Food-O-File

If visions of sugarplums still aren't dancing in your head, grab the kids or your significant other and hurry on down to the lobby of the Omni Hotel, 700 San Jacinto. Chef John Lucas and his ACF apprentices Ellen Williamson, David Spooner, Kim Ruiz, and Lauren Campbell have created a confectionery masterpiece in the form of a gingerbread village in the hotel's dramatic atrium lobby. The gingerbread village is an annual tradition dating back to the late Eighties. After you've marveled at the 180 hours' worth of workmanship, you can make your reservations to spend New Year's at the Omni; dining on an elegant buffet, sipping the bubbly, listening to music, and then watching a sparkling ball drop from the top of the atrium at midnight. $259 gets you all that and a room for the night.

New Year's Eve has become big business for local hotels and there are deals just about everywhere. If you are so inclined, you can dine, drink, dance, and then sleep all in the same place. The reservations may look pricey, but just think of all the money you'll save on those pesky DWI's. Many of your favorite restaurants would love to be your host to ring in the New Year and numerous festivities are planned. Coyote Cafe will serve a four-course prix fixe menu from 6pm until 11pm. Those fun Sfuzzi folks will offer early seatings with a fixed price menu of $32.50 for three courses until 10pm, then the Gala seating will offer a $45 prix fixe menu which will include dancing, deejay entertainment, a champagne toast, and party favors. Out in Westlake, The Belgian Restaurant is taking reservations for their four-course prix fixe menus. If you find yourself downtown, the Bitter End will be pairing such items as oyster bisque, smoked salmon, and buffalo with carefully chosen beers and champagnes. New Year's is one of the few evenings when the kitchen at Chez Nous departs form their regular menu -- they plan to serve such delicacies as sweet potato bisque, duck liver mousse, fresh asparagus salads, escargot and glasses of champagne all around. Feeling stout of heart? The Shoreline will let you test the health of your arteries with duck confit enchiladas topped with beefsteak. Devoted customers at Granite Cafe can choose from two four-course prix fixe menus which both come with a split of champagne. Some of the choices were lobster salad, veal osso bucco and a chocolate covered pear with Mascarpone ice cream. In the historic atmosphere at Bertram's, new chef Peter O'Brien will be serving a special New Year's menu which features appetizers such as potato nests with Créme Fraïche and Lone Star Caviar, entrée choices such as vegetable white bean cassoulet or Buffalo prime rib on cowboy beans. Jean-Luc's French Bistro kicks off their first year of business with a $50-per-person prix fixe menu that includes a glass of champagne. Seatings will be at 6pm and 9pm. Dinner will begin with choices such as French Goose Liver Pâté, Pernod-marinated Salmon Gravlax or Beluga Caviar. Then there is a stunning list of entrees and Omelette Norvegienne (Baked Alaska) to top it all off. Brio! will extend their Sunday serving hours until midnight and manager Tom Rose assures there will be plenty of champagne. Suppose you just want to stay home and snuggle with your sweetie on the sofa. Fill out a holiday take-out order form available from your friends at Chez Zee and you can enjoy many of their finest menu items right under your own roof throughout the holiday season. Want to impress your Sugar Bowl date? Jeffrey's chef David Garrido can help you out. Place an order before Dec. 27 for one of his two New Year's Eve dinner baskets that offer a sumptuous feast for two people in the $75 to $85 range. Baskets must be picked up before kick-off. A well-deserved week of vacation is on tap for the folks at the 1995 Reader's Poll Favorite Restaurant; Castle Hill Cafe and Gumbo's will be closed from Dec. 24 through Jan. 2 while owners Michael and Yoli Amr travel and dine in South America.

On the off-chance you still need a present for the food-o-file in your life, here are some gift combo ideas just can't miss. Fine aged tequilas are currently all the rage, so get your local liquor expert to help you choose one and then get a copy of Lucinda Hutson's ¡Tequila-Cooking With the Spirit of Mexico! (Ten Speed Press, $16.95, cloth), the definitive text on the subject of tequila. For your favorite Franc-o-file, Breed & Co. or Cornerstone of Williams-Sonoma has madeleine pans to give with the charming Texas International Cookery (self-published, $14.95) by Marie O'Shaughnessy. And who could resist a copy of Robb Walsh and Jay McCarthy's Traveling Jamaica With Knife, Fork and Spoon (Crossing Press, $16.95, cloth) with two tickets to Montego Bay or Ocho Rios tucked inside?