Tender is the First Night when it's celebrated at home

An elegant New Year's dinner party can be built around beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce, potatoes, and spinach. (Food styling/karoline boehm goodnick; Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)

Among the many reasons to make an elegant dinner at home this New Year's Eve is being able to sit around the dinner table with friends and talk without interruption. We applaud restaurateurs who are toasting the night with elaborate menus, but the best place to celebrate is at home.

There's an easy way to guarantee a successful dinner party. Once you figure out the menu, make yourself a cooking plan. That way you know what needs to get done and in what order. Peel and cut up vegetables, and blanch or saute some elements in advance. Buy a few cheeses and some olives for an appetizer, make dessert - or buy it - the day before.

This menu centers around a tenderloin of beef, a cut that's expensive but special enough to make any party memorable. Rub the meat with a garlic-mustard paste in the morning and refrigerate it, ready for roasting. When it's time to cook, let it sit on the counter to remove the chill. It's served with a mushroom port sauce, small potatoes that roast alongside the beef, and sauteed spinach with cream.

Once you get the menu down, serve it to the next groups of guests you invite. Eventually you'll change little things about the recipes, master the menu, and make it without planning. Hopefully everything in the coming year will feel as relaxed. - JULIE RIVEN