Wine, Dine Valentines
Valentine’s Day promises to be a busy night, and although reservations go early, here are some random suggestions for those looking to do some fine dining out with a significant other:
* 71 Palm Restaurant in Ventura will prepare a four-course prix fixe dinner, which it will serve exclusively on Feb. 14. The special menu also will be served with the regular menu on Friday and Feb. 13. The Valentine’s Day special will start with Russian potatoes with two-caviar and creme fraiche or fresh asparagus in puff pastry with truffle butter sauce. Next, a choice of four-onion soup or baby spinach salad with Gorgonzola, bacon and caramelized walnuts. Entree choices are beef tournedos Rossini; risotto with fava beans and roasted garlic; salmon medallions over wild rice pancake with citrus sauce; or roasted duck with pear, ginger and chestnuts. For dessert, fresh berries for two en coupe de chocolat with white and dark Godiva chocolate liqueurs. Valentine’s Day service will begin at 5 p.m. and the restaurant will accept reservations till 10 p.m. Cost: $50 per person. The restaurant is at 71 Palm St., Ventura. For reservations, call 653-7222.
* The Mediterranean-inspired Jonathan’s at Peirano’s in Ventura will prepare a four-course Valentine’s Day dinner special that will be offered alongside regular menu service. The special will begin with a choice of seared shrimp and scallops, topped with a fresh lemon-mango chutney or stuffed mushroom caps that feature prosciutto and artichoke hearts, topped with melted fontina cheese. The second course offers a choice of spicy Portuguese crab bisque or Mediterranean chopped salad with oregano-garlic vinaigrette. Entree choices: veal chop stuffed with Bourin cheese, mushrooms and herbs finished with a pan-roasted garlic demi-glace; or fresh escolar, marinated with lemon-cilantro oil, char-grilled and served on a bed of grilled eggplant and fresh leeks, finished with a roasted red pepper and black olive compound butter. Dessert will be “a symphony in chocolate” with vanilla ice cream or pears poached in cassis, port wine and fresh cinnamon. Cost: $38 per person. The restaurant is at 204 E. Main St., Ventura. For reservations, call 648-4853.
* Petrucci’s Ristorante Italiano in Camarillo will offer its four-course Valentine’s Day dinner at four seatings. An appetizer of ravioli Valentino will be dressed with a red and white sauce, followed by mixed green salad with red wine vinaigrette. Choice of entree: salmon Dolcezza (a fillet sauteed in a light four-herb sauce); lamb del amore (full rack of chops served in traditional Tuscan mushroom sauce); pollo sospiri (chicken with prosciutto, Parma ham, mozzarella and sweet basil served in a chardonnay sauce). The meal concludes with a selection of desserts. Seatings and prices per person: noon and 5 p.m., $29.95; 7 and 9 p.m., $34.95. The restaurant is at 2503 Ventura Blvd., Camarillo. For reservations, call 482-1022.
* Each Valentine’s Day weekend at Le Rendezvous Restaurant in Newbury Park, Francois Zanni Jr. offers just one special preparation along with his regular French continental menu fare: medallions of filet mignon with shrimp St. Valentine featuring a Pinot Noir wine sauce. It is prepared with both a seafood and a beef stock to accommodate both of the entree’s main ingredients. “You don’t want to overpower either flavor so when you take a bite of the beef or the seafood you want a nice mellow flavor as opposed to a strong fish or a big, strong beef flavor,” Zanni said. The dish will be served with garlic mashed potatoes, a fresh vegetable, plus soup or salad. The meal opens with a mousse of filet mignon appetizer. Cost: $23.75 person. The dish will be served Feb. 12-14. The restaurant is at 1282 Newbury Road, Newbury Park. For reservations, call 498-1019.
* Executive chef Nick Blinoff at Westlake’s Mandevilla Restaurant has drafted a list of a la carte preparations that will complement the upscale eatery’s continental cuisine on Valentine’s Day. Included: braised lamb shanks in an Italian red wine sauce served over Parmesan mashed potatoes ($16.95); poached Atlantic salmon with asparagus and chanterelle mushroom sauce ($17.50); and a dessert roulade of chocolate fudge cake with a Kahlua mousse ($4.95). The restaurant is at 951 S. Westlake Blvd., Westlake, just south of the Ventura Freeway. For reservations, call 497-8482.
* The Secret Garden in Moorpark will have two seatings, 5:15 and 8:15 p.m., on Feb. 13 and 14. The Valentine’s Day indulgence at this old ice cream shop-turned-tony restaurant will consist of a six-course prix fixe dinner and includes wines and champagne. The dinner opens with a corn pancake topped with smoked salmon and beluga caviar, then lobster bisque, mixed green salad and passion fruit sorbet. Entree options: pan-seared filet mignon in a black truffle demi-glace sauce with wild mushrooms and watercress; grilled Tahitian escolar encrusted in black pepper with fresh herbs and sauteed leeks; chicken capanato (chicken breast surrounded by filo pastry with a light Vidalia green onion sauce); and meatless dishes that include vegetarian and pasta preparations. The dessert will be a “chocolate surprise.” Cost: $195 per couple. The restaurant is at 255 E. High St. For reservations, call 552-9523.
Rodney Bosch writes about the restaurant scene in Ventura County and outlying points. He can be reached at 653-7572, fax 653-7576 or by e-mail at: rodney.bosch@latimes.com.