Posts Tagged ‘romance’

14 Delicious Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day in the Big Apple

Valentine’s Day is a day to share your love. But it’s more than that – it’s a wonderful chance to share a great meal, a cocktail and an evening out. New York City celebrates with special menus and romantic touches designed to make both of you say ahhhh and yum.

Here are 14 exciting choices where you can slip into romance on February 14.

DINNER

Courtesy Gabriel Kreuther

Gabriel KreutherMidtown West

Two Michelin-Starred Gabriel Kreuther presents a spectacular evening of French-inflected Alsatian cuisine. The fine dining experience is as romantic as it comes in the softly lit, art-adorned dining room. For Valentine’s weekend, you can celebrate your love with a special “The Gorgée d’Amour” cocktail, a mix of Hennessy VSOP, Greenhook Old Tom gin, rhubarb, Rockey’s Milk Punch and Byrrh Grand Quinquina.

Courtesy Gabriel Kreuther

Then you’ll be treated to a five-course tasting menu with indulgences for both meat and seafood lovers: Crown toro hamachi crudo, perigord black truffles with four cheese raviolis, roasted Maine lobster cassoulet, spice-rubbed Brandt beef tenderloin and a cocoa nib tart. As unusual as the menu, Gabriel Kreuther’s wine pairing has been specially curated to enhance each dish.

Courtesy Kumi

Kumi – Midtown West

A new import from Las Vegas brightened with Chef Anastacia Song’s inimitable New York style, Kumi offers Japanese-Korean fusion cuisine at Le Meridien New York . On Valentine’s Day, you’ll begin your evening of passion with a “Kiss Me Kumi” cocktail, a potent combination of plum wine, melon, raspberry, lemon and Cava. After toasting to your devotion, the celebration continues with a presentation of small plates from spicy tuna tartare with truffle oil to Hondashi rice and vegetables. The main attraction at the lavishly decorated restaurant  is a chef’s selection of sushi and rolls accompanying green-tea smoked chicken, ginger Gochujang glazed salmon, sesame watercress and greens. Pace yourself as you’ll want to save room for dessert and perhaps an after-dinner drink like the silky matcha vodka concoction. Vegan and vegetarian options are available.

Courtesy North Miznon

North Miznon – Upper West Side

For pure romance, North Miznon has the setting and the “couples” thing down pat. Israeli Chef Eyal Shani offers specials enticements for two in the romantically lit sit-down restaurant. The six-course holiday menu begins with two “couples” of East Coast oysters and another twosome, a choice of a duo of lamb chops or a duet of the “best cuts of the cow.” Shani has a following from Israel to Manhattan and it’s understandable when you see the rest of the menu with starters including golden fresh focaccia, diamond turnips in golden sauce, and local scallop grilled in its shell. If you’re not a meat eater, there’s halibut in a paper envelope. For dessert, couples can choose from a couple of desserts: apple crumble with Ronnybrook vanilla ice cream or a medley of chocolate treats. Vegetarian and kosher options are available.

Courtesy Lucciola

Lucciola – Upper West Side

If atmosphere is what you’re looking for, you have two amazing choices at Lucciola on Amsterdam Avenue. The main dining room is a valentine to Emilia-Romagna, exuding romance with dim lighting and an old piano in the corner. A wall of wine bottles adds another taste of Italy. You can make your evening even cozier by booking one of the restaurant’s heated bubbles where you snuggle together in privacy surrounded by alpaca blankets. For Valentine’s Day, Lucciola is offering a three-course prix fixe menu with lavish choices like spaghetti with Hokkaido sea urchin or tagliatelle Wagyu filet with black truffle. The wild alpine strawberry tartelette is a perfect red-toned sweet to end the meal.

La Devozione Courtesy Giada Paoloni

La Devozione – Chelsea

It’s true amore in Chelsea Market this Valentine’s Day.  New York City’s newest pasta destination, La Devozione by Pastificio di Martino, turns a traditional heart-infused Valentine’s Day into an exciting oval-shaped celebration at The Oval, a 30-seat pasta bar surrounded by shelves of pasta. The evening’s indulgence is a nine-course pasta tasting with caviar, uni, lobster and other aphrodisiacal ingredients. You’ll watch the chef prepare each dish, personalized for you. Choose a traditional Italian wine or amaro to complement, or elevate the evening with a Champagne pairing menu. For a bespoke experience, La Devozione is offering concierge service to arrange transportation, music to play during dinner, and flowers. This is truly a one-of-a-kind dining experience that your sweetie will remember for a long time.

Courtesy Vestry

Vestry – SoHo

Shaun Hergatt’s new Michelin-starred Vestry is sure to wow your sweetie with the restaurant’s elegant design and Valentine’s Day “menu of aphrodisiacs.” The usual love-inducing suspects are included but Chef Hergatt’s penchant for drama and creativity is unmistakable – there’s Wagyu beef, Berkshire pork belly with foie gras, wild mushroom soup with black truffle, Kaluga caviar with potato blinis and crème fraîche, and much more. The prix fixe feast finishes with a sweet dessert for two, Baked Alaska surrounded by rose petals.

Courtesy Lindens

Lindens – SoHo

You would never imagine that there are cabins for dining in the back courtyard of the Arlo SoHo hotel. Lindens goes après ski with these individual “rooms” for two and a special Valentine’s Day dinner. The modern American restaurant adheres to a “nature within the city” ethos, now reflecting the winter season with comfort dishes including kabocha squash ravioli, roast chicken, hanger steak and luscious lemon & bourbon donuts. A wine pairing is available.

Courtesy Lure Fishbar

Lure Fishbar – SoHo

You may not have booked a cruise for Valentine’s Day, but the yacht like design of SoHo’s popular Lure Fishbar seafood restaurant can transport you to the Adriatic or even the Maine coast. Everyone knows that oysters have aphrodisiacal superpowers, especially when combined with a bottle of pink Champagne. Lure Fishbar takes this concept to new heights with its seafood tower, dressed up with rose petals for the evening. The Valentine’s Day menu continues the seafood extravaganza with fluke crudo, baked oysters, vanilla butter-poached Maine lobster, potato-crusted halibut, lemon meringue and more.

Courtesy Industry Kitchen

Industry Kitchen – The Seaport

Impress your date by booking a private glasshouse for two at Industry Kitchen and cozy up as you watch dusk settle over the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges. Alongside the East River, the restaurant will entice you with Chef Haffman’s special Valentine’s Day Champagne dinner. Clink glasses to the colors in the sky and enjoy the evening’s gastronomic indulgences: steak tartare, Hudson Valley duck risotto and chocolate fondue for two with red velvet cake, macarons, green apple, grapes, strawberry and pineapple for dipping.

Courtesy Serafina

Serafina – Meatpacking District, Tribeca, Broadway, Upper East Side and more

The popular Italian date night restaurant adds some holiday whimsy to their February 14 menu with heart-shaped ravioli on a special menu featuring burrata to share, starters like crudo and winter citrus salad, Serafina’s signature black truffle pizza, and surf & turf.

Courtesy Serafina

A wine pairing from Serafina’s extensive collection is available to complement each course including an amaro digestif for dessert to enjoy with a decadent tiramisu for two or a Valentine-perfect red berry tart with shaved chocolate.

COCKTAILS AND OTHER LIBATIONS

Courtesy Ophelia

Ophelia – Midtown East

Add a trip to the moon with a cocktail in the “Snow Globe in the Sky” atop the historic Beekman Tower at Ophelia. The Art-Deco-inspired lounge always has the right holiday touch and this year’s Valentine’s Day special is a his-and-her cocktail and sweets celebration. For him, it’s a Buffalo Trace bourbon perfect for a wintry evening with sugar, bitters and citrus oil. She gets the tiki rum cocktail, sweetened with crème de fraise, coconut cream with a contrasting swirl of Nardini amaro. The cocktails are specially designed to accompany Ophelia’s “Sweets for the Sweet” menu of chocolate-covered strawberries, heart shaped macarons, mini berry tarts, chocolate truffles and tiramisu.

Courtesy Loulou

Loulou – Chelsea

A romantic nightcap to your night on the town, a “Valentini” at Loulou will elicit Valentine’s Day sparks. Served in a heart-shaped glass, the red-hued vodka cocktail has muddled raspberries, mint leaves, lemon juice and simple syrup, with a splash of yellow chartreuse and topped with Prosecco.

Courtesy Loreley Beer Garden

Loreley Beer Garden – Lower East Side

Loreley Beer Garden goes all out on romantic décor for a three-day Valentine’s holiday. Several hundred long-stemmed red roses and 10,000 rose petals will adorn tables and floors throughout the restaurant and the heated outdoor winter garden. The Valentine’s mood becomes livelier with heart-shaped pretzels served with warm beer cheese dip to accompany your choice of brews or cocktails. Valentine’s Day brunch and dinner will keep you warm with boozy bourbon hot chocolate and Jameson hot toddies.

A VALENTINE’S STAYCATION

Margie's Restaurant Courtesy The Rockaway Hotel + Spa

The Rockaway Hotel + Spa – Queens

There’s a way to truly surprise your date on Valentine’s Day. Why not turn your holiday into a staycation by the ocean? Take the subway to Rockaway Beach in Queens where you can let loose with the Celebrate LOVE program at The Rockaway Hotel + Spa. Dinner at Margie’s with drinks and dancing on The Rooftop and a choice of the Recharge in Rockaway or Dine & Wine two-night stayovers will make you both feel like you’ve left the city for a beach holiday. Personalize your mini-vacation even further by adding chocolate-covered strawberries and scheduling a couple’s’ spa treatment.

Plan an Anytime Romantic Celebration at Home with These Great Choices

This year is an especially good time to keep the Valentine’s Day momentum going with romance and love.

Have Brunch in Your Pajamas

Marky’s Caviar - Courtesy Marky’s

Chef Budda Lo presents HUSO’s Champagne Brunch, from the speakeasy hidden behind third-generation caviar purveyor Marky’s Caviar. With a breakfast spread of private stock caviar from the group’s own domestic aqua farm, poached eggs, croissants, elderflower Bellini’s and Valrhona chocolate-covered strawberries, you’ll be motivated to stay in PJ’s the entire day.

Bring on the Aphrodisiacs

Courtesy Grand Army

Your at-home Champagne indulgence doesn’t end there. After a post-brunch interlude and perhaps a nap on the sofa, Grand Army brings on more bubbly and presents the consummate aphrodisiac, oysters. Part of a seafood indulgence, Blue Point oysters come with mignonette sauce, littleneck clams, shrimp cocktail and a pair of lobster rolls. Add a finishing chocolate note with creamy chocolate cremeux for dessert with strawberries. Book in advance but pick up your shellfish during the day so the oysters can be freshly shucked.

Courtesy Red Hook Lobster Pound Facebook

There are no oysters in Red Hook Lobster Pound’s seafood soiree but you’ll get plenty of shellfish love with the Brooklyn seafood shack’s Lovester feast. Expect the full New England treatment with this extravaganza — two cooked lobsters (crackers included), mussels, clams, Dungeness crab, shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes. Add a choice of a crab or shrimp cocktail, a bottle of William Hill Chardonnay and two mini chocolate mousse cakes and you have an instant trip to Maine.

Courtesy Fornino

A “Pizza Love Fest” might be more to your liking, and Fornino in Greenpoint has it ready for your home enjoyment. Pretty and classically Italian, the feast includes a cheese and fruit plate, salad, two mini pizzas, tiramisu, strawberries and a bottle of wine. Brooklyn knows pizza, and Fornino does it right.

Courtesy o.d.o

Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant, o.d.o transports you to Japan with a special, limited-edition Gift Box for two. The creation of talented Chef Hiroko Odo, the box itself is an intricately designed collectible, hand-made from the fibers of mulberry tree bark known for their strength and flexibility. The elaborate kaiseki meal features a selection of A5 Wagyu beef jerky, snow crab, roast beef marinated in sake lees, blowfish and Spanish mackerel in addition to assorted nigiri sushi, futomaki and a sake pastry box. The meal is accompanied by a set of Suntory whiskeys and Murakami × Perrier limited edition bottles. Enhancing the meal’s Japanese sensibility, the box comes with a music playlist curated by Academy Award-winning composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto plus Japanese-designed coasters, incense, incense holder and glass.

Courtesy Sushi Noz

You won’t be lost in translation with Michelin-starred Sushi Noz’s DIY Temaki hand roll kit, even if it doesn’t come with Bill Murray-endorsed Suntory whiskey. Meticulously styled with Japanese attention to detail and precise instructions for preparation, the kit includes seasoned rice and sheets of seaweed served with heart-shaped containers of Japanese uni and house-cured ikura. A long-stemmed rose from a Japanese florist graces the package. To ensure absolute freshness, the kit must be booked in advance on Tock for pick-up in person at the restaurant.

Dessert Any Time

Courtesy Chocolate Fondue Box

One of the prettiest dessert kits offered, Relish Catering’s Chocolate Fondue Box has everything you need for an indulgent and fun fondue experience. You’ll get a fondue pot with long-stemmed strawberries, red-velvet-rose cakes, butterscotch fudge sparkle pops, rice crispy treats, hazelnut-dark chocolate biscotti, candy hearts and other romantic dip-ins.

Courtesy Black Tap Soho

You’ll have a chance to try out your own pastry artistry, too, thanks to Black Tap Soho. In partnership with Magnolia Bakery, the restaurant-soda shop’s Red Velvet Cake Shake Kit includes all the essentials to make two Red Velvet Cake Shakes. The kit includes red velvet cake batter shakes (pre-mixed), cups with vanilla frosting and sprinkles, red and white sprinkles, two slices of red velvet cake, chocolate sauce and cherries. If you’re feeling rather lazy, you can opt for the photo-ready Classic Red Velvet Cake Batter Shake, pre-made with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and a cherry on top. No preparation required.

Courtesy Senza Gluten Cafe & Bakery

Greenwich Village’s Senza Gluten Cafe & Bakery will deliver a gluten-free and equally sensuous basket with heart-shaped shortbread cookies and red velvet cupcakes filled with chocolate ganache. The basket continues the chocolate theme with bakery favorites dairy-free chocolate crinkle cookies, chocolate walnut mini cubbies and classic chocolate chip cookies.

Courtesy MR All Day

You can pick up Pastry Chef Camari Mick’s takeaway treats at MR All Day, the Musket Room’s pop-up cafe operating out of a vintage 1962 International Harvester van. It’s worth the trip to Nolita just to see this – but go early, rising chef Mick’s treats sell out quickly. For the holiday season, he’s offering bonbons, macarons, love potions, Tahitian vanilla and mocha mousse and more.

Courtesy Mochidoki SoHo

Mochidoki SoHo offers a special holiday collection including pretty-in-pink Black Forest made with cherry chocolate mochi, Chantilly cream, dark chocolate gateau and dried Morello cherries. The Japanese mochi range has been further enhanced with hazelnut Rocher, cinnamon mocha, chocolate strawberry and limited-edition cherry chocolate mochi, a delicate and artistic sweet with black cherry and vanilla ice cream swirled with dark chocolate chips.

Courtesy Angelina Paris NYC

With its very-French flair, recent import Angelina Paris NYC offers pure romance in the form of a pastry “Love Letter.” The elegant red-and-white yogurt mousse pastry is shaped like an envelope and includes a creamy vanilla, blackcurrant berry, raspberry, financier biscuit and crispy white chocolate.

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