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Practically every restaurant in town is cooking up something special for Valentine's Day. Find moody aphrodisiacs, spicy selections, and sweet indulgences for the coupled and the single set. Check out our big list of the Best In LA!
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Laurel Avenue Bakery / Bakelab
Want to stay in with a box of bon bons rather than brave the PDA-happy crowds on Valentine's Day? Kristin Feuer's Bakelab has prepared a special $20 Valentine's Day Goody Box just for you. It's filled with two large pink heart cookies, two large red ones, one large white with beads of sugar, and four small hearts outlined in various colors of both simple and sparkling frosting. Share it with someone you love or keep it all to yourself as you lament your singleness.
Bistro LQ
Culinary experimenter extraordinaire Chef Lauren Quenioux is mixing up magic in the kitchen at his restaurant this Valentine's Day, and promises his menu will be the ultimate aphrodisiac. "The ingredients I used when crafting this special menu not only stimulate the senses of taste, texture and smell, but also the libido," he says with eyebrows arched suggestively, we imagine. So what exactly is on the menu? Diver scallop, spot prawn, shallot flan, creamed leeks and tomato sauce "varnish"; duck breast, parsnips puree, endive gratin and roasted garlic curry infusion; lamb noisette, ratatouille with asiago cheese crumble and lavender thyme jus; and a dessert trio of chocolate truffle gateau, rosewater semifreddo and pistachio vacherin. The whole thing goes for a very reasonable $60 per person plus tax. Dinner will be served in two seatings, the first between 5:30-7:00pm, and the second from 8:45-10:00pm. Reservations strongly recommended.
Charlie's Malibu
Instead of some sappy supper, head to Charlie's Malibu on Saturday, February 13, for their "Bitter, Party of 1" for singles. The restaurant explains that couples are welcome, "but we may mock them." On Valentine's Day itself, the mood turns romantic with a four-course chef's tasting menu for $75 ($20 extra for wine pairings). Special dishes will include poached pear with herbed goat cheese and candied walnuts, and the traditional surf-n-turf filet mignon with lobster tail. Guests can also order a la carte from the regular menu.
City Sip
Forget the champagne and chocolate. At Echo Park's wine bar of choice, they're serving up beer and cheese for what is probably the gassiest and smelliest (in a good way) Valentine's we've heard about. Okay, they might also give you some chocolate. Hosting the tasting will be beer guru Alex Macy, who will guide guests through eight beers and the paired treats. The event runs Valentine's Day from 4:30-6:00pm, and costs $35 per person. $5 of every ticket sold will be donated to Hope for Haiti. Space is limited so RSVP to cupid@citysipla.com.
Cube
It's closed on Sundays, but on Saturday, the 13, this gourmet restaurant devoted to cheese will be serving the gooiest Valentine's Day meal in town-artisan cheese fondue for a Pre-Valentine's Day menu priced at $70 ($35 per person), in addition to the regular a la carte menu. Guests who go for the special will start with two glasses of prosecco, then will get to melt some cheese (and hearts) with Cube's signature artisan cheese fondue for two with Farmer's Market accompaniments, and a seasonal dessert for two. Guests will also take home house-made dark chocolate truffles and confections. Cheese and chocolate-what more do you need?
Domenico
At this Eastside eatery, it's a "San Valentino" menu come Sunday, setting just the right tone for a night of Italian romance. We can only assume the $69 price tag on the prix fixe Saturday and Sunday was someone's idea of a sick, twisted (and hilarious) joke. That will get you dishes like swordfish carpaccio with fennel salad, pomegranate and lemon dressing; homemade black and white lobster ravioli; red beet risotto with vegetable ragu and Santa Barbara prawns; duck breast with dry cherry sauce and a medley of sautéed veggies; and strawberry mousse or white and dark chocolate soufflé. Guests as indecisive in appetite as they are in love can also order any dish a la carte.
Ford's Filling Station
The Culver City spot that has perfected casual gourmet is offering a smaller special menu for lovers this weekend. Items include a farm-fresh poached egg atop roasted asparagus and lobster sabayon; beef cheek-stuffed rosemary ravioli with toasted Brussels sprout leaves and fennel fronds; loup de mer with green garlic mashed potatoes and cockles (whoa!); herb-roasted hen with wild arugula, polenta fries and cipollini onion-tomato marmalade; farmer's cheese dumplings with walnut preserves; and chocolate pudding cake with peppermint ice cream.
Arnie Morton's, The Steakhouse
Have an old-school steakhouse Valentine's at any of the locations of Morton's: Beverly Hills, Burbank, downtown, and Woodland Hills, where you can get a special three-course dinner for two for a total of $109. The menu includes a classic Caesar salad, two single cut filets along with a choice of scallops, shrimp Alexander, jumbo lump crab cake or their new chicken "Christopher," a signature potato to share, a veggie to share, and finally a dessert of hot chocolate cake, key lime pie or crème brûlée. There's also a special "Valentine's Crush" cocktail with Absolut Citron, Grand Marnier, raspberry puree, and Segura Viudas cava priced at $13.
Nobu
Sometimes emotions get raw on Valentine's Day, but we like to leave that to the food, like Nobu's seven-course dinner featuring one-of-a-kind dishes. The prix fixe will be available on the 12-14, and costs $150 per guest including a glass of champagne. The meal begins with a savory zensai and toro tartar with kumamoto oysters, then a sashimi salad with yuzu dressing, truffled lobster, assorted sushi and more. Dessert is an almond "sponge" with vanilla Bavarian cream, fresh strawberries and meringue crunch.
Ortolan
Chef Christophe Émé is celebrating V Day all weekend long with four options this year. Friday night is Tango in Paris to "celebrate his passion of women, wine, song and dance" (we're not making this up!). There will be a $60 prix fixe menu meant to embody the fiery spirit and ecstasy of tango. Saturday will see a couples' dinner take place for those who are too impatient to wait until the actual day. The menu is filled with "intimate choices to enhance love and stoke the fires of the heart." Sunday, couples can get up early for the chef's popular Valentine's Day Brunch, or come in later that evening for Émé's vision of the perfect romantic dinner (though space is getting booked up fast). Menus for all the meals are available at the restaurant's web site.
Peninsula Beverly Hills
There's a slew of options for romance this year at one of Beverly Hill's fanciest hotels. The pool cabanas are available for private romantic dinner reservations (normally they're only open to hotel guests). Lovers can set the cabana's iPod to whatever soundtrack they want while enjoying a five-course candlelit dinner served by a personal attendant. Dishes will include a hearts of palm salad, grilled Kobe flat iron steak, and a duet of decadent chocolate mousse terrine and Meyer lemon pudding. Plus, a dozen roses will be waiting for you. The package costs $290 per couple. You can also have the same menu at the Roof Garden restaurant for $78 per person. Down in the signature Belvedere Restaurant on the ground floor, there's a six-course gourmet menu featuring specialties like Fanny Bay oysters with spinach lemon cream; lobster chanterelle mushroom bisque with lobster dumpling and poached quail egg topped with caviar; veal Chateaubriand with Perigord truffles; and a Manjari chocolate semifreddo dome. The prix-fixe costs $125 per person ($175 with wine pairings).
Rush Street
Have an anti-Valentine's Day at this Culver City gastropub starting, of course, on Saturday the 13. They'll be hosting their annual "Meet Your Valentine" party where guests can enjoy a selection of specialty cocktails while macking on hotties hoping to score. Thankfully there's a "Redeye Brunch" the next morning with dishes from their regular menu, but if you need a little hair of the dog, they'll be selling wine and champagne for half-price all day long. They'll also have specialty cocktails in the $10 range with fanciful names like the cRush Martini, Cupid's Arrow, Tootsie Roll, and the Chocolate Cake Shot. Here's to love!
Vertical Wine Bistro
Some might come for the $65 per person five-course prix fixe menu here. And they won't be disappointed with dishes like rib eye carpaccio with orange, French breakfast radish, shallot, baby field greens and Lea & Perrins vinaigrette; mini crab cake with grilled tomato, spaghetti squash, zucchini and red onion; seared ahi tuna with potato Beaujolais and carrot puree; Muscovy duck with mustard greens, prunes and orange brown butter; and molten chocolate cake. But the wine's equally important at Vertical, and that's why a pairing is almost as expensive as the meal itself at $55 (don't even get us started on the $135 deluxe wine pairing). With "Wine Dude" David Haskell pouring his choices though, they're bound to be worth it.
Taste of the Nation Special
You can do a little good this Valentine's Day by making a reservation at one of the restaurants participating in Taste of the Nation's "Share Our Strength" campaign to end childhood hunger in Los Angeles. When you call up, they'll ask you if you'd like to order flowers by Dandelion Ranch to be delivered to your table during dinner. 10% of the proceeds will go to Share Our Strength. Some of the eateries involved include AOC, Fig, Ford's Filling Station, JiRafe, Lilly's French Café, Lucques, Roy's Downtown and Tavern. A full list of participating restaurants is available online.
Local Love
Still not satiated? For more options than arrows in Cupid's quiver, check out these additional LA roundups for Val Day. Sharing is caring.
Caroline on Crack
Citysearch
OpenTable
Zagat
Gayot
LA Weekly
Urban Spoon
