You know the type—always scouring gourmet grocers for decade-old cheese wheels, beef cuts that'd win a slaughterhouse beauty pageant and fresh-off-the-interstate produce. But even the most eager stay-at-home chef needs a break from the organic food section. And what better time to thank Mr. or Ms. Food Network than New Year's?

5:30 p.m., $80, 501 S. 45th St., 215-222-3699

Our top pick for discriminating taste buds is Marigold's seasonal five-course menu. Meat eaters will salivate at the site of foie gras cigars with caraibe, seared salmon with bacon, brussels sprouts and potato foam, and short ribs braised with balsamic vinegar and curry sauce. Herbivores will blush at the sight of potato gnocchi with artichokes, lemon and capers, celery root gratin with black trumpet mushrooms and a heartwarming soup filled to the brim with porcini mushrooms and candied chestnuts. Marigold is BYOB, sopack a dry red like Cabernet Franc. (For more on Marigold Kitchen, see p. 43.)

Various times and prices, www.starr-restaurant.com

Not to be outshined, restaurant mogul Stephen Starr has cooked up 12 unique offerings to ring in the new year. Book early for the five-course menu, belly dancer and midnight champagne toast at Tangerine (232 Market St., 215-627-5116), a midnight tequila toast at El Vez (121 S. 13th St., 215-928-9800) and the priceless "Lost Vegas" theme of Continental Midtown (1801 Chestnut St., 215-567-1800), featuring showgirls, dueling lounge singers, celebrity impersonators, souvenir "wedding photos" and the restaurant's retro food favorites.

8 p.m., $90, 847 N. Third St., 215-922-1035

Pickier foodies should try the spicy, antacid-optional Southern fare of Ortlieb's. The NYE five-course special offers a variety of entree options, including classic surf and turf, pan-seared veal with wild mushroom ragout, broiled salmon with roasted shrimp and fresh basil cream sauce or stuffed chicken Florentine with roasted shallots and a portobello demi-glaze. Strap on your listening cap post-dessert-- the jazz haunt is hosting a nighttime session with Bootsie Barnes and the John Swana Sextet.

8 p.m., $49.95, Bistro Romano, 120 Lombard St., 215-925-8880

If Bistro Romano's candlelit atmosphere isn't reason enough to visit the 18th-century granary, the wine list will seal the deal. For a hair under 50 bucks, revelers get a seat for the show, a cup of clam chowder, a garden salad, a choice of chicken marsala, Alaskan salmon or pasta primavera entree and a banging slab of tiramisu for dessert. Just watch your back—we hear the chef may be wielding a machete.

9:30 p.m., $75, 16th and Spruce sts., 215-545-7005

Foodies may project an air of sophistication, but it turns out they drink just like the rest of us. (The difference: They drink the good stuff.) Monk's is a master of micro and international brews, and its five-course NYE food-booze combos feature grilled scallops in a Duvel sauce matched with Deus Belgian Ale; roasted quail with mushrooms, wild rice and three-year-old Ommegang Cave Aged; venison loin with kriek sauce and Gales Prize Old Ale (1995 vintage from England); and raspberry mousse with Lindemans Framboise. If you're still sober at midnight, toast with a glass of rare Mahluer Brut Belgian Ale.

Various times and prices

Celebrate 2006 Mediterranean-style at any of the three Sawan family restaurants: Byblos (116 S. 18th St., 215-568-3050), Cedars (616 S. Second St., 215-925-4950) or Fez (620 S. Second St., 215-925-5367). You know the drill: Lounging on overstuffed pillows, sucking on hookahs, slipping dollar bills in the jingly waistbands of belly dancers. Oh, and all that shish kabob, hot mint tea, rose water, sangria stuff, too. Don't look at us that way. That's what you foodies come for, right?