Suzanne Goin & Caroline Styne Ring In The New Year At Lucques, Tavern And A O C

LOS ANGELES, California; December 13, 2012 - Chef Suzanne Goin and her business partner and Sommelier Caroline Styne, have New Year's celebration on Monday, December 31, 2012, covered in Los Angeles with three festive themed menus offered in their restaurants, Lucques, Tavern & A.O.C.

With a diversity of dishes, and each venue showcasing the imagination and signature style of James Beard Foundation award-winning chef Suzanne Goin, Angelenos can choose the menu and the setting that fits their personal taste for ringing in 2013. Chef / Owner Goin artfully crafted the seasonal menus for each restaurant location created for the preferences of their customers.

At Lucques, the flagship restaurant opened in 1998, Goin offers a five course menu in tribute to the legendary Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel prepared by Chef de Cuisine Javier Espinoza. The first seating beginning at 5:30 is priced at $110; second seating starts at 8:30 and is priced at $150 per guest, including party favors and a midnight toast. Originally the rustic carriage house of the Harold Lloyd Estate, Lucques' decor of brick, wood beams, garden setting and cozy fireplace provides a warm and charming setting, perfect for celebrating.

Tavern, a chic space designed by Jeffrey Alan Marks, will reprise their Mad Men themed evening of dishes designed by Goin. The dining room, boasting a glass roofed atrium and sumptuous bar with deep cushioned seating, invites the clinking of martini and manhattans glasses, witty conversation and stylish dining in this Brentwood neighborhood. For New Year's Eve, Chef de Cuisine Gavin Mills will prepare the menu of 50's and 60's restaurant classic dishes. The dinner will feature a raw oyster bar and artisanal martini cart. The first seating, with
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reservations offered from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m., is priced at $80 per guest; the second seating, available from 8:30 - 10:00 p.m., is $100 per guest and includes party favors, live music and midnight toast.

A.O.C., the ground-breaking wine bar with a market-driven small plates menu, is celebrating their final night of service on New Year's Eve before they move to their new location in January. They plan an elaborate Pig Roast blow-out to toast both the New Year and the restaurant's 10th Anniversary. Guests will enjoy a four course menu of A.O.C.'s signature antipasto of charcuterie, cheese and market vegetables, followed by a perfectly cooked roast suckling pig menu prepared by Chef de Cuisine Lauren Herman. The first seating at 6:30 is $95; the second seating at 9:00 is $125 per guest and includes a DJ spinning tunes, dancing and champagne toast. Known for its excellent wine selections by Caroline Styne, A.O.C.'s $40 wine pairing to the menu is certain to enhance the menu and experience.

Decadent New Year's desserts for Lucques, Tavern, and A.O.C. will be prepared by Christina Olufson, Executive Pastry Chef for the Lucques Restaurant Group.

Suzanne Goin was named one of Food and Wine magazine's "Best New Chefs" in 1999, within a year after opening her first restaurant. In 2005, Suzanne's cookbook, Sunday Suppers at Lucques, was published by Alfred A. Knopf. In 2006, the James Beard Foundation acknowledged Suzanne's culinary achievements with the award for Best Chef California and an award for her cookbook, Best Cookbook from a Professional Viewpoint.

Goin and Styne are among the most respected restaurateurs in California, and continue to receive praise for their food, beverage programs and service from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, L.A. Weekly, Sunset, Cond? Nast Traveler, Gourmet, Bon App?tit, Saveur, Los Angeles, Angeleno, Zagat and Gayot.com. They are co-founders with Chef David Lentz of L.A. Loves Alex's Lemonade, their fundraiser benefiting research for childhood cancer which has raised over $1 million sin