Romance Is a Matter of Course

Restaurateurs and florists often capitalize on the notion of romantic love, but the sales pitch reaches fever pitch on Valentine’s Day.

A four-course “Romantic Interlude” at Palmira Grill suggests that the way to your lover’s heart may be through liver. Foie gras mi-cuit (pink in the middle) is one of two appetizer possibilities (smoked salmon is the other), and roast pheasant with port wine foie gras is one of three entrees (along with rack of lamb for two and tournedos of beef). Dessert choices include a Valentine’s Day heart tart and chef Byron Gemmell’s signature strawberries mascarpone Grand Marnier. $39.95 per person does not include tax or tip but does include a red rose, champagne toast and souvenir color photograph. Served Tuesday from 6 to 10 p.m.

The “Menu for Lovers” at Antoine separates two of its three courses by sex. For hors d’oeuvres, it’s fish for one, fowl for the other--a statement about the human condition? For her, marinated salmon with caviar, salmon tartare with ginger or seared salmon with balsamic dressing; for him, duck salad confit, duck liver terrine or roasted duck breast Orientale. At dessert, frozen nougat with fresh fruit and apricot coulis for her, dark and white chocolate mousse with cherry sauce for him. Both can order the same entrees. $68 plus tax and tip includes a glass of champagne, rose and souvenir photograph. Monday and Tuesday, 6 to 10 p.m.

Friday through Tuesday, starting at 5 p.m., Watercolors offers a three-course prix fixe “Valentine’s delight” that sounds delightfully decadent. In fact, the dessert is called Chocolate Decadence, and it’s a torte made of three types of chocolate served with caramel and fruit sauces and surrounded with white and dark chocolate “tuxedo” strawberries. For the main course, Maine lobster in croustade with lobster sabayon shares the plate with filet of beef perigourdine . It’s $39 per person without tax or gratuity, but the items can also be ordered a la carte.

Last Mango in Newport offers three seatings, at two-hour intervals beginning at 5 p.m., for its four-course vegetarian Valentine’s Day special. There are “romantic pastry puff hearts” in the salad, the entree is vegetarian chicken picatta on eggplant Parmesan with risotto “escorted” by sauteed vegetables, and you might want to read through this dessert more than once: fresh strawberries dipped in white and dark chocolate on Tahitian vanilla bread pudding with homemade caramel in a pool of “angel glaze with Cupid’s hearts” of raspberry coulis . The champagne is nonalcoholic, and the cost of the dinner is $55 per couple, not including tax or tip.

Two definite bargains in this company can be found at Indian restaurants on Valentine’s Day, both starting at 5:30 p.m. More vegetarian Valentine’s fare at Gandhi Indian Cuisine, priced at $21.95 per person plus tax and tip. It’s three courses, but the main course alone includes five dishes: saag paneer, navarattan korma, baigan masala, vegetable biryani and onion kulcha . At Royal Khyber, also three courses, it’s $19.95 plus tax and tip. Entree possibilities include saag lamb (with spinach) and Goan prawn curry (in coconut sauce), and among dessert choices are two puddings, saffron rice with tamarillo sauce and carrot halwa.

There’s more: Carmelo’s Ristorante in Corona del Mar offers all dinner guests complimentary tiramisu made with cherries and Grand Marnier Saturday through Tuesday, and ladies get a red rose on the big day. . . . Sfuzzi in Costa Mesa will personalize your sweetheart’s dessert with a customized message Saturday through Valentine’s Day. . . . Valentine’s Day only, entrees at Amici Trattoria in Costa Mesa include veal chop alla Don Giovanni and lobster alla Casanova.

Amici Trattoria, 655 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa. (714) 850-9399.

Antoine, Sutton Place Hotel, 4500 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach. (714) 476-2001.

Carmelo’s Ristorante, 3520 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (714) 675-1922.

Gandhi, South Coast Plaza Village, 1621D Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana. (714) 556-7273.

Last Mango in Newport, 2900 Newport Blvd., Newport Beach. (714) 723-5778.

Palmira Grill, Atrium Marquis Hotel, 18700 MacArthur Blvd., Irvine. (714) 833-2770.

Royal Khyber, 1000 Bristol St., Newport Beach. (714) 752-5200.

Sfuzzi, Triangle Square, 1870A Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa. (714) 548-9500.

Watercolors, Dana Point Resort, 25135 Park Lantern, Dana Point. (714) 661-5000.

*

Back in the chocolate decadence department, Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop and Soda Fountain celebrates its grand opening with a “For the Love of Chocolate Bake-Off” on Sunday.

Preregister your entry by Friday at noon, then bring your favorite dessert using Ghirardelli chocolate as a prime ingredient to the shop between 9 and 10 a.m. on Sunday; between 3 and 6 p.m., spectators are invited to participate in a free taste test of six types of Ghirardelli chocolate, and the bake-off winner will be announced.

Bake-off participation is limited to the first 25 entrants, and the $25 entry fee will benefit the Orange County chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food. The winner will receive a weekend in San Francisco, including air fare, dinners and accommodations.

Open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The shop is on the lower level of South Coast Plaza near Robinsons-May at 3333 Bristol St., Suite 1831, Costa Mesa. (714) 444-1570.

*

Sneaky Omar’s? Based on news releases from the restaurant, it was reported here last week that Omar Haddad, owner of the new Sneaky Pete’s in Laguna Beach, was an investor in the original Sneaky Pete’s on Sunset Boulevard in the 1960s. Mort Rosen, owner of the original Sneaky Pete’s from the ‘60s through the early ‘80s, however, lives in Laguna Hills, reads Newsbites, and called to say he had never heard of Haddad.

Further conversations with Rosen and Haddad indicate that Haddad was an investor in the property sometime after it changed hands in 1982, when Rosen moved his restaurant to Beverly Boulevard. A sign on the side of the building still read Sneaky Pete’s; Haddad saw it and “liked the name,” he said. But he apologized for any confusion and pledged to avoid implying a link to Rosen’s place in the future. “I will never again say a word,” Haddad said.