Valentine's Day Plans?

[hungry_moose]

Where do you plan on taking your sweetie and dining this Valentine's Day?

I am thinking of Cascadia's special for V-day, if it's not sold out already....

[vengroff]

A quiet dinner at home, most likely. Valentine's day is a tough time to find a good dinner out. It may be easier than mother's day brunch, but not by much.

[Foodie-Girl]

Cascadia IS my favorite Seattle restaurant and the menu looks yummy...so it's definitely on the list.

I'd also like to see if Lampreia is doing a special menu.

Guess I'd better make a decision soon or I'll end up cooking !

[Mr. Lucky]

I never go out to eat on Valentine's Day. The restaurants are packed, the staff is harried, and the food tends to be average -often the menus are set so that the maximum number of people can be fed in the shortest amount of time. It's what I call "amateur night". Plus the idea of having a shared experience with leagues of strangers who go out to a nice restaurant once a year is not my idea of a fine dining experience. You're better off going out the week before or after Valentines Day. It’s definitely more romantic.

Last year we held a brunch for friends that was lovely. If I remember correctly we had blood-orange mimosas, homemade brioche with fresh preserves, fruit salad, Niman Ranch bacon (for those meat eaters!) quiche, and we sent guests home with beautiful petit fours.

[lemony]

i'm with you, mr. lucky. there isn't much romance to be had in a packed restaurant. sounds like your brunch is the place to be!

lemony

[daves]

ditto on the home thing. We noticed a few years ago that it was always a pain to remember to get a reservation, restaurants were busy, food and service were iffy...

We'll be putting the baby to bed a little early and have a nice extended quiet dinner with a couple of bottles of wine. Since we seem to be on a braising kick right now, we'll probably be doing something along those lines...

[jrt]

I never go out to eat on Valentine's Day. The restaurants are packed, the staff is harried, and the food tends to be average -often the menus are set so that the maximum number of people can be fed in the shortest amount of time. It's what I call "amateur night".

←

Queue Lebowski quote: "f'in amateurs."

I agree completely -- holidays are the worst days to dine out, go drinking, or spend any time at all in public for that matter. Generally, the human population that decides to keep itself indoors most of the time is doing so for all the right reasons, as far as I'm concerned.

Okay, aside from being cynical, I have to say that a nice evening around Valentine's day but not quite on it with a bottle of bubbly, a bottle of red, and a few random dishes all enjoyed at Le Pichet happens to be my idea of a very romantic evening. The amount of bustle is just right to push two folks closer together...

To me, a romantic evening doesn't work if the place is on the level of Lampreia or Mistral. For romance, the place and the food need to be good enough to be exciting, but not so elevated or rare that they take away from the person across from you.

[chuck]

Yep, the thought of being in a crowded restaurant is the antithesis of romantic. The Tuesday or so before Valentine's Day, when restaurants are empty because everybody is holding on to their cash for the big day are much more sweet.

And better than that is downing a bottle of champagne and doin' it. What the hell ever happened to that?

Edited January 11, 2005 by chuck (log)

[MT-Tarragon]

Well, I get engaged at the Harvest Vine last year, so it would be nice to return there again for this year's anniversary (five years together). Probably we won't go on the 14th, though. We'll probably try a few days early.

[reesek]

To me, a romantic evening doesn't work if the place is on the level of Lampreia or Mistral.  For romance, the place and the food need to be good enough to be exciting, but not so elevated or rare that they take away from the person across from you.

←

i couldn't agree more. a le pichet-type place is perfect. small, urban and just right to help create that little bubble around your table.

not sure why i'm drawing a blank, but are there other spots (ok - matt's) that have a similar feel? (is this a new thread?)

[little ms foodie]

Just got an email with the Vday menu for the very romantic Serafina:

Valentine's Menu

[reesek]

And better than that is downing a bottle of champagne and doin' it.  What the hell ever happened to that?

←

[vengroff]

I got an email from OpenTable about Valentine's tables. Here's the link to search what they've got.

[vengroff]

I ended up with a group at Brasa. We didn't know this going in, but they had trapeze artists performing in the bar area. Apparently it was a hit at New Years so they brought them back for Valentines.

The calamari stuffed with chorizo is a winning appetizer. I also had some nice medium rare venison chops. Others had the Kobe strip steaks, which were reported to be excellent, and the Paella, which was apparently not up to their ususal high standards.

[lalala]

I stayed at home with my basset hound as my taller half was on her way to Corvallis for the week. We're going to celebrate Valentine's day sometime in the next two weeks, really. The dog had kibble, greenbeans and tuna. I think I had half of a pork sandwich from Met Market. We both had water from the cedar river watershed.

We did go to breakfast at Cafe Campagne on Sunday, it was crowded, but the food was remarkably good and service was not rushed.

lalala

[LaurieA-B]

We did go to breakfast at Cafe Campagne on Sunday, it was crowded, but the food was remarkably good and service was not rushed.

←

Matthew and I were there too, arrived around 10:15. We were in the far room (not the one with the bar). Everything was good, particularly the oeufs en meurette.

[rockdoggydog]

We got out of Seattle and went to the Alderbrook Resort and Spa outside of Belfair on Hood Canal. We had a good room service dinner, I had a well executed hanger steak, and she had grilled sea bass. The best part was actually a dungeness crab mac and cheese that was amazingly light. I was surpised to learn that Tom Black is also the executive chef here and then was unsurprised to find out that the Alderbrook is managed by the same company as the Willows Lodge, so it all fell into place. The next day we stopped by the Sunset Beach Greek Deli and Mini Market on SR-106 back to Belfair. We had noticed it sitting by the road the day before on our way in and the sign saying Gyros and Steaks caught our interest. We split a sandwich and a salad that were both very filling and delicious, definitely going back sometime, don't know when, but sometime.

Rocky