Wine and Dine Your Valentine

After New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day is the second worse night to dine out. Expectations are high, menus are fixed, everyone is rushed and stressed, and overall quality of food and experience is diminished. To make matters worse, this year it falls on a Saturday, already one of the busiest nights for many establishments.

As the Beverage Director/Sommelier at Michael Mina’s Aqua in San Francisco, I saw it all – celebrities, drunks, liars and cheats – along with genuinely nice, warm, and friendly guests. We were open for lunch and dinner, so I often pulled double shifts. I will never forget one Valentine’s Day, when a winemaker had us put a ring in his then girlfriend’s dessert. I was table-side when he proposed! Earlier that day, a regular business executive came in for lunch with his girlfriend. Then he came for dinner with his wife. Thankfully I didn’t say, “So nice to see you again, sir.”

Why deal with all of this chaos, mayhem, and madness? It is hard to relax, to slow down, to focus on each other with all this bad energy swirling around. What is a savvy somm or foodie to do? Stay in and prepare a sensual feast at home.

 Here are a few suggestions for a sensual feast at home.

 Dress to Impress

Wear fabrics that are soft to the touch, such as cashmere, lamb’s wool, or silk. Don’t overdo it with fragrance. The aromas of sensual foods mixed with your own natural pheromones should do the trick.

Use soft lighting and candlelight. Set out a single rose and a bowl of apples. Play soft, soothing romantic music from Chopin, Will Downing, Enya, Joao Gilberto, Diana Krall, Luis Miguel, or your favorite artist. Place large, overstuffed pillows in a semi-circle around platters of the following food and drink.

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 Appetizers

Toasted almonds, pistachios, grapes, dates, fennel bits, truffled popcorn, oysters, or caviar

Risotto with truffles and Champagne, Lamb Chops, Steak au Poivre, Roasted Quail or Duck Confit

Mango slices, raspberries, candied orange slices, and Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Syrup

May the sensual pleasures of wine, food, and good living enrich your daily life.