THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995 TAG: 9512230150
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ON THE TOWN
SOURCE: SAM MARTINETTE
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
As you might gather from today's Compass cover story, First Night Norfolk will make an excellent way to bring in 1996.
But if First Night Norfolk doesn't sound like the place for you and you haven't been invited to a private party to celebrate New Year's Eve, let me recommend a couple of other public events in the city.
``A Night in Old Vienna,'' featuring the music of Johann Strauss and a champagne-tasting, will be offered by the Virginia Symphony. The two-hour program begins at 7 p.m. at the Harrison Opera House, concluding with a balloon drop and ``prize popping.'' Tickets for the event range from $20 to $40 and include the champagne-tasting. For information, call 623-2310.
Among the hotel and restaurant packages offered for New Year's Eve are an overnight stay for two at the Ramada Madison that includes an open bar from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., hors d'oeuvres, a seafood buffet, carving station and a dessert table, done in conjunction with Tandom's Madison Grill, followed by champagne at midnight. Music will be provided by a disc jockey, and the package includes valet parking and a breakfast buffet in the morning. The price is $221, inclusive. Call 622-6682.
The Norfolk Airport Hilton is offering a variety of packages, including a Ballroom Bash featuring a room for two with champagne, open bar from 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., champagne at midnight, complimentary coffee station, and a choice of roasted tenderloin or flamed grilled salmon with fire-roasted red pepper salsa for dinner. Music will be provided by ``The Regular Guyz,'' and the cost is $96 per person.
There will be special seatings at Antiquities and Pasta Grande, featuring a choice of Certified Black Angus filet mignon with Jack Daniels butter sauce, sauteed filet of Atlantic salmon with domestic caviar and a champagne beurre blanc, Chesapeake Bay medley, or a rack of lamb with a mint Bordelaise sauce. The 6 p.m. seating is $39.95 per person (not including taxes or tip), and the 8:45 seating is $44.95 per person. Prices include appetizers, soup or salad, and desserts. Present your receipt and the $10 cover charge for the hotel's Orient Express nightclub will be waived. Call 466-8000.
The Omni Waterside Hotel is offering a package that includes hors d'oeuvres such as potstickers with sweet and sour sauce and blackened chicken strips with an orange horseradish sauce, followed by a fanned, peppered chicken roulade with dried blueberry and a specialty bean salad, then a salad of baby lettuce with Belgium endive, parmesan wafers and flower confetti with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. The entree course offers a choice of a crab-stuffed salmon filet with a lobster saffron sauce, Jasmine rice, Diakon radish seed timbale and winter vegetables Julienne, or sliced, roasted sirloin of beef with a melange de la Foret in a brandy sauce with grilled Yukon potatoes and piped root vegetables. Dessert will be hazelnut torte with chocolate and Frangelica sauces.
The Omni package includes an open bar from 6:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., hors d'oeuvres from 6:30 to 8 and a night of dancing to ``Off The Record,'' as well as a midnight champagne toast, coffee and pastries. The price per couple is $159 for the dinner and gala, $239 for a city-side room and the dinner and dance, and $259 for a harbor-side room, dinner and dance (tax and tip included). Call 622-6664. by CNB