EAT BEAT

Procrastinator’s Special: Valentine’s Day

EAT BEAT’s guide for slackers who have failed to make their V Day dinner reservations.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Feb 07, 2011 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

A couple weeks ago we gave you 7+ places to dine with your sweetie on the annual night when love is given a monetary value. But chances are you’re like most procrastinating partners and, with one week to go, you have neglected to make plans. To help you get your romantic act together, we’ve called out 7 more options—one for each day you have left until someone you love gets really pissed because his/her Valentine’s Day dinner consists of frozen pizza and Pabst.

din din Seatings at 7:30pm

There’s never been a better reason to join Courtney Sproule for her monthly supper club. On V Day (as well as the 12th and 13th), servers will be clad in dresses and heels and suits and ties as they serve a super sexy five-course menu paired with wines. The setting is a lace, candle, and pearl-adorned Art Department, and a menu teaser includes orange flower water-scented gougères with gorgonzola dolce mornay, mussels and treviso with Sauternes sabayon and prosciutto, and Armagnac truffle and wildflower honey pot de crème. $75/person; make reservations at 971-544-1350 or courtney@dindinportland.com.

The Heathman Restaurant & Bar Seatings at 6:30pm

Feast your eyes on the film Chocolat as you indulge in a luscious five-course tasting menu that includes tourchon of foie gras, lobster ravioli, roast squab, and lamb loin, along with wine pairings. If you close your eyes, you might even be able to pretend that your dining partner is Johnny Depp or Juliette Binoche. $75/person; reservations required.

Olympic Provisions Singing Salamigram

What better way to get your beloved in the mood (or make up for a lame dinner reservation) than five logs of cured meat on sticks? Each salami bouquet is delivered by the lead singer of The Tumblers, who will be singing an original song as he hands over the goods. I’ll leave the hide-the-salami jokes to you. $75; order at 503.954.3663 or info@olympicprovisions.com.

Fenouil 4-9pm

Carnivores and carniphobes will both find something to love here. Fenouil is offering two five-course dinners with optional wine pairings. One includes flesh-based fare like ahi tuna tartare, seared dayboat scallop, roasted duck breast, and natural shoulder tenderloin, while the other is 100-percent veggie viand with an heirloom beet and bleu cheese salad, rutabaga-apple soup, housemade fromage blanc tortellini, and roasted abaone mushroom. $65/person; reservations recommended.

Metrovino 4pm-close

Executive chef Greg Denton and his chef de cuisine Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton just got hitched this past fall. Inspired by their own long-time love affair, they’re offering a few updated classics on Valentine’s Day, along with the regular dinner menu. Think Oysters Rockefeller, Dungeness Crab Louie, grilled chateaubriand for two, and milk chocolate mousse parfait with honey-pistachio panna cotta, dark chocolate-pistachio crumble, and bruléed banana. You can also get très romantic sparkling cocktails such as the Seelbach and the French 75. Reservations recommended.

Pizza

Okay, so I didn’t mean to knock pizza in my intro. In addition to its affordability, it’s probably one of the tastier and more intimate meals you can eat—who can play games or keep their walls up when they have sauce on their nose and strings of cheese hanging from their mouth? Three great options that are open on Monday include Apizza Scholls (the Tartufo Bianco should make anyone willing to take their clothes off), Ken’s Artisan Pizza, and Dove Vivi. See websites for hours.

St. Honoré Boulangerie

Maybe you have the kind of lover who really would rather stay in and eat frozen Italian pie, drink beer, and watch 90210. If so, you can still give the night an air of romance with an extra-special, French-inspired sweet something, such as a gâteau chocolat framboise (a heart-shaped flourless chocolate cake topped with vanilla buttercream and fresh raspberries) or an assortment of meringué aux fraises, bite-size rosettes of strawberry meringues made with tangy bits of freeze-dried strawberries. Or get both—after all, Gossip Girl is on too. See website for locations and hours.

Other romantic locales* for dining à deux: Aquariva, Beast, Bluehour, Castagna,Cinetopia/Vinotopia, Clyde Common, The Country Cat Dinnerhouse & Bar, Departure, DOC, East India Co. Grill & Bar, Fin, Grüner, Le Pigeon, Lincoln, Little Bird, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Nostrana, The Painted Lady, Paley’s Place, Pix Pâtisserie, Salty’s, Saucebox, St. Jack, Urban Farmer, and Yakuza.

*Sorry—no guarantees that there are still seats available.

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Tags: Food News, Holiday Events, local, valentine's day, romantic

7+ Valentine’s Day Dining Options

Our tips for a handful of cool places to eat on the night when love is given a monetary value.

Posted by: Anna Sachse on Jan 26, 2011 at 08:00AM 1 Comments

Pix Pâtisserie’s St. Honoré for St. Valentine’s

Pix Pâtisserie Mississippi location, 7am-midnight; Clinton location, 11am-midnight

Speed up getting to the good stuff by skipping dinner and going straight for dessert. Both Pix locations will be serving extra special treats, such as the St. Honoré for St.Valentine—puff pastry with raspberry pastry cream, chocolate-covered pop rocks, crème Chantilly, and rose macarons, topped with fresh raspberries and a red rose petal. You might even consider dessert for breakfast when you hear that this Valentine’s Day, a single box of chocolate at each location will also include a pair of diamond stud earrings!

Fin Seatings at 6 & 8pm

If your mission is a night than can never be repeated, this is just the ticket. When the last dinner plates are cleared on Valentine’s Day, Portland’s first small-scale artisan seafood restaurant will flip to its “closed” sign for good. Chef Trent Pierce is keeping the menu a secret right now, but is willing to admit planning an all-sea-creature five course feast (think uni, butterfish, oysters, scallops, multiple caviars, and more), with new preparations and a number of surprises. Says Pierce: “I want to make sure this is going to be a wonderful memory for all of those who attend.” $65 per person, with optional wine pairings; reservations required.

Yakuza Seatings at 5:30 & 8pm

Bring sexy back, Japanese-style, with this popular izakaya’s five-course prix fixe dinner inspired by the color red. Lovers can feed each other the likes of blood orange scallop ceviche, salmon tataki seared with citrus oil and finishing salt, braised pork cheek with cauliflower puree, chèvre, and ancho chili oil, and homemade ice cream—but shouldn’t, because watching other people feed each other is seriously off-putting. Not that you’ll notice, because you and your hot stuff will be downing Meyer Lemons (grilled meyer lemon, Aviation, shiso, salt, and honey) in preparation for a little puckering up. $50/ person, with wine and sake pairings for $25/person; reservations recommended.

Lincoln 5:30pm-close

Yes, yes, Tasty n Sons may be the new favorite… son in the N. Williams HUB, but, for me, Lincoln is still where the heart is. On V Day they’re offering a simple-y perfect three-course sampling of their fresh, elemental cuisine. Everyone ends their meal with a bittersweet chocolate terrine with vanilla anglaise and kumquat conserva, so it’s only a matter of choosing from five appetizers and five entrées. Perhaps the rillions and dates with pumpkin conserva, grain mustard, and bruschetta, followed by the braised duck leg with green lentils, black trumpet mushrooms, and lacinato kale. And a cocktail or three, of course. $50/person; reservations recommended.

Beast Seatings at 6 & 8:45pm

Treat your sweet to all the meat they can eat! In the name of love, one of Portland’s most carnivorous canteens is opening their doors on a rare Monday to offer a sumptuous four-course dinner, carefully paired with five wines. We don’t know what’s on the menu yet, but we know it will be elegant, creative, delicious, and, somewhat appropriately, appreciative of the flesh. $100/person; reservations required.

DOC Seatings at 6 & 8:30pm

Do you like to be teased? Netarts Bay oysters with a rosewater mignonette, bison carpaccio with arugula and farm egg, dungeness crab and meyer lemon risotto, stuffed rabbit with winter lettuce and toasted faro, trumpet mushroom, kale & truffle lasagna topped with fried farm egg, and pear sfoglia with honey caramel ice cream. Hopefully you have teensy DOC’s number on speed dial because these are but a whisper of the dishes they’ll be serving as part of their six-course tasting menu, for only $65 per person! Seriously—it’s almost naughty. $65/person, with optional wine pairings for $40/person; reservations required.

Cinetopia/Vinotopia Restaurant open 11:30am-10:30pm

There’s nothing that says “date night” like dinner and a movie, and Cinetopia is by far the region’s best movie theatre, thanks to plush Ultra Leather extra-wide seats, extra leg room, top-of-the-line audio, and spectators who don’t talk on their cell phones. Typically the Monday night ticket prices might seem spendy, ($10.75 for standard movies; $14 for 3D), but on Valentine’s Day, it’s a steal. The theatre also has an upscale American grill called Vinotopia, which will be offering a four-course V-Day menu, as well as their Wine Spectator award-winning automated wine tasting system that allows patrons to sample over 100 different wines from around the world, an ounce at a time. You might need to get a little drunk if you plan to see Black Swan. Restaurant reservations recommended.

Other places where you’ll find a romantic repast: Aquariva, Bluehour, Castagna, Clyde Common, The Country Cat Dinnerhouse & Bar, Departure, East India Co. Grill & Bar, Fenouil, Grüner, The Heathman Restaurant & Bar, Le Pigeon, Little Bird, Metrovino, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Nostrana, The Painted Lady, Paley’s Place, Salty’s, Saucebox, St. Jack, and Urban Farmer.

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Tags: Food News, Holiday Events, local, valentine's day, romantic