Last-minute Holiday Ideas in the Bay Area
In case you haven’t noticed, Christmas is 9 days from now and if you’re in panic because you haven’t made special plans for your family yet, Here’s a list of places to check out to make your Bay Area Holiday much more festive and brighter! With these great offerings, you are sure to feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
For your significant other
LAZY BEAR NYE Blowout Dinner
Lazy Bear’s New Year’s Eve dinner will be pretty epic. Around 20 courses, lots of incredible ingredients, with tons of great wines paired, culminating in a champagne and dessert toast at midnight.
Snacks upstairs will start at 8pm, and the dinner will run until (obviously) midnight. Expect about 50% more snacks and savory courses than their typical menu, plus some take-home treats for the next day. $375 per person includes beverages, and everything else, other than 20% service charge and tax.
Tickets for NYE go on sale at noon on our ticketing site, lazybearsf.tocktix.com.
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Holiday Jazz with a French Twist at Gaspar Brasserie
If you haven’t already, join them on Saturday nights for their “le caveau” – jazz cellar – experience to pay homage to quintessential mid-century Parisian romance with live jazz from talented Bay Area musicians. This month, the musicians will play classic holiday numbers to get everyone into the spirit.
To accompany the tunes of the season, sip on their warming Flaming Café Brulot cocktail, served tableside.
Ring in 2016 at Gaspar
Champagne will flow and decadence will abound! Spend the last evening of 2015 with them and enjoy Executive Chef Chris Jones’s prix fixe menu of French culinary delights with wine pairings selected by Wine Director Jonathan Giraudel.
Live Jazz will be playing in the Cognac room from 7 pm to Midnight with Vijay Anderson Trio.
To reserve your table, please visit gasparbrasserie.com or call (415) 576-8800
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NYE at Farallon Restaurant
The decadent five-course caviar & truffle tasting menu is the highlight of the night, offered at $160 per person, $90 additional for wine pairings.
A special five-course tasting menu will also be offered in the dining room and exquisitely decorated Jelly Bar for $110 per person, with wine pairings for an additional $70. A limited a la carte menu will also be available. Seasonal holiday cocktails will also be highlighted.
All diners are invited to share a champagne toast and partake in party favors at midnight. Tasting menus and seasonal cocktails are listed below.
Reservations are encouraged; walk-in seating will be limited. Bar service is available 4:30 PM until closing, and dinner seating is open 5:00 PM – 10:30 PM. To reserve your table, please visit www.farallonrestaurant.com or call (415) 956-6969
Holiday Cocktails
$15
The Farallon Barrel Aged Rob Roy
A blend of single malt scotches | Oak aged bitters and vermouth
Bourbon Baked Apple
Mitcher’s US-1 bourbon | Cinnamon simple | Unfiltered apple juice | Fever Tree Ginger Beer
Hot Buttered Rum
Humboldt Spiced Rum | Farallon Butter Batter
Spiced Pear
Rusty Blade Gin | Pür-Likör Pear Williams | St. Elizabeth Allspice dram
Heavily Spiked Eggnog
Hennessey VS Cognac | Eggnog | Nutmeg
Brandy Alexander
Hennessey VS Cognac | Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao | Cream
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This holiday season, The team from 1313 Main is creating a truly magical winter experience that they’d like to give you first access to reserve—Winter in Wine Country!
Each evening begins with a Champagne reception, prior to guests being led into the fantastical dining area—complete with over 20 pounds of ‘snow’ and countless festive trees creating semi-private dining for just nine tables. This drinking and dining experience features a decadent six-course tasting menu, each with an expertly selected wine pairing.
Beyond the celebratory menu and impeccable pairings, the 1313 Main team sustains your full immersion into the holiday spirit by gifting each guest with an assortment of surprise tastes and offerings, such as a pedestal of foie gras on brioche, topped with truffle and caviar. We encourage you to join them for the most unique, celebratory holiday experience in the Napa Valley.
This memorable experience will be available through December 30th (Tuesdays through Sundays) with two seatings each night (6:00pm and 8:00pm). Reservations can be made by calling (707) 258-1313 or by emailing info@1313main.com.
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For the Family
The 30th Annual Christmas Revels:
A Venetian Masque
It is the end of 1620 when a troupe of ragged Commedia dell’Arte players arrive in Venice. They are fleeing a less-than-successful European tour and are hoping for an upturn in their fortunes. The Doge, Antonio Priuli, is preparing an elaborate festival to celebrate the new year. It is to feature the finest of elegant Renaissance music and courtly masque drama as well as guest performers invited from around the Mediterranean. There is no place in his plans for the low comedy of the players. Relying on their wit and ingenuity, the Commedians manage to infiltrate the festivities, and before long the Most Serene Republic of Venice is reduced to comic chaos. The show brings together high and low art with vibrant costuming, multiple masks and annual Revels rituals as audience and performers join together in an uproarious Revels celebration of the turning of the year..
Featured performers include Jeff Raz and Robert Sicular last seen in the 2013 “Ghosts of Haddon Hall” Christmas Revels, Last year’s female lead, Tristan Cunningham, newcomer Slater Penney and Revels regulars Shira Kammen, James Galileo and Brass West.
Purchase online now
December 11-13 & 18-20
Tickets priced $20-$60
Scottish Rite Theater
1547 Lakeside Dr, Oakland CA 94612
Running time 140 minutes with intermission.
Wheelchair accessible.
No ticket sales at the theater except on performance dates.
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Omni Hotel San Francisco’s Holiday Tradition Package
- Premiere guest room accommodations
- $50 food & beverage credit per room per stay, redeemable at Bob’s Steak & Chop House
- Two (2) complimentary Seasonal Cocktails per room per stay, redeemable at Bob’s Steak & Chop House
- Special events on select nights (December 18-19)
- Live Edwardian Carolers in the Lobby (4:30 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.)
- Photo opportunity with Santa (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.)
- Access to Omni Holiday Movie Night for kids (ages 4+) with snacks (6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.)
Link to Holiday Tradition package:
www.omnihotels.com/hotels/san-francisco/specials/holiday-tradition-package
Link to Holiday Tradition package:– Stocking Stuffer Package
– Luxurious accommodations
– 15% off our best available rates
– Charitable donation tokens to be given upon arrival for guest’s choice of charity
– Guest receives one token per room night to donate to: Hunger, Shelter or Children
– One (1) $10 Omni Hotels & Resorts gift card, per booking (Canadian hotels will issue $10CAD folio credit at check-out)
– Turndown with festive treat on night of arrivalLate check-out of 1:00 p.m
Link to Stocking Stuffer package:
www.omnihotels.com/hotels/san-francisco/specials/stocking-stuffer
Hotel Events
12/18/15 – 12/19/15
Live Edwardian Carolers in the Lobby (4:30 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.)
Photo opportunity with Santa (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.)
Omni Holiday Movie Night for kids (ages 4+) with snacks (6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.)
12/24/15
Holiday Cookie Decorating in their Meeting Space, complete with a Bob’s Bar (for adults!)
Executive Chef Thomas and his team of Culinary professionals have crafted the first ever Omni Gingerbread House,which makes the perfect Holiday Centerpiece for the hotel lobby.
Link to Hotel Calendar
www.omnihotels.com/hotels/san-francisco/things-to-do/event-calendar
Bob’s Steak & Chop House
Join them for the perfect Holiday Steak Dinner. While you’re there, grab a seasonal cocktail from Bob’s Bar!
bobs-steakandchop.com/san-francisco/
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Enjoy The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco from $339/Night
Enjoy newly renovated modern guest rooms and spaces from our historic hotel on Nob Hill. Our downtown San Francisco hotel is perfectly situated for you to easily explore a myriad of nearby attractions such as shopping in Union Square, world-renowned dining and San Francisco’s exciting nightlife.
Reserve your stay in a Superior accommodation seven days in advance and receive up to fifteen percent savings on the room rate. With special rates starting from $339 per night, you may want to reserve your stay now so you can plan for all the wonderful things you want to do while visiting the City by the Bay.
Reserve your room here
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Magical Holiday Tea at Top of the Mark
Price: $60.00 per person or $56.00 with toy donation
Magical Holiday Tea is an amusing family-friendly event open to kids and adults of all ages, featuring Perry The Magician and face painter Pixie. Guests will also enjoy a cookie decorating station with Chef Nenad Stefanovic, a Fire Engine display in the courtyard and visits from Santa Claus. Adults are offered an array of both sweet and savory tea sandwiches as well as special items from the kitchen including Kobe beef sliders, meatball kebabs, and Bacon Monte Cristo Finger Sandwiches. Young tea-goers will receive a selection of popular kids’ treats and finger foods including Pigs in a blanket, Macaroni and cheese, and Chicken nuggets.Guests may also enjoy the elaborate dessert buffet filled with a Christmas Yule log, fresh fruit tartlets, homemade marshmallows, and more. Magical Holiday Tea is held from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday, December 5 and Saturday, December 6; Friday, December 12 and Saturday, December 13; Friday, December 19 and Saturday, December 20; as well as Friday, December 26 and Saturday, December 27. Seating times are at 12:00 p.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. The Fire Engine display will be in the courtyard on Fridays, December 5, 12, and 19 and Santa Claus will visit in the lobby on Saturdays, December 6, 13, and 20 from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. In the spirit of giving, Top of the Mark invites guests to bring a new toy to donate to the San Francisco Fire Department toy drive. Each guest that brings in a toy will receive a $4.00 discount on the price of tea service. Reservations are required.
Located on the 19th floor of the hotel in the heart of Nob Hill, the world-renowned sky lounge affords a near 360-degree vista of San Francisco with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands. These views combined with evening entertainment, a menu of 100 martinis and light bites have made the Top of the Mark one of the most sought-after destinations in the Bay Area.
For more information on Top of the Mark and to make reservations for “Holiday Tea” and “Magical Tea”, please visit www.topofthemark.com or call the holiday desk 415.616.6941.
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- Pan-roasted jumbo Day Boat Scallops with wilted spinach, foie gras emulsion and frizzled leeks
- Porcini-crusted filet mignon with Yukon Gold potato and shallot cake, green beans and winter mushroom mousselin
- Filet Mignon with truffle foie gras sauce, potato gratin and sautéed Bloomsdale spinach
- Butter poached Maine lobster tail with vanilla scented Happy Boy Farms roasted sweet potato purée
- Luxury guest room for two
- Champagne upon arrival
- Admission to the Masquerade Gala featuring a DJ and an assortment of festive food stations
- Midnight Champagne toast
- Grand deluxe breakfast with mimosas, served on New Year’s Day
- Late check-out at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day
- *Guests are encouraged to bring their own festive masks as limited quantities will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
