restaurantgirl

It's getting down to the wire for Valentine's Day and you can probably write off all the usual dining suspects.  Yes, they're completely booked.  But there are still plenty of restaurants and some off-the-beaten path spots to celebrate the romantic occasion.  Without further ado...

Meskerem
124 MacDougal Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 777-8111
There’s nothing more sensual than eating with your hands.  This dimly lit Ethiopian spot affords an exotic and lowbrow evening, where couples can dine on wonderfully tangy flatbread as well as fiery stews spiced with berbere pepper.  Round out the meal with the spongy rum cake.

Saul
140 Smith Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 935-9844
This intimate spot on Smith Street always manages to dazzle without a hint of pretension.  Chef Saul Bolton issues a refined, five-course meal ($100) for lovers as well as their regular selection.  Valentine’s Day dining highlights pan-roasted sweetbreads and chocolate cake with hot fondue.

Caffe on the Green
201-10 Cross Island Parkway
Bayside, NY 11360
(718) 423-7272
Tucked inside Rudolph Valentino’s former home, this old world Italian celebrates Valentine’s Day with a “For Lovers Only Package” ($145 per couple) that includes live piano music in the ballroom and ends with a “Lover’s Duet” dessert.

Sripraphai
64-13 39th Avenue near 64th St.
Woodside, NY 11377
(718) 899-9599
Touted for its phenomenal Thai cuisine, Sripraphai not only excels at fabulously spicy dishes, but also warm service and atmosphere. Our favorite dishes include drunken noodles with chicken and the sautéed vegetables with salted fish.  As for dessert, unusual marriages of salty, sweet, and exotic flavors come together in coconut-laced custards and mung bean jellies.

Tournesol
50-12 Vernon Blvd.
Queens, NY 11101
(718) 472-4355
This cozy French haunt is beloved for its varied selection of classic bistro dishes.  Valentine’s delicacies include sautéed snails with tarragon sauce and braised beef cheeks a la bordelaise.  As Valentine’s Day serendipitously falls on Thursday, the special is also a favorite here: grilled pork chops ($18).

The Water’s Edge
The East River at 44th Drive
Long Island City, NY 11101
(718) 482-0033
With a spectacular view of Manhattan, this American restaurant offers an equally exceptional four-course dinner ($125.)  Beginning with an amuse bouche of caviar, the meal touches upon plates of apricot stuffed with foie gras, tea smoked duckling with candied kumquats and quinoa, and “His and Hers” desserts.

Spicy and Tasty
39-07 Spring Street
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 359-1601
This Szechuan gem is renowned for fare befitting of its name.  For an atypically romantic evening, dine on “Luxurious Duck” or shrimp with turnips in spicy sauce.  Little pockets of their signature, sweet fried dough will end the meal nicely.

Jolie
320 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 488-0777
This quaint French eatery always manages to be effortlessly romantic.  The Valentine’s Day menu ($55) features grilled striped bass with a zucchini potato galette and a passion fruit mousse cake with Thai basil sauce.

Cendrillon
45 Mercer Street (btwn. Broome & Grand Sts.)
New York, NY 10013
(212) 343-9012
For $60 a person, this charming, warm restaurant offers a Filipino feast. Starters include various ceviche and crab heirloom rice, and are followed up by dishes like quail relleno, and Sichuan beef short ribs. For dessert, choices of chocolate praline soufflé and a decidedly tropical kalamansi cheesecake make for a sweet and intense ending...

If your special someone is the type who gets teary-eyed over those Jared jewelry commercials, she/he will be probably expect a box of chocolates for Valentine's Day.  Of course, you could take the easy way out and grab a Whitman’s Sampler or even Russel Stover’s “Private Reserve” from Duane Reade.  Instead, we suggest you seize the opportunity to indulge in the city’s finest chocolates.  We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite chocolatiers and their truffles:

Jacques Torres Chocolate
(pictured right)
350 Hudson Street at King Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 414-2462
One of the world’s premier chocolatiers, Torres celebrates Valentine’s Day with his “Champagne Kiss,” a box of champagne-laced chocolates for $15.  Torres takes a more daring turn with its dark chocolate sauce labeled “Love Tonic” and raspberry “Body Paint,” both for $9.

Roni Sue’s Chocolates
Essex Street Market #24
120 Essex Street at Delancey
New York, NY 10002
(212) 260-0421
This Lower East Side shop harbors several distinctive chocolates flavored with everything from banana and sweet red pepper to Margarita and “Portly Fig.” Red chile and cinnamon-infused “Diablo,” as well as pine nut and fennel-flavored “Pinon” capture the exotic allure of these off-the-beaten-path confections.

Kee’s Chocolates
80 Thompson Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 334-3284
This charming Soho shop has a number of luscious flavors, including Thai chili, champagne, and blended pepper. Stolid standards like hazelnut praline, chocolate mousse, and raspberry also make the rounds, but never fall short of superior taste and beautiful presentation. Prices range from $12 to $48.

La Maison du Chocolat
30 Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 10020
(212) 265-9404
This French chocolatier has designed a unique Valentine’s Day offering: The Book of Love, which pairs six different truffles with written love stories in book-shaped boxes. While caramel ganache takes the more classic route, ganache with licorice and passion fruit appeal to the exotic. Prices range from $10 for two truffles to $112 for sixty truffles.

Vosges Haut Chocolat
132 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 625-2929
Vosges’ stylish boutique matches its avant-garde chocolates.  For $25, the Aphrodisiac Mini Bar box contains nine different bars that stimulate the senses with spicy hints of curry, pasilla chiles, and wasabi. At $43, Vosges’ signature purple heart-shaped box is filled with sixteen truffles, including absinthe and ambrosia.

Bouchon Bakery
10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor
(212) 823-9366
Solid pink, red, and white “Valentine’s Tablets” feature whimsical designs on one side and crispy milk, dark, and white chocolate non-pareils on the other ($15). For $25, the bakery offers twelve dark and milk chocolates with flavors as distinct as mint tea, honey thyme, and tart grapefruit.

Debauve & Gallais
20 E 69th Street
(212) 734-8880
This French chocolate shop’s signature bonbons come twelve to a box at $95, featuring an assortment of marzipans, truffles, and pralines.  If you’re looking to splurge, the $210 Le Royale includes a luscious selection, including gold-flecked ganache and earl grey tea.

Teuscher
620 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10020
1-800-554-0924
This famous Swiss chocolate shop offers the best champagne truffles in New York.  For Valentine’s Day, those and other truffle varieties like nougat and dark cocoa come in red velvet heart boxes of varying sizes at $29.75 and up.

Payard Bistro...

Where Valentine's Day is concerned, there's nothing more romantic than dining out in New York City. While veterans at the reservation game may have already secured some of the most coveted tables, there's still a handsome selection of enchanting venues. Here are 10 of the city's most romantic spots.

RAOUL'S 180 Prince St., between Sullivan & Thompson Sts., (212) 966-3518. This quintessential SoHo bistro and its classic French fare make for an effortlessly romantic evening. The three-course meal ($75) features chestnut and foie gras ravioli as well as sea bass with Maine mussel fondue. Request the cozy enclosed garden, then retreat to the upstairs loft for an after-dinner reading from the resident fortune teller.

ELEVEN MADISON PARK 11 Madison Ave., at 24th St., (212) 889-0905.  Serious food lovers can feast on acclaimed chef Daniel Humm's outstanding French fare and partake in a sumptuous, seven-course tasting menu ($225), including diver scallops with black truffles. Dine under exquisite vaulted ceilings or settle into one of the more intimate dining suites at Danny Meyer's lavish Flatiron destination.

DRESSLER 149 Broadway, near Driggs Ave., Brooklyn, (718) 384-6343. With its stunning chandeliers and mosaic tile floor, this polished New American is an enchanting Williamsburg oasis. The three-course tasting menu ($70) is scattered with a flurry of aphrodisiacs: oysters, foie gras, scallops and artichoke hearts.

PUBLIC 210 Elizabeth St., between Prince and Spring Sts., (212) 343-7011. If a dining room lit with one thousand flickering candles doesn't sound romantic enough, there's also the exotic allure of an Australasian menu with a five-course tasting menu ($90), featuring a New Zealand venison chop with truffle parsnip mash.

DESSERT STUDIO (at Chocolat Michel Cluizel), 888 Broadway, at 19th St., (212) 477-7355. You may want to skip dinner...

To read the complete article on The New York Daily News

 

Valentine's Day maybe Hallmark's favorite holiday, but it may not be yours.  If you're lucky enough to score a date, you might want to start contemplating your restaurant options now.  Veterans at the Valentine's reservation game have probably already secured their reservations (or enlisted their assistants), so I thought I'd offer a few Restaurant Girl Suggestions of my own:

Splurge Spots

Le Bernadin - If you want the best, this is pretty much as good as it gets.
155 W. 51 St., btwn. 6th & 7th Aves., (212)554-1515

Cafe Gray - Go for the magnificient park view, stay for the sumptuous short ribs.
10 Columbus Circle, 3rd floor, (212)823-6388.

Gramercy Tavern - They don't call Danny Meyer the king of hospitality for nothing. 
42 E. 20th St., btwn. Broadway & Park Aves., (212) 477-0777.

Veritas - Even the snobbiest of oeniphiles get weak in the knees here.
43 E. 20th St., btwn Park & Broadway Aves., (212)353-3700.

BEST DEAL IN TOWN

Del Posto - A glam settting, pasta by Batali, Bastianich does wine & Nicole Kaplan has a way with pastries.  If that's not enticing enough, there's a $40 prix fixe menu available everyday, even Valentine's Day.
85 10th Ave., at 16 St., (212)497-8090.

Tried And True Romantics

Cafe Des Artistes - If you're a hopeless romantic, this is your guy.
1 W. 67th St., btwn, Broadway & CPW, (212)877-3500.

Picholine - Timeless elegance still reigns at Terrance Brennan's recently renovated institution, boasting the world's most dazzling cheese cart.
35 W. 64th St., btwn Broadway & CPW, (212)724-8585.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns - What's more romantic than a chandelier-clad barn?  Seriously.
630 Bedford St., Tarrytown, NY (914)366-3600.

Understated Charmers

Peasant - From the candlelight to the woodburning oven, this homey Italian succeeds without even trying.
194 Elizabeth St., btwn. Prince & Spring Sts., (212)965-9511.

Po - Even without Mario, this quaint West Village spot has a way with the almighty noodle.
31 Cornelia St., btwn. Bleecker & W. 4th Sts., (212)645-2189.

Blue Ribbon - There's not a more perfect evening to canoodle over a tray of oysters and the most divinely decadent banana split the city has to offer. 
97  Sullivan St., btwn. Prince & Spring Sts., (212)274-0404.

Mas - A sexy space, generous wine list and good food to boot.
39 Downing St., btwn. Bedford & Varick Sts., (212)255-1790.

Quaint Affairs

Annisa - Anita Lo dazzles without making a fuss about it. One word: foie gras dumplings.
13 Barrow St., btwn. 7th Ave. & W. 4th Sts., (212)741-6699.

Place on West 10th - Score a table in front of the fireplace at this romantic oasis.
142 W. 10th St., btwn. Greenwich & 7th Aves., (212)462-2880.

Prune - Perfect for serious food lovers, this tiny gem packs a big punch.
54 East 1st. St., btwn. 1st. & 2nd Aves., (212)677-6211.

Dining as Distraction

L'Atelier De Robuchon - You don't even have to talk and you'll still have the perfect date, that is, if you can snag a seat at the poshest eating counter in NYC.
57 E. 57th St., btwn. 5th & Madison Aves., (212)350-6658.

Degustation - Keep your eyes on the kitchen, where Jack & Grace Lamb master the art of Spanish-French small plates.
239 5th St., btwn. 2nd & 3rd Aves., (212)979-1012.

Anti-Valentine's Bites

The Spotted Pig - The contagious energy of this perpetually packed gastropub is outmatched only by April Bloomfield's seasonal creations.
314 W. 11 St., at Greenwich St., (212)620-0393.

La Esquina - While the secret may be out on this swanky subterranean, tacos, tequila and candlelight will always be in style.
106 Kenmare St., at Cleveland Place, (646)613-7100.

Waverly Inn - If you're looking to dine fireside on fashionable comfort food, you might want to start kissing the host's ass right now.
16 Bank St., btwn. 4th & Waverly Sts,(no phone number)

Ssam Bar - The hippest pan-Asian "fast food" joint in town, use your hands as you feast on David Chang's new menu.
207 3rd  Ave., at 13 St., (212)254-3500.

Kuma Inn - A definitively unromantic setting, the global tapas are a delicious distraction from all of the "lovey dovey"-ridden restaurants on this fateful night.
113 Ludlow St., at Delancey St. (second floor), (212)833-8866.

Upstairs At Bouley - If you don't mind sitting on top of strangers, you can simultaneously feast on juicy burgers & superior sushi in Bouley's culinary playground.
130 W. Broadway, btwn. Duane & Church Sts., (212)608-5829.

Stay tuned, Restaurant Girl will be moving the Valentine's Bites List to a permanent page under Dining Destinations (coming very soon)!

 

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