If Christmas is meant to be spent cozied up with family in the comforting glow of the fire post-feasting on a lovingly homemade meal, then New Year's Eve is for getting glammed up and hitting the town.
Good food and drinks are obviously still important but they're best enjoyed with no dishes to do or stove to labour over. Plus live music, aerialists, and balloon drops at midnight are hard to pull off in your own home.
Here are all of the bars and restaurants in Vancouver putting on the Ritz and offering special New Year's Eve dinners and celebrations, some for the first time. Several are also Michelin star-winning, Bib Gourmand, or recommended.
Burdock & Co.
Ring in the new year at this small but mighty Michelin star-winning spot known for its exceptional use of locally-sourced seasonal ingredients. The six-course menu ($175/person) is under wraps but the current 'Gathering Roots under a Cold moon' prix fixe menu features dishes like Hazelmere Farm Sunchokes with cured ham and mushroom broth, leek and Heidi cheese cream, chanterelle pickle and a thyme and sunchoke brioche beautifully plated.
Reservations are open now and spots are filling up fast; vegetarian options are available on request.
Archer
Archer on Alberni street is going all out for its first New Year's Eve dinner. The chefs have put together a special seven-course dinner ($200) with optional wine pairings. Dishes include cauliflower steak, beef tenderloin with Burgundy truffle, seared sablefish, and espresso chocolate tart. Seatings start at 8 p.m. and guests are invited to stay and count down to midnight with a glass of bubbles.
Au Comptoir
French eatery Au Comptoir chef Alexandre Carrière has put together an inaugural four-course New Year's Eve menu consisting of tuna tartare with caviar, scallops and black truffle carpaccio, beef tenderloin, and foie gras stuffed quail. Tickets are $115 per person and seatings are available from 6 until 9 p.m.
Nox
A newcomer to West Georgia, Nox is hosting a five-course West Coast Italian surf-and-turf dinner accompanied by live music from jazz pianist Jimi James and double bassist Brad Pearson. Tickets are $150 per person and include a glass of welcome bubbles. Wine pairings, curated by Wine Director Lucy Nahacka, are available to order with dinner for an additional $80, and the regular craft cocktail wine menu will also be available.
L'Abattoir
New Year's Eve isn't complete without champagne and L'Abattoir is taking the tradition very seriously. The West Coast-infused French Restaurant in Gastown has put together a multi-course dinner with optional Krug pairings. Flights will include rare cuvées which are not available locally coupled with dishes from Chef Lee Cooper such as baked oysters with black truffle and whipped garlic butter or smoked sockeye salmon with Oscietra caviar. Tickets are $383 per person with pairings and $165 without.
Pourhouse
Guests have two options for dining at Pourhouse on New Year's Eve: the lounge and the dining room. There's no set menu but new dishes from Chef de Cuisine Ece Fenerci will be on offer along with specialty Champagne pours and the culmination of their 12 Days of Cocktails menu which has been debuting a new drink every day in the lead-up to New Year's Eve. Not to mention, the live music starts at 7:30 p.m. A $75 booking deposit is required but will be refunded upon arrival.
Bar Susu
At Bar Susu, New Year revellers can have dinner, party, or both.
Chef Marc and his team have put together a multi-course family-style menu that includes a welcome cocktail, wine pairing, and digestif to end the meal for $180 per person. Sommelier Britt has also put aside additional wines available to purchase by the glass or bottle. After dinner, the party begins. From 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. the DJ starts and wine and snacks will flow. Tickets for the party are $125.
Anh and Chi
Two powerhouse chefs are coming together in the kitchen of Anh and Chi on Main Street to create two multi-course New Year's Eve menus. Chef Ly Nguyen and Chef Quang Dang have teamed up to make a five-course ($150) and eight-course ($250) Vietnamese menu that includes pomelo, soft-shell crab, and smoked duck. The Bib Gourmand restaurant will also have live music from three local acts and in addition to welcome bubbles wine director and sommelier Miguel Arrais will offer natural wine pairings throughout the dining room by the glass or bottle. Alternatively, bar manager Caleb Lopez will have Anh and Chi’s signature refreshers.
Published on Main
Michelin-starred restaurant Published on Main's New Year's Eve dinner menu is a 10-course "multi-sensory" tasting menu by executive chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson complete with wine pairings. Tickets are $400 per person, inclusive of tax and gratuity and guests have the option to add on foie gras, truffle, and Canadian caviar if they feel like really splashing out.
Fanny Bay Oysters
Fanny Bay Oysters is celebrating New Year’s Eve with a bottle of Moët and a dozen of oysters for $150. Chef Tommy Shorthouse has also added Lobster Thermidor to the dinner menu for one night. Or, if people insist on celebrating in style at home, live lobsters are available on the market side for the month of December.
Glowbal
The flashiest sibling in the Glowbal Group, Glowbal Restuarant is holding a gala dinner for New Year's Eve. Tickets are $175 and include a glass of champagne and caviar amuse bouche followed by a three-course set menu by Chef Alex Kim featuring items such as Japanese A5 Wagyu Beef Steak, Canadian Lobster or Sablefish and Seared Scallops. Wine Fairy aerialists will be performing overhead and when the dance floor opens at 11 p.m. DJ Cho Cha will take over and a robot made of lights will dazzle, plus balloons will rain down at midnight. Bottle service is also available from 10 p.m.
Riley's
Riley's four-course NYE dinner which features festive classics like lobster Thermidor and wagyu carpaccio can be enhanced with tableside oyster and spirit pairings. Tickets to the special event ($165) include a glass of champagne and live music, other performers, and a balloon drop at midnight.
Black + Blue
New Year's Eve is an homage to old Hollywood glamour at Black + Blue this year. The Gala dinner set menu is four courses and guests have the choice of retro dishes like Chicken Supreme and Baked Alaska. There will be live performances from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. and guests will be given a glass of bubbles and party favours at midnight. People can also upgrade their menu and have a bottle of Laurent Perrier Champagne and Osetra caviar waiting for them on arrival ($300).
Coast
Coast is holding the most low-key New Year's dinner of the Glowbal Group. The three-course surf and turf menu is a la carte but the $60 cover entry includes sparkling wine, live music from Adam Woodall Band, party favours, and a midnight balloon drop.
Straight and Marrow
There will be a $60 fee for reservations made after 10:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve at Straight and Marrow, but it will also include a bottle of sparkling wine to kick off 2023. The team is introducing food and drink features specially for the occasion including Dashi beurre blanc poached oysters, duck breast, and elk rack with chimichurri jus.
Smitty's Oyster House Main Street
Smitty’s Oyster House Main Street 'Bubbles and Boards' special is a great option for a more affordable date (or double date). 'Bubbles and Boards for Two' includes two glasses of bubbly, chilli lime prawns, a half-rack of lamb lollies and Burrata for $80. You can also order the feature for four people which offers a bottle of bubbly and halibut fritters, sablefish risotto, and chips in addition to the other dishes on the board for two ($140). Guests who are there when the clock strikes 12 will also receive a glass of bubbles on the house.
C|Prime
On New Year’s Eve, Italian steakhouse C|Prime is offering a four-course dinner menu with crowd-pleasing classics like beef Wellington and foie gras plus welcome drinks, midnight bubbly and live music by a local jazz trio. Dinner is $150 per person or guests can book a New Year’s Eve package which includes dinner for two, a night at the adjoining century plaza hotel, parking, and breakfast the next morning for $499.
Carlino
Carlino, located in the Shangri-La hotel, creates dishes inspired by northern Italy's Friuli region. On New Year's Eve, seatings between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. will have the regular menu but subsequent seatings will feature a special NYE set menu with appetizers like Chestnut Soup and butter poached lobster or House Smoked Arctic Char and mains such as Pan Roasted Sea Bass with roast artichoke and lobster tortellini or Canadian Prime Beef Tenderloin with black truffle. There's a $50 booking fee but reservations also receive two complimentary glasses of prosecco.
Notch 8
Notch8 inside the Hotel Vancouver is dishing up a three-course dinner featuring tuna tartare with Northern Divine caviar, beef tenderloin with foie gras, and more. Tickets are $129 ($64.50 for children) and with live entertainment and a complimentary glass of bubbles to toast to the new year.
Showcase Restaurant and Bar
Showcase Restaurant and Bar’s New Year’s Eve dinner is six courses for only $95. It starts off with a truffle and mushroom tart and a glass of sparkling wine followed by selections of oysters and prawns, compressed apple and pears, and cava sorbetto as the intermezzo, mains include the choice of a half rack of lamb, pan-seared sablefish or chickpea fritter. They even top it all off with a festive Yule Log.
Provence Marinaside
Provence Marinaside in Yaletown has an extensive a la carte menu of surf and turf showstoppers for New Year's Eve with live music from Tom Arntzen and Adam Rohrlick.
Arc Restaurant and Bar
Arc, inside the Fairmont Waterfront, has two seatings open for reservations on New Year's Eve. The first is a three-course menu with meat (beef tenderloin and lobster) or vegetarian options from 5 to 7:30 p.m. for $99 per person. The second is a five-course countdown to midnight with live music from KokoSoul.
