THE DISH: It’s steak and sparkling wine for NYE dining events | Food Leave a comment

Black Angus Steakhouse (3601 Rosedale Highway): Just like for Christmas Eve, the restaurant is offering a dine-in special ($36.99) for New Year’s Eve that consists of an 8-ounce prime rib or 6-ounce filet mignon, paired with a fresh Atlantic lobster tail and choice of any two classic side dishes. The meal also comes with prosecco splits and Black Angus-branded champagne sippers.

There is also a NYE-only takeout option of dinner for two ($110) with two 6-ounce filets mignons, two lobster tails, a steakhouse starter (appetizer), four side dishes, molasses bread, a dessert (choice of chocolate chip cowboy cookie, sky-high mud pie, spiced carrot cake, big mountain chocolate fudge cake, New York-style cheesecake or chocolate flourless torte) and two prosecco splits along and branded champagne sippers. The dinner for four ($220) has four filets, four lobster tails, two starters, eight sides, bread, two desserts and four splits along with sippers.

Guild House (1905 18th St.): The volunteer-run restaurant will hold its last special event of the year with a New year’s Eve luncheon ($30) that starts with French onion soup. Next up is an entree of sliced roasted New York strip steak with bluegrass sauce, au gratin potatoes and fresh green beans. Dessert will consist of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.

Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Call 661-325-5478 to reserve your spot.

Proceeds from the Guild House benefit the Henrietta Weill Memorial Child Guidance Clinic & Adult Behavioral Health, a mental health facility for children and families that opened in 1946.

The Kitchen (1317 20th St.): The downtown spot is offering a “Culinary Year in Review” with a five-course meal featuring highlights from menus it served at events in 2020.

Guests will start with a coconut curry carrot soup from The Kitchen’s Tiki-Ko to-go dinner in April. The next course is pipérade and eggs, from a June meet-your-grower dinner with Ayden’s Eggs.

The third course, from a tasting menu by chef Richard Yoshimura in June, is mentaiko pasta with shrimp, miso butter and shiso.

A steak and strata, from an August meet-your-grower dinner with Blue Magnolia Bread Co., will be served as the entree.

End the meal with a chocolate hazelnut crunchy cake from Yoshimura’s tasting menu in October.

Dinner will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Kitchen, 1317 20th St.

Cost is $85 per person with an optional wine pairing available for $45.

The Petroleum Club at Sundale (6218 Sundale Ave.): The club is offering members and the public a New Year’s Eve three-course dinner served with Tlo Wines’ brand-new Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine.

Cost for the gourmet meal varies by entree, with options including vegetable tortellini ($43), garlic mushroom chicken ($48), crab-stuffed salmon ($53), filet mignon ($60) and surf and turf ($72) with filet and garlic shrimp.

Each meal includes a first course of Phoenix Club salad, with roasted pears, chevre, dried cranberries, glazed walnuts and champagne vinaigrette; and a dessert of chocolate tuxedo cake.

The event runs from 4 to 10 p.m. at the club. Celebrating on New York time, the champagne toast will be held at 9 p.m.

P.F. Chang’s (10700 Stockdale Highway): The chain is offering its celebrations menu for New Year’s Eve, along with its usual fare. The four-course menu ($60) offers a choice of appetizer (Chang’s lettuce wraps, dynamite shrimp or handmade dumplings), cup of soup (wonton, egg drop or hot and sour), entree (Korean bulgogi steak, oolong Chilean sea bass, miso glazed salmon, Mongolian beef, Peking duck or salt and pepper prawns) and dessert (New York-style cheesecake or The Great Wall of Chocolate). Choice of wine also comes with the meal. Call 664-8100 to make reservations.

Cuyama Buckhorn (4923 Primero St. in New Cuyama): Have good food, will travel when it comes to this roadside resort. All the rooms are booked for New Year’s Eve but the public is welcome to ring in 2022 with dinner and the “Through the Decades” New Year’s Eve Party.

The Buckhorn Restaurant will serve its usual dinner menu along with three seasonal specials: smoked 3H Cattle Co. waygu beef meatloaf, a nod to the 1950s served with lobster mac and cheese, roasted carrots and barbecue gravy; roasted Brussels sprouts salad with Cuyama Valley Orchards apples, pistachio, smoked cheddar, watercress, house bacon and balsamic vinaigrette; and pomegranate crème brûlée, a lucky dish for the new year with pistachio biscotti. Those dishes can be ordered together for $60 or a la carte.

The party itself will celebrate a different decade each hour of the night from 5 p.m. until the ball drops. Starting with the 1950s, each hour of the night will feature music from each decade, an iconic movie of the time (played on mute) and drink specials nodding to each era and its trends.

We’ll take a look next week at the year that was and some possible trends for 2022, but no time should pass before sharing this wonderful news: The Mexican pizza will return in 2022.

Introduced in 1985, the beloved Taco Bell menu item was pulled from the menu late last year, citing packaging and ingredient issues, since it was the only item to incorporate those “pizza shell” tostadas.

This joyous news was first reported via the Instagram page of food blogger Markie_devo and has since been confirmed by the website Living Más (“created by Taco Bell fans for Taco Bell fans”), citing a leaked video with two of the chain’s executive discussing the Mexican pizza during FranMac, a conference for Taco Bell franchisees, in September.

Here’s hoping that the dish returns in its original form — seasoned ground beef and refried beans sandwiched between the tostadas, topped with diced tomatoes, a three-cheese blend and a pizza sauce — even if there are some additional variations. In the video transcript, discussion included talk of a double cheesy version, one with chorizo and even a sweet take with cinnamon sugar and a Mexican chocolate ganache.

Word is whatever is coming should hit stores between late spring or early summer.