They're back, baby! After killing six magazines and banishing hundreds to the unemployment line, Condé Nast has decided to go through with its annual holiday fete.

Canceled last year in light of budget cuts, this year's soiree will be at posh Sixth Avenue restaurant Aureole, where a foie gras torchon appetizer will set you back $23 and the lobster tails are served with a side of pork belly. But don't take my word for it. Just ask the culinary institution Condé Nast shuttered this year, Gourmet, which reviewed Aureole in June:

At the bar, where big windows look out to 42nd Street, people crowd in to air-kiss and clink glasses after work as they snack on pastrami pork belly sliders and fluke sashimi.... Crisp, tiny fried oysters come with a puddle of kimchi gelée and a fluff of lemon powder. Ravioli hide a rich purée of artichokes; it is hard to have any restraint. Entrées tend to be hunks of gorgeous protein like Copper River salmon, aged rib-eye steaks, lamb snuggled up to accompaniments like quinoa, preserved lemons, black garlic, and pickled ramps.... At $84 per person, it's my bet that the real money here will be made on the more casual lunch menu... [Emphasis added]

It may not be the Four Seasons (the venue of choice for the old Condé's holiday shindigs) but the free drinks should get them just as drunk, especially since there are fewer people to share with, now.

Despite Dismal Year, Condé Nast Revives Holiday Hurrah [NYO]
Restaurants Now: Aureole, Browntrout, Burma Superstar [Gourmet]