Celebrate with a special menu at one of the city’s finest restaurants.

New Year’s Eve typically entails lots of food, drink and Dick Clark’s live broadcast from Times Square — but what if you changed your homebody routine this year? Several of Seattle’s finest dining establishments will ring in 2012 with special menus and festive entertainment.

Staple & Fancy Mercantile | Ethan Stowell and Chef Branden Karow’s multi-course meal will include fried oysters, foie gras torchon, gnocchi with braised pork cheeks, butternut squash ravioli and a surprise main course. Make your reservations early — the restuarant only seats 45 guests. $75/person |Call to reserve (206) 789-1200 or book online | 4739 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle

How to Cook a Wolf | Named after a 1942 cookbook by culinary guru MFK Fisher, Stowell’s Queen Anne eatery offers simple, rustic Italian dinners. The New Year’s Eve menu will feature a four-course dinner, for which patrons can choose from three entrees: grilled ahi, veal short rib or pork belly. $75/person | Call to reserve (206) 838-8090 or book online | 2208 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle

Fresh Bistro| New Year’s Eve at Fresh Bistro includes a four-course prix fixe menu, with vegetable torta, sole almandine, pan-roasted pork chop or beef tenderloin as the main course options. Seatings will take place at 6 and 9 p.m. $59/person ($84 includes wine pairings) | Call to reserve (206) 935-3733 | 4725 42nd Ave SW, Seattle 

Café Flora | End the year with a sumptuous vegetarian feast in Café Flora’s atrium. The menu includes celery root soup with truffle oil; gougere stuffed with garlicky escarole or persimmon and quinoa gyoza; red wine-poached pear with frisee salad, champagne vinaigrette and toasted Marcona almonds; and orange cake for dessert. Add wine pairings for an additional cost, and signature cocktails and champagne will be available. A breakfast buffet will also be served the following morning. $45/person | Call to reserve (206) 325-9100 | 2901 E. Madison St., Seattle

Tutta Bella  | Celebrate “New Year’s in Napoli” at Tutta Bella. Guests will indulge in an authentic Neapolitan, four-course meal complete with a flute of Prosecco to toast at midnight, as well as a live musical performance from May Palmer, “The Queen of Ivory Soul.” Tutta Bella founder Joe Fugere encourages guests to “do as the Italians do” by wearing red undergarments and bringing something old to throw away for a fresh start to the New Year. Come for the party, stay for the restaurant’s private balcony, which offers an unobstructed view of the Space Needle fireworks display. Dinner seatings are available for 8, 8:30, 9 and 9:30 p.m. | $50/person | Call to reserve (206) 624-4422 | 2200 Westlake Ave., Seattle

RN74 | RN74 offers two menus on New Year’s Eve. The early seating will feature hamachi crudo, ginger-glazed black cod, a grilled New York strip loin and a chocolate mile-feuille. The late seating will include the same dishes, as well as a serving of seared Nantucket Bay scallops. A $9 formage course is available during both dinners. $75/person | Call to reserve (206) 456-7474 or book online | 1433 4th Ave., Seattle

Tavolata | Patrons can expect Tavolata’s signature house-made pasta and all their other delicious regular menu offerings by Chef Brandon Kirksey, served at a 30-foot communal table decorated to the nines and tens. Call to reserve (206) 838-8008 or book online | 2323 Second Ave., Seattle 

Spinasse | In addition to his “pasta porn,” Chef Jasson Stratton is known for authentic Italian cuisine that incorporates locally grown ingredients. From 5 to 11 p.m. on Dec. 31, guests may choose from two five-course menus; “2011” recalls some of the restaurant’s past hits, while “2012” consists of newer dishes.  $75/person | Call to reserve (206) 251-7673 or book online | 1521 14th Ave., Seattle

Artusi  | 19^th century gourmand Pellegrino Artusi used humor and intuition in his cooking — and his namesake restaurant on Capitol Hill, also helmed by Stratton, explores Italian cuisine that dates back to the Renaissance. From 5 p.m. to midnight, guests will be served a three-course dinner and dessert, as well as some of the signature cocktails that have put this eatery on the map. $40/person | No reservations| 1531 14th Ave., Seattle

Volunteer Park Cafe | Since it was outed by “The Stranger,” Volunteer Park Cafe has made a name for itself with its communal dining area, mismatched furniture and house-made pastries — as well as the kitchen staff’s commitment to using fresh, sustainable ingredients, including herbs and edible flowers from the backyard garden. The cafe’s New Year’s Eve five-course feast will feature local oysters, sage brown butter pumpkin bisque and two entree choices — filet of beef, or the vegetarian-friendly roasted turnip purée and chanterelles. One seating will take place at 7 p.m. $75/person ($95 with wine pairings) | Call to reserve (206) 328-3155 or book online | 1501 17th Ave. E., Seattle

Bastille Café & Bar | If you enjoy authentic French cuisine, this Ballard bistro’s New Year’s menu shouldn’t be missed. Offerings include caviar, duck pate, smoked prosciutto, braised beef cheek and roasted bone in ribeye served with pommes aligot and truffle jus. Food will be served from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. Dinner sold at market price | Call to reserve (206) 435-5014 or book online | 5307 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle

Pearl Bar & Dining | Pearl’s three-course pre fixe dinner will be served at 6 p.m., and includes menu favorites such as center-cut prime Black Angus filet mignon, Alaskan king salmon and pan-roasted half-chicken. The meal concludes at 8 p.m., at which time the 7,000-square-foot dining space will be turned into a night club, complete with a DJ, multiple dance floors and multiple bars and midnight champagne toast.  Dinner: $55/person or $85/person with wine pairings; Event: $30/person (book online) or $40 at the door | 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue