Sample restaurants Unless noted, all prices are per person and inclusive of beverages, tax, and tip. Clio 370A Comm. Ave., Boston. 617-267-1607. $500 plus tax and tip; wine pairing extra. One seating. (Get directions). Les Zygomates Bistro & Wine Bar 129 South St., Boston. 617-542-5108. $250. Two seatings. (Get directions). Upstairs at the Pudding 10 Holyoke St., Cambridge. 617-864-1933. First seating, $150 plus tax, tip, and wine. Second seating, $300. (Get directions). Mamma Maria 3 North Square, Boston. 617-523-0077. First seating, $65 plus tax, tip, and wine. Final seating includes wine pairing, $150. (Get directions). Harvest 44 Brattle, Cambridge. 617-868-2255. Early seatings, $45 plus tax, tip, and alcohol. Final seating, $100, with five courses, jazz combo. (Get directions). Duckworth Lane Brookline 617-730-8040, Charlestown 617-242-6009, Newtonville 617-244-0004. Three seatings. $45. (Get directions to Brookline or Charlestown locations). Five Seasons 1634 Beacon St., Brookline. 617-731-2500. Multiple seatings. Price expected to be in $45 range. (Get directions).

It's the last meal of the millennium and "better make it a good one" is the motto around town. The multi-course New Year's menus at the upscale restaurants read like a lesson in luxury - caviar, oysters, pates, mousses.

The culinary ante has been upped even at many casual restaurants; prime rib is replacing burgers, lobster the day's scrod. Champagne toasts on the house are a given. Most are offering less expensive earlier seatings and pricier party packages with dancing, gifts, and a table through midnight.

The grande dame of all dinners will be at Clio. Kenneth Oringer, widely considered one of the best chefs in town, doesn't have the details yet, but promises the perfect progression of flavors in his 13-course meal. If there was ever a meal that called for black-tie dress, this pageant of delicacies is it. A cocktail hour and swing band dance are part of the festivities. Just 72 guests may attend so the atmosphere is sure to feel like a party among friends.

Champagne connoisseurs will lose themselves in the top-notch bubbles at Les Zygomates. Gourmet magazine's readers recently voted Zyg the best wine bar in Boston. Not to let anyone down on New Year's, sommelier Lorenzo Savona has paired a collection of choice champagnes to chef Ian Juste's four-course menu. After a Krug Grand Cuvee Brut toast, lobster bisque will be served with Bollinger, filet of dorade with Pommery, and so on. The Alvin Terry Trio, a French chanteuse, and a Latin band will keep the chic crowd of 200 lively.

Elegance and quietude will prevail at Upstairs at the Pudding and Maison Robert. Splendidly dressed up for a Victorian Christmas, the Pudding's dining room is a classic setting for a refined New Year's. Four- and five-course menus will be served amid the soft sounds of the Dan Fox Trio. Each table will be set with a traditional croquembouche, a grand French cream puff dessert, to be devoured with the finale of chocolate fondue. Homemade gold-leafed fortune cookies, gifts, and dancing await guests of the second seating.

There will be no hats, no noise-makers, and no life of the party parading around with a boa of streamers at Maison Robert. Just a few well-placed balloons and a five-course sendoff toward the new year will greet guests here. The menu is rich with choices including vegetarian selections for every course. Vegetable and fresh truffle consomme, blue oysters and kumquat vinaigrette, and pressed crab cocktail with mango and avocado sauce are just the premier hors d'oeuvre choices. The focus here is the sheer pleasure of food. What's a millennium compared to a good chocolate souffle?

Seeking to create a sense of occasion, but a more social event, Mamma Maria's is throwing a Big Night-style dinner. Guests will sit at communal tables adorned with candelabras for a six-course feast with wine pairings. Just like mamma would do it, grand-scale dishes that have to cook all day, like whole roasted duck with Moscato grapes over crispy chestnut polenta, will be served. This is a rare chance as well to dine on delicate Italian dishes that can't be easily made to order, like Venetian-style squid ink risotto with fresh Maine lobster, roasted monk fish, and leeks.

Harvest, which has received rave reviews since reopening last year, deserves kudos for offering New Year's fine dining at a more affordable price. The early seatings include a three-course menu for $45 per person.

Duckworth Lane, a casual wine bar and bistro, is another reasonable but festive option. Their three-course menu with champagne toast is also $45 per person.

If you or some of your best friends are vegetarians, consider The Five Seasons. A three-to-four course dinner will feature upscale vegetarian creations as well as carnivorous choices like lobster saffron risotto. The casual crowd will give a healthy toast to the new millennium with organic champagne or sparkling cider.

Plenty of popular fine dining spots like the Chart House, Union Oyster House, and the Capital Grille are committed to business-as-usual prices and menus. Reservations are a must nearly everywhere. Favorites like Cafe Budapest and the East Coast Grill are already booking fast.

Originally published in the 10/21/99 Boston Globe Calendar.