Last night we were introduced to the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at the bell strokes of midnight on New Year’s Eve. The idea is to eat one grape with each strike of the bell at midnight for good luck in each of the forthcoming 12 months. This tradition dates back from at least 1895, but was greatly popularized in 1909. In December of that year, some Alicantese vine growers spread this custom to encourage grape sales due to overproduction during an excellent harvest. According to the tradition, eating the Twelve Grapes leads to a year of good luck and prosperity. In some areas, this practice was also believed to ward off witches and evil in general, although today it is mostly followed as a tradition to celebrate and welcome the New Year.

When we arrived for our reservation for New Year’s Eve dinner at La Tuna Restaurant and Bar, we saw a skewer with 12 grapes standing in a champagne glass for each of us on the table. I asked our server the story and then looked up on the whole history with a Google search. La Tuna had decorated the restaurant to celebrate New Year’s Eve and offered a special four-course menu – Arugula Salad, Lobster Bisque, a main course (we selected the salted ribeye from the three choices), and a red velvet cake dessert. Our meal began with an amuse of a berry cream cheese with honey and nuts on top of a cracker. The meal and service were excellent. We enjoyed live entertainment from Daniel Flores and another guitarist throughout the meal.

As old folks, we had made a reservation for when the restaurant re-opened in the evening for the special dinner – 7:00 pm. By the time that we were ready to leave a 9:30pm, every table was full and the celebration had started. It was a very enjoyable evening.