Ten Great New Year's Brunches (for the Hungover and the Smugly Sober)

Cecconi's

Cecconi's breakfast pizzette

If the day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year, then the day after New Year's Eve is the biggest hangover day of the year. And hangovers must be fed - and well. But since many restaurants shutter their doors on New Year's Day, and because it can be hard for the booze-addled brain to navigate which eateries are open and which are not, we've done the work for you. Here's our list (in no particular order) of Ten Great New Year's Day Brunches, which will satisfy the most obscenely hungover, and even their smugly sober friends.

1. Cecconi's is offering a New Year's Day brunch beginning at 10 AM, which in addition to their regular morning menu, will feature a scrambled egg and black truffle sandwich, a nice range of oysters, and a homemade sausage and mushroom risotto. Also available are the off-menu breakfast pizzettes - one with speck, fontina, arugula and a sunny side up egg; the other with sweet cream and berries. 8764 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood; (310) 432-2000; www.cecconiswesthollywood.com.

2. Nothing answers the pangs of the morning after like a big bowl of menudo, and El Sinaloense in Huntington Park, dishes up some of the best white menudo around (along with a luscious machaca burrito, uncannily corny tamales, and some truly ambrosial horchata.) The tiny take-out and counter joint will be open from 8AM to 4 PM on New Year's Day. 7601 State Street, Huntington Park; (323) 581-1532.

3. For a laid-back Frenchy brunch, try BreadBar, which will be serving Continental favorites, such as pain de mie French toast, quiche Lorraine, and croque madame from 10 AM to 3 PM at both its West Third and Century City locations. www.breadbar.net

4. Tarzana's Hummus Bar & Grill's eponymous chickpea spread offers creamy, soothing comfort, while those requiring heartier remedies can opt for shawarma or chicken heart skewers. And for the virtuous looking to get a jump on healthy New Year's resolutions, the option of an endless assortment of house salads is a satiating path toward virtue, with a few decadent deviations (chopped liver, anyone?) along the way. 18743 Ventura Boulevard, Tarzana; (818) 344-6606; www.hummusbargrill.com.

5. The café-cum-butcher, Salt's Cure extends its brunch hours from 11 AM to 5 PM on New Year's Day, with a special menu that will feature griddle cakes, corned beef hash, and housemade bagels with in-house smoked fish and cream cheese. 7494 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood; (323) 850- 7258; www.saltscure.com.