Whether 2024 was a good year or bad year for you, time marches inexorably on. Ready or not, the crystal ball ritually poised on the roof of One Times Square will begin its annual journey in exactly eleven days and counting. The best way to begin the fresh year is with a flute of bubbly and a kiss from someone who means the world to you. And while you’re at it, a good last meal can’t hurt.
The following are some options that range from fancy cocktail parties to righteous tasting menus to chill à la carte offerings.
The 15-course omakase at KINJO, in Dumbo, will end the year with on a high note with the likes of A5 Wagyu with truffle butter, Koji duck with foie gras, and truffle chocolate with Oishii strawberry. There are two seatings, one at 6 p.m., the other at 8 p.m. The feast will set you back $165 per person (not including tax and gratuity). A $60 beverage pairing will also be available. KINJO, 11 Adams Street, Brooklyn.
Toast the New Year against a backdrop of the Manhattan skyline at Castell, the chic cocktail bar atop the AC Hotel Times Square. The bar will be hosting an all-inclusive party from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., with a live DJ, all-you-can-drink specialty cocktails, premium spirits, interactive oyster shuckers, heavily passed hors d’oeuvres and desserts, midnight Champagne toast, and a 360° photo booth. There will be a live stream of the Times Square ball drop. Castell, AC Hotel, 21st floor, 260 W. 40th Street.
The newly opened Vallarta Tropical, on the Lower East Side, brings together the laid-back spirit of Puerto Vallarta with the festive vibe of the 1950s pop tiki bar scene in Mexico. For those looking to get their festivities underway early, Vallarta Tropical will open at 3 p.m for pre-party celebrations. Or come later for their special prix fixe menu priced at $99 a person as well as live music with a regional Mexicano flair. Vallarta Tropical, 106 Norfolk Street, 212-254-8327.
Don’t hire a sitter this year for New Years Eve. Instead take the kids with you to Threes Brewing in Gowanus, which will be hosting their second annual family-friendly balloon drop on New Year’s Eve. The ceremony takes place at 4 p.m. with sparkling cider for a kid-friendly toast. After the sitter has come to intercept the little ones (we were lying about the sitter!), stick around for the adult celebration, which will start at 9 p.m. and run into the wee hours. DJ Henry James will start spinning at 9 p.m. Free entry and a complimentary beer toast at midnight. Food by Grand Army South. Threes Brewing, 333 Douglass Street, Brooklyn.
Boqueria, a vibrant Spanish tapas bar with four locations around Manhattan, will ring in 2025 with a generous prix fixe tapas feast and unlimited drinks (after 8:30pm) for a festive night.
- Early reservations: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. run $75 per person.
- Late reservations: 8:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. cost $95 per person.
- An optional open bar, 8:30 p.m. onward, will go for $40 per person.
Note that a 20% gratuity will be applied to each check. All pricing is exclusive of tax and gratuity.
Reserve via Resy: SoHo, Flatiron, Upper East Side, West 40th Street.
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