AN ENCHANTED EVENING : ROMANTIC SPOTS FOR WINING AND DINING YOUR VALENTINE

Dinner out on Valentine’s day can be a romantic, personal way of saying “I love you,” if the ambiance is right. For a tender, heart-to-heart exchange, you need a spot that’s attractive, comfortable, quiet and above all, private.

Here are some possibilities:

JW’s at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel, 700 Convention Way, Anaheim, is an elegant restaurant, with the dining room artfully divided into many alcoves, nooks and separate salons that give a sense of privacy.

The beautifully appointed, lace-covered tables; the mirrors and oil paintings on the walls and the luxurious seating add to the feeling of being in a gracious home, rather than a crowded restaurant.

JW’s menu is a la carte, with entrees averaging $20 and varying from steamed lobster in wild mushroom sauce to veal medallions with ginger root and lime. Often, there’s also a walk on the wilder side with specials of elk, rabbit and boar. Hors d’oeuvres include large shrimp sauteed with a red pepper sauce, and escargots with tarragon sauce.

Finish your dinner with Grand Marnier souffle, chocolate-covered strawberries filled with Grand Marnier, or select from a glorious pastry tray.

Lovely extra touches at this restaurant include a sorbet intermezzo before your entree, a brass “tree” of chocolates after dinner, and a rose for the lady as you depart.

If you really want to get away from it all, how about a gourmet picnic and gondola cruise in Newport Harbor, arranged through Irvine Coast Charters ((714) 675-4704). Cruises can be reserved anytime from 10 a.m. until midnight.

Quiet electric motors power the graceful gondolas, and your gondolier will either give you a guided tour or remain discreetly silent (tell him your pleasure) during the 2 1/2-hour cruise.

Lean back, pop the cork on your iced bottle of champagne and enjoy. Your plentiful picnic begins with clam chowder, kept hot in a clamp-top ceramic tureen, and continues with spicy, hot herb chicken, quiche, French bread and butter and cheeses. Belgian chocolates top off the meal.

It’s all nicely presented with earthenware plates, glass champagne glasses and cloth napkins. There’s even a rose for your date. The cost for the individual chartered cruise: $180 for two, plus gratuity to the gondolier.

For a more modestly priced evening and well-prepared Continental cuisine, reserve one of the curtained booths at LeCarillon, 2555 W. La Habra Blvd., La Habra ((714) 526-1200). The booths are private, the service by tuxedoed waiters efficient.

Wood ceilings and walls give the restaurant a mountain inn ambiance, but white-clothed tables lend a formal touch. There’s wine only, from a well-rounded list of imports and California labels, and selections are priced reasonably, from $12.

All entrees are served with soup or mixed salad, vegetable of the day and rice, but there are little bonuses: a tiny complimentary glass of kir for starters, and a taste of creamy fettuccine Riviera before your entree.

Main courses include scallops St. Jacques, frog legs forestiere, tournedos Escoffier, veal Florentine, bouillabaisse, plus nightly specials, including fresh seafood. Complete dinners are $12 to $17.95.

At Le Carillon you may also order such appetizers as steak tartare , beef satay or chicken curry and chutney in a puff pastry shell. Desserts prepared by Chef Chart Chamcharas include creme caramel and fresh strawberries with creme Grand Marnier.

A private room can be yours for both dinner and a play at the Celebrity Terrace of the Harlequin Dinner Playhouse, 3505 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana ((714) 979-5511).

In the eight prettily furnished little dining rooms, located above the rest of the theater, curtains may be drawn for privacy. There’s even a button to ring for your waiter.

With its own a la carte menu, the Terrace offers entrees ($18 to $21) ranging from chicken Veronique to veal piccata or steak Diana flambe. Appetizers include escargots Bourguignon, while desserts feature bananas Foster or cherries jubilee, flamed at tableside.

You pay $15 for your ticket plus the cost for your dinner. (Salad, entree and dessert average about $32 per person.)

Since these rooms book quickly, you may have to stretch your Valentine’s celebration at the Harlequin until after Friday. One possibility would be Sunday champagne brunch. Here your complete meal is $8.95 to $13.95 for fresh fruit, Danish pastries, blueberry muffins and your choice of such entrees as omelets, filet mignon and eggs and eggs Benedict.

The current Harlequin production is “Alone Together.”

If privacy is what you want, the best buy can be found at any of the nine Stuart Anderson’s Black Angus Restaurants in Orange County. Although the lounges are bustling, the dining areas are structured with tables completely partitioned from one another with smoked glass or upholstered walls. For such busy restaurants, they are amazingly quiet.

Prices range from $6.95 for shrimp or crab salad to $14.95 for lobster and prime rib or sirloin steak.

In between, you may choose chicken breast marinated in herb sauce and charbroiled; two different catches of the day at $8.95 and $10.95; prime rib, regular cut, $8.95; rancher cut, $10.95, and combinations of shrimp and prime rib, prawns and prime rib.

All entrees at the Black Angus are served with soup or salad; baked potato, fries or pilaf and hot bread. Each restaurant has a full bar and small wine list. Most take reservations. You’ll find locations in Mission Viejo, Lake Forest/El Toro, Santa Ana, Tustin, Garden Grove, Anaheim, Fountain Valley, Fullerton and Buena Park.

Floral tapestry and wine-colored upholstery lend elegance to the eight secluded booths at La Chinoise, 23600 Rockfield Blvd., Lake Forest ((714) 830-9984). This is a restaurant for leisurely dining, with piano music creating a soothing background, fresh flowers brightening both the room and the table. Waiters in tuxedos serve you, and although the presentation is Continental and the sauces light, the preparation and seasonings originate in the Cantonese area of China.

Full dinners, priced from $12.50 to $25, include both soup and Chinese chicken salad and such entrees as scallops with baby corn, mushrooms and carrots; a nest of fried rice noodles filled with shrimp, scallops, lobster, crab and quail eggs; filet of beef in oyster sauce.

Lunch brings forth an entirely different menu. Highlights include a fresh vegetable medley with mushrooms and baby corn; a noodle dish mingling beef, chicken, shrimp and two kinds of mushrooms; and shelled Alaskan king crab sauteed in oyster sauce. Prices range from $5.50 to $15.There’s a full bar and well-selected wine list.