September 7, 2024 The Newspaper Serving LGBT Los Angeles

Valentine’s Day Dining Guide: Find Your Perfect Spot for Love or Friendship Celebrations

Restaurants Offering Specials for Yourself, Your Loved Ones and Friends

Are you stumped for just the right restaurant to celebrate your love or your friends this Valentine’s Day? Maybe you just need a latte or some ice cream to commiserate or enjoy your friendships with your Galentines or Pal-entines? 

Here’s a list of some restaurants offering special dinners or different menu items for the big day. 

A.O.C. Brentwood, Third Street: Bring your date to AOC for an indulgent pre-fixe dinner by Suzanne Goin. Add a curated wine pairing by Caroline Styne and celebrate your Valentine’s Day with us! $150/person. Reservations here

Baltaire: Brentwood: Valentine’s Day Prix Fixe $195.00 per person. Create lasting memories this Valentine’s Day and treat the one you love to a very special 4-course prix fixe menu at $195 per guest plus a 20% service charge featuring your favorite steaks, seafood, and more. To view our menu, please visit Baltaire.com. A non-refundable $100 per guest deposit is required to book your Valentine’s reservation, which is charged during the booking process. The deposit will then be applied to your payment that evening. Supplemental wine pairing is available at $95 per guest.

Bar Toscana and Toscana: Brentwood: Romance is in full bloom in Brentwood! We’ll be serving up amore and more on Valentine’s Day ~ Wednesday, February 14th. Celebrate with us at Toscana and Bar Toscana, where you can order from our regular menus or enjoy these specials, available whether you’re dining with us or ordering in! Reservations are available for Toscana and Bar Toscana online. 

Birdie G’s – This playful restaurant from Chef/Partner Jeremy Fox loves a good holiday, so bring the kids for an early dinner, enjoy a romantic date, or rally the single pals for a fun night in the “Bird’s Nest” (aka, the bar). There will be plenty of decorations, and guests will be treated to a complimentary rose, Valentine’s Day card, and sachet of Smoked Rose Almonds (a tribute to Jeremy’s “meet-cute” with his wife Rachael). Executive Chef Matthew Schuler and team are cooking up a variety of festive, à la carte specials like Gougères with chicken liver mousse & rose-beet jam, Egg Yolk Raviolo with ricotta & ‘nduja and Fig-Glazed Duck Confit paired with pink & sparkling wines from legendary producers (Champagne Pierre Paillard, Château Peyrassol) or Bar Manager Stephanie Reading’s playful cocktails (a spicy Eros’ Arrow, sparkling Midnight’s Kiss). Reservations are available now on Birdie G’s home page.

Caffe Luxxe Brentwood, Malibu, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades: Mocha amore! Coffee lovers can get their fill through Valentine’s Day with the limited-edition Raspberry Mocha. The only question is: hot or iced? Through February 14th.

Cassia – With Valentine’s Day falling on a Wednesday, the team is extending the celebration until Saturday. From February 14-17, enjoy à la carte specials like Oyster Mushroom Satay with peanut sauce & pickled Chinese cabbage, Singaporean Chili Crab Dip with clay oven bread, Hainanese Chicken Confit with duck fat fried rice, a whole Wok-Tossed Lobster with chilis, scallions, mushrooms & chow fun noodles and more. Not only do these dishes pay homage to Chef/Owner Bryant Ng’s Chinese-Singaporean heritage and to The Spice Table (the first restaurant he opened with Kim Luu-Ng, the love of his life), but they’re a sneak preview of a BIG culinary shift happening in late February. Reservations are available on Cassia’s home page.

Clark Street Bread: Brentwood and Larchmont: Valentine’s Day is coming up. Lots of specials starting tomorrow until V-day. Also, our delicious chocolate cake is available for pre-order online.

Coucou is sold out on Valentine’s Day but still has open tables on February 13 or Galentine’s Day. Lovers, friends & lonely hearts ALL WELCOME! No prix fixe, no cover, regular menu, festive specials on both days, and it’s all first come, first serve, so book your table today. Xoxoxo, Coucou. Coucou was named one of The Infatuations 15 Best Date Night Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Dear John’s: Culver City: Prix fixe Valentine’s Day dinner is $185.00 per person, and a few reservations are still available. 

Esters – This acclaimed wine shop & bar is celebrating all day long. Starting at noon, Sommelier Randall Middleton is pouring Champagne by the glass from magnums to pair with oysters, caviar, and cheese & charcuterie platters. Starting at 5 p.m., Chef de Cuisine Sheyna McCallister is cooking up Prime Rib, served with creamy mashed potatoes & charred broccoli, to pair with a themed wine flight. Reservations are available on Esters’ home page, and walk-ins are welcome.

Huckleberry – Pastry Chef/Partner Laurel Almerinda and team are baking up tons of themed treats for pickup & delivery from February 10-14 that can be pre-ordered now. Highlights include Conversation Heart Cookies that can be customized with your own sweet message, Mini Heart-Shaped Sugar Cookies, a Chocolate Fondue Kit, Chocolate-Covered Harry’s Berries Strawberries, a Lover’s Picnic Basket for 2, and more. The full menu, with links for pre-ordering (with 48 hours’ notice), is available on Huckleberry’s Catering & Events page.

Milo + Olive – Chef de Cuisine Dean Boswell and team are firing up a bunch of cozy, dine-in specials that can be enjoyed à la carte or as a 5-course dinner for $105 (it’s actually a better deal if you plan to order everything). The menu includes Lobster Pappardelle, Half a Dozen Fresh Oysters, Butter Lettuce Salad with Point Reyes blue cheese, breakfast radishes & herbs, and a 9 oz. Wood-Fired Top Sirloin Steak with parsnip purée, aged balsamic & chives, and Head Baker Andrea Shirey’s Strawberry Hibiscus Cake. For those having a romantic night in, the regular menu will be available for takeout & delivery. Reservations are available now on Milo + Olive’s home page, and walk-ins are always welcome.

PLANTA: Brentwood, Marina Del Rey: Galentine’s Day, Grab your girlfriends and head to PLANTA to try out the new Oishii x PLANTA strawberry specials, drink $8 mocktails and cocktails all night long, and indulge in the cult favorite bang bang broccoli and sushi! PLANTA will also be offering a bingo card for those dining in to have a fun activity (per table) while enjoying your meal.

Valentine’s Day: Have a romantic evening at PLANTA with their special Valentine’s Day Prix-fixe menu! Depending on the party size, each table will be allowed to order a select number of items alongside a dessert choice of Strawberry Cheesecake or Black Forest Chocolate Mousse for $65 – for example, tables of two will be able to order five menu items in addition to dessert. 

The Rose Venice: Celebrate Valentine’s Day at The Rose Venice with a special $85 per person pre-fixe menu. Elevate your dinner with supplements, including premium wines and a Valentine’s Day exclusive dessert by Chef Jose Mariscal to make it extra special. Reservations are available here

Rustic Canyon – Chef/Owner Jeremy Fox and team are preparing a “choose your own adventure” 6 or 8-course menu (including a fully vegetarian option) designed to share with loved ones. Highlights include a fresh take on Jeremy’s legendary Peas & White Chocolate dish, as well as Oysters on the Half Shell with pink guava mignonette, Baja Bay Scallops & Sunchokes in XO sauce and Duck Leg Confit with red wine-braised cabbage & rhubarb. Add-ons include black truffles for certain dishes and Sommelier Jenna Isaac’s thoughtful wine pairings. The full menu and link to reservations are on the home page of Rustic Canyon’s website.

Salt and Straw: Brentwood, Abbott Kinney, West Hollywood, Culver City, Larchmont: It’s no secret that at Salt & Straw, we’re passionate about chocolate. And we’re not the only ones–every day, chocolatiers from all over the world pioneer revolutionary techniques and uncover new levels of chocolate-making mastery. Over the years, we’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the most brilliant chocolate artists in the industry, determined to explore a brand new world of chocolate ice cream– and we’re taking this mission to the next level for our  Chocolatiers Series. This year, we partnered with some of the most innovative minds working in chocolate to create the most intriguing chocolate flavors imaginable. With the help of 5 extraordinary chocolatiers from each market where we serve ice cream, we set out to reinvent the iconic heart-shaped box of Valentine’s Day chocolates.

Compartés Cake Batter Chocolate Fudge –a dazzlingly decadent cake batter ice cream, San Francisco’s Dandelion Chocolate –  Dandelion Cocoa Nibs & Frangipane delivering a spoonful of absolute luxury. Exquisito founder Carolina Quijano and her crew of expert chocolatiers created Exquisito Chocolate’s Passionfruit Truffles (v). Portland’s Cloudforest created a love letter to Oregon in the form of Cloudforest’s Cocoa Hazelnut Magic Shell.  Seattle, Washington’s iconic Fran’s Chocolates churns this oh-so-special flavor into existence: sweet and sentimental, our Fran’s Almond Gold Bar flavor. You can order scoops or pints for Valentine’s Day or any day here

Telefèric Barcelona: Brentwood: Tuesday, Feb 13 (All Day) and Wednesday, Feb 14 (All Day): Love at First Bite. Indulge in our exquisite Valentine’s Day tasting menu featuring an elevated selection of 9 delectable and Spanish wine pairing available. You can find the menu here, but it includes strawberry oysters, beef Wellington, and lobster paella.

 Vicini: West Los Angeles: Enjoy a romantic dinner of wine and roses. Chef Lucio is crafting a delightful five-course pre-fixe menu. Options include caviar-topped tartar, rose petal risotto, grilled lobster, and millefoglie alle fragole. Reservations are available here.

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