The New Year's Eve List List

I'd do a list of New Year's Eve dinners but other people have done a good job of it, but if you're still looking for options, here are some nice lists that other people have put together. Well, OK, I added a few of my own ...

For dinners, LA Magazine has 37 great options for a range of budgets.

Eater LA also just came out with a "complete" (maybe not, but definitely large) list of NYE dinners. PS. I was told that Slater's 50/50 had cancelled their NYE trivia plans though, so might want to double check that one.

Don't forget Open Table's list of their participating restaurants, plus with this you can find out which is still available. I'm eyeing n/naka's Japanese celebration with lobster, white truffles and wagyu beef. Now, where did I put that $200 ...?

Or if you're totally broke from Christmas shopping, Tom Bergin's is doing their Tuesday at Tom's special on NYE! Chicken Fried Steak with dessert is just $15 plus oatmeal stout for $4.

I don't really do clubs and parties so I'll direct you to HuffPo for that list.
I hate these slideshow type "articles" though, so I'll just tell you the what caught my eye was the party at The Edison and the Spanish Masquerade at The Bazaar.

Where LA also had a very comprehensive list from parties and balls to dinners.

Sassafras is also having a party with open bar for $70.

If you're looking for a show rather than just dinner, I'm personally curious about the Intimate Illusions magic show with Ivan Amodei (the 10pm show is sold out but 7pm is still available), or this Lucent Dossier party.  El Cid is also having a flamenco dinner show for $45 ($65 late seating)

Tasting Ora King New Zealand King Salmon at Nobu

There's a new salmon player in the US and it's called Ora King. They culture sustainable king salmon in New Zealand in 5 sea farms and hatcheries in Marlborough Sounds. Supposedly it's the longest and most sophisticated selective breeding program in the world (they've been breeding since 1994), with every fish individually tagged by hand and tracked (that's over 200,000 fish) so that they can control in-breeding.

Ora King's salmon goes from harvest to airplanes within 12 hours and a few of restaurants in Los Angeles have started carrying them, including Nobu and Craft. I was invited to a tasting at Nobu of appetizers and sushi made with Ora King salmon. With the eating local movement going on, the question is: is the taste of Ora King salmon worth the miles traveled from New Zealand? The answer is yes!

At Nobu, we tried different preparations of the Ora King salmon. The most representative of the texture and flavor is certainly the sushi and sashimi, and I think I had seven pieces of sushi that night ...

Ora King salmon has a rich flavor and a wonderful firm, oily texture.

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The Ultimate Roast Pork Sandwich at Paseo (Seattle, WA)

Before we went to Seattle, we did quite a bit of research on where to go eat, but of course there are still a few places that the locals love and we don't know about. Lucky for us, the chef at Mistral Kitchen was a Seattle native (who worked in Long Beach prior to Mistral Kitchen) told us about the place he takes every visitor to: Paseo Caribbean. So, the next afternoon, we searched for the tiny shack that is Paseo (well, they actually have a couple of locations, we went for the closest to us on Fremont).

There was no big sign, but we could just tell that the little red shack with the line outside the door was the place.

We were told to get the #2 sandwich here, which was also starred on the menu with the note "Most Popular" next to it. It's this succulent, slow roasted pork shoulder in their special "Paseo" marinade on toasted baguette with cilantro, caramelized onions, pickled jalapenos, romaine lettuce. It's this amazing, amazing sandwich.

The $8.50 sandwich was huge, but at the end we all regretted sharing, just a little ... even if we have another lunch stop coming at Shuckers. (As an aside, the plastic Chinese plates and bowls are pretty funny..)

We're so glad to have found out about Paseo right before we had to go back to LA. I'm definitely coming back here next time I go to Seattle! This one's a must visit.

Paseo 
4225 Fremont Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 545-7440