Small, unorthodox celebrations will mark year’s end

It has been a year alternately and accurately described as terrible and unforgettable, but raise your hand if your 2020 bingo card had a tuxedoed Rick Sebak spinning disco records over tiki drinks at an outdoor New Year’s Eve party.

Anyone? … Anyone? Didn’t think so.

That’s what Mr. Sebak, the city’s unofficial documentarian, historian and all-around bon vivant, will be doing Thursday night at the Independent Brewing Company in Squirrel Hill, even if New Year’s Eve typically is not his favorite night.

“I hate the forced merriment of it. I have never been a fan,” he said.

But after a year that will be remembered for the death and disease of the COVID-19 pandemic,

social and political upheaval and economic turmoil, Mr. Sebak is on board with a little celebration as a guest deejay.

“I think we haven’t even yet realized what a landmark year it will be in our lives,” Mr. Sebak said, although he was quick to stress that just because the year is ending, the pandemic is not.

He acknowledged, however, that “We are so much more aware of the year turning than we usually are. Usually it’s just something that happens. But there have been so many bad things that have happened this year ... and we’ll remember this as that terrible year, so maybe there is more reason to be joyful that it’s over than there usually is.”

Or, as Independent Brewing co-owner Pete Kurzweg said, “We’re going out on a high note for this dumpster fire of a year.”

It should be around 27 degrees when midnight strikes, and that suits Mr. Kurzweg just fine.

“We’re gonna lean into it and hang outside. It’s fun. Just pretend like you’re skiing. We’ll have hot food and at the end of the day, rum will get you through anything,” he said, adding that even when the state’s restrictions on indoor dining lapse Monday, his establishments will remain closed inside for the foreseeable future.

“We’re gonna go all winter. I’ll do anything outside. That’s what the science supports,” he said, regarding safer activities where COVID-19 transmission is less likely.

They’re taking the same tack on the South Side, where neighboring establishments Bonfire and Acacia are teaming up for an outdoor-only dinner celebration.

“This is pretty unique for anything I’ve ever done ,” Bonfire chef and co-owner Chris Bonfili said. “I did not want to let go of being around people and making it a special night. It would have been easy to just call it, but the more I thought about it, the more important it was to me to make it a night to remember.

“Part of the whole thing why I do this is interacting with guests and get the satisfaction of having people enjoying my craft. So we think outside the box. Every time we got a curveball, we think about how we can make this work for us.”

But for the cold- and crowd-averse, streaming and takeout are alternatives.

They’ll do both at Shadyside jazz bar and panCaribbean restaurant Con Alma. In normal times, it’s a place of gustatory and sonic delight, routinely packed with patrons snugly shoehorned around tables and on barstools.

“Last New Year’s Eve it was elbow-to-elbow with two sets of music,” co-owner John Shannon said. “It was just a great, warm party. It was snowing outside but we had this beautiful celebration because it was our first New Year’s.”

This year it will be empty, save for drummer Roger Humphries and his band, RH Factor, playing a show that will be streamed as the entertainment for part of a $60 New Year’s Eve

“Buy One Give One Dinner Package” for patrons to purchase for themselves and to donate to the family of frontline UPMC health care workers.

“We want to keep the flame of Pittsburgh jazz burning,” Mr. Shannon said. “We want to carry that warmth from last year’s celebration into 2021.”

They started with regular livestreaming earlier this month and will continue into 2021. The plan is for them to be free but with a suggested donation.

During her career in the service industry, Sarah Wilderman would typically be frantically preparing for New Year’s Eve by confirming reservations, moving furniture, checking the Champagne stock, making sure the balloons were delivered and telling her staff to get plenty of rest for one of the longest and most lucrative nights of the year.

But instead she spent Wednesday distributing dozens of boxes of Espolon Tequila, cocktail kits and party swag for a evening-long livestream put together by Diana Rua

Media featuring family friendly interactive trivia at 8 p.m., a set by luminary Pittsburgh DJ Bonics at 10 p.m. and local hip-hop artists ALZ at 11 p.m. The $75 event will benefit the Brashear Association and the Washington Heights Ecumenical Food Pantry.

“It’s going to be really fun but it’s really weird. What are you gonna do? It’s certainly different,” Ms. Wilderman said.

One place where New Year’s Eve won’t be much different: The 93-year old Pretzel Shop on the South Side, where they’ll be baking traditional lucky New Year’s pretzels in the 148year-old brick oven.

Co-owner Jamie Gallagher said the number of orders — more than 300 — is up a little this year over last, perhaps owing to people actively seeking a good omen in 2021.

“It can’t be worse, can it?” she deadpanned.

But does the Germanborn but Pittsburgh-propagated charm work?

“We’re still here,” she said.