Last year, we celebrated the end of 2012 by flying to Vienna, watching Die Fledermaus on New Year’s Eve at the Wiener Staatsoper, and eating lots of goulash, Wiener Schnitzel, and apple strudel mit schlag. Our plans to say farewell to 2013 were much less ambitious, and this time didn’t require passports.

Our favorite local restaurant, Bryan Voltaggio’s Range, was turning itself that night into a supper club at which you could buy a table from 9:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m., plus they were importing the Blue Vipers of Brooklyn for entertainment.

This was their announced menu.

As we were to learn on New Year’s Eve itself, there were other dishes not revealed in advance.

We wrangled three other couples to join us, rented a hotel room at the Embassy Suites which shares the Chevy Chase Pavilion location with Range, and looked forward to a fun night … which as it turned out, marked more than just the change of one year to the next, but also ended up demarcating a major change in my life after more than thirteen years.

And our expectations were fulfilled. It was a fun night. See?

Don’t we look happy?

And now, let the feast begin!

Focaccia, breadsticks and whipped ricotta with olive oil

The whipped ricotta was amazing—I think someone at the table actually went, “Whoa.” Knowing the number of dishes to come, I had to resist scooping up every last bit of it.

Crudo of tuna

So good we asked for more.

Baked olde salt clams

These took me back to my childhood in Brooklyn, where we often celebrated major holidays in Italian restaurants. It’s tough to compete with a memory … but these could.

Warm beets and pistachio

The most beautiful dish of the night! It was a shame to eat it, but once we tasted it, we knew it would have been a greater shame not to have eaten it.

Selection of cured meats, grilled bread

We’ve often had Range’s cured meats, and they were as satisfying as ever this time.

Salad of octopus

While I enjoyed all the earlier dishes, it was the octopus that first gut-punched me. (Though perhaps that’s not the best metaphor to use when talking about food.) Did a moan escape my lips? Perhaps.

Caesar salad

Considering the quality of the other dishes with which we were presented on New Year’s Eve, it would be tough for even the world’s greatest Caesar salad to be the star. But it was a good one, and made for an excellent palate cleanser of sorts between what we’d already eaten and what was to come.

Lumache lamb bolognese

As far as I’m concerned, this was the dish of the night. Can you say umami, boys and girls?

The dish led to me incoherently attempting to explain the concept of umami to the rest of the table, and failing miserably. But it definitely had that umamic mouthfeel we all desperately seek. More, please!

Fritto misto

I grabbed that piece of calamari before anyone else could, but don’t worry, since there were three plates among the eight of us, we were all happy.

Bass cioppino

More than just bass, but scallops and mussels as well, all in a delicious broth.

Skate piccata

I’ve only had skate a few times in my life, the most recent at a fish and chips shop in Brighton during the World Fantasy Convention, and this was the best so far.

Veal Parmesan

Another dish forced to compete with the myriad Italian restaurants of my Brooklyn youth, and it did not disappoint.

Skirt steak florentine

My wife’s favorite dish. But if you knew her, you’d have been able to guess that without me telling you.

Guinea hen saltimbocca

Very tender, and so popular at the table that we asked for another plate.

And now’s the time to confess that there are three dishes you won’t get to see, thanks to the aforementioned Blue Vipers of Brooklyn. Give these guys a listen in the widget below and you tell me if you’d have been able to resist jumping up every once in awhile to dance.

Which is what we did, and as a result, a couple of dishes arrived at the table while my wife and I were off having fun hopping around the dance floor as the Vipers did their thing, which meant that by the time we returned, those dishes were no longer in any shape to be shared with you. And so, no photos of the yucca, sage, cotechino or the charred broccoli rabe or the acorn squash agrodolce.

But it was worth it. And it would probably be pleasing to our hosts to know we were having so much fun that I forgot about documenting the experience for at least a little while and was just content to be.

White truffle risotto

Luckily, we returned to the table in time for the white truffle risotto, one of the stars of the night. Even though it was the 18th dish we were served, and dessert was still to come, we all kept going in for another spoonful. And then another.

Olive oil cake, blood orange, mascarpone

Amazingly, though by this point in the evening we were fully satiated, when these three dishes appeared before us, and we took our first bites, our appetites mysteriously returned. Hmmm … wonder why?

This cake was somehow both light and rich at the same time.

Ricotta tart, meyer lemon, candied hazelnuts

And the tart … was tart! And a good flavor on which to end.

Cider fritters, bourbon hot fudge, white chocolate

My mind wanted another one of these fritters. But my body said … not possible.

And here’s the final menu.

A wonderful night! Thanks to Chef Bryan Voltaggio, Chef Matt Hill, General Manager Jon Barry, and the entire staff, all of whom collaborated seamlessly to create a wonderful New Year’s Eve celebration. It almost felt like family.

Let’s do it again next year, OK?