — (520) 682-9740 www.armitagewine.com — will be serving half-priced bottles of wines, including sparking wines, all day and will have a special a la carte pairing menu that includes individual beef Wellington over potato risotto with winter vegetables paired with wine ($35). Sparking wine and party favors at midnight.
• Cuvée World Bistro, 3352 E. Speedway — www.cuveebistro.com (520) 881-7577 — is offering a three-course prix fixe menu with options ($60 per person; $80 with wine pairings) and live music by the Tony Frank Trio starting at 7 p.m.
• Cup Café at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St. — www.hotelcongress.com (520) 622-8848 — will have three seatings, 5 p.m., 7:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., for prix fixe dinner ($50 per person). Be forewarned, this one will take your credit card when you make your reservation and charge $25 for cancellations within 48 hours or a $50 no-show fee, plus $5 per reserved guest.
A special evening
For those of who aren’t in the party hardy crowd but just want to go out to a nice dinner and maybe distance ourselves from some of the loonies, there are these choices.
• Jax Kitchen, 7286 N. Oracle Road — www.jaxkitchen.com (520) 219-1235 — will host its first New Year’s Eve with a sparkling cocktail hour beginning at 6:30 pm,, followed a single dinner seating at 7:30 p.m. ($84 per person; $125 with wine). This is a small place so get your reservation as early as you can — it may already be too late.
• Ventana Room, 7000 N. Resort Drive at Loews Ventana Resort — www.ventanaroom.com (520) 615-5494 — Tucson’s only AAA five diamond award-winning restaurant will offer a five-course special menu ($135 per person).
• Kingfisher Bar & Grill, 2564 E. Grant Road — http://kingfishertucson.com (520) 323-7739 — will have open seating and a special menu from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
• Bluefin Seafood Bistro, 7053 N. Oracle Road in Casas Abobes Plaza — www.
bluefintucson.com (520) 531-8500 — will have open seating and a special menu from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• Terra Cotta, 3500 E. Sunrise Drive — www.dineterracotta.com (520) 577-8100 — has three-course prix-fixe menu with options ($45 per person) that includes a starter of roasted lobster tail with a Willcox tomato risotto and entrée choices including a bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin.
• Barrio Food & Drink, 135 S. Sixth Ave. — www.barriofoodanddrink.com (520) 629-0191 — will have both the regular menu and specials starting at 5 p.m., with a final seating at 9 p.m.
• Elle, 3048 E. Broadway in Broadway Village — www.ellerestaurant.com/ (520) 327-0500 — will be open until at least 10 p.m. with specials including a wine pairing menu ($49 per person) of escargot with mushrooms, spinach and herb butter sauce in an open faced ravioli with Roderer brut premier Champagne and New York steak with roasted shallot mashed potatoes, seasoned vegetables, and a red wine sauce served with Archipel “Bordeaux style blend” from California.
• Jonathan’s Tucson Cork, 6320 E. Tanque Verde Road — www.jonathanscork.com (520) 296-1631 — will have both its regular menu and classic Jonathan Landeen-style specials including seabass Oscar-style ($27) or an eight-ounce filet of beef wrapped with jalapeño bacon and stuffed with Maytag bleu cheese.
• Pastiche Modern Eatery, 3025 N. Campbell Ave. — http://pasticheme.com/ (520) 325-3333 — will be open until midnight with a special menu that includes cioppino.
• Vin Tabla, 2890 E. Skyline Drive in Plaza Colonial — www.vintabla.com/ (520)
577-6210 — will have a special multi-course dinner, with four to six choices for each course.
Something different
These are things I couldn’t classify anywhere else, but they could be interesting.
• Los Lobos at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. — www.rialtotheatre.com (520) 740-0126 — Three-time Grammy award-winning rock band Los Lobos will be in concert. Doors open at 8 p.m., showtime is 9 p.m. It’s an all ages concert, $46 general admission, $51 upper balcony, $81 general admission VIP or reserved balcony, or $152 for VIP for two.
• First Night — see separate story.
Contact T.J. Katz at tj.katz@yahoo.com. Meals & Entertainment appears weekly.
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