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Eat to Your Heart’s Content With That Special Valentine

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Here are more dining options if you want to participate publicly in the up-coming love fest known as Valentine’s Day.

At the recently opened Emmanuel in Studio City, Thomas Munoz will be serving a five-course Valentine’s Day menu for $48. Course choices include lobster consomme, seared foie gras, roasted rack of lamb and spiny lobster. He also has begun offering breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The breakfast menu includes brunchy dishes, such as lemon pancakes with raspberry syrup ($7), eggs Benedict ($9), frittata with linguica sausage and apple chutney ($11), and onion-crusted sea bass with snow peas.

* Emmanuel, 11929 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; (818) 766-3128.

The Mistral in Sherman Oaks and the newly opened Mistral in Beverly Hills will both be serving a four-course dinner. Diners can choose Atlantic salmon, loup de mer, grilled lamb chops, veal medallions or filet mignon for their main course. The price is $55.

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* Mistral, 13422 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; (818) 981-6650 and 301 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 275-2900.

La Boca del Congo offers diners a three-course menu, with dishes such as oyster ceviche “Viagra,” grilled center-cut pork chop and strawberry short stack with three milks. Pancho Sanchez will entertain you after dinner. Ticket prices range from $75 to $85, depending on how close you sit to the music. La Boca also introduces a lunch menu as of Wednesday, available Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It offers empanada starters ($7.50), calamari ($7.50) and grilled ahi ($12) salads, and sandwiches running from tuna burger ($8.50) to shrimp wrap ($10). Main courses include pan-roasted red snapper ($12.50) and a “leaning tower of pollo” ($10).

* La Boca del Congo, 5370 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.; (323) 938-1696.

Enrico Glaudo has left L’Angolo to cook at Locanda del Lago. It should be an easy transition, since both restaurants have specialized in Northern Italian cuisine. Glaudo sold his share of L’Angolo to his former partner, Antonio Alessi. Glaudo tells us he and Alessi had “two different points of view on how to manage.” Some dishes from L’Angolo might appear at Lago on special. For Valentine’s Day, Glaudo is serving a four-course meal. The entree is either an almond-crusted striped bass with lemon-thyme sauce or a pan-roasted lamb loin with sweet potato puree and raspberry sauce. The price is $59 with appropriate wines, or $39 without.

* Locanda del Lago, 231 Arizona Ave., Santa Monica; (310) 451-3525.

The American Institute of Wine and Food is throwing a Valentine’s dinner at Accents in the Sutton Place Hotel at 6 p.m. Sunday. The five-course dinner, with wines, includes a Yukon potato risotto with lobster medallion, a lamb chop and lamb shank with eggplant lasagna and an almond pear tartlet. The price is $85. Contact Dave Walser at (714) 283-1700 to reserve a space. On Wednesday, Accents is serving two different four-course meals--one for men and one for women (crossovers are allowed--a woman may order a man’s menu, and vice versa). The male main course is filet mignon; the female is salmon. Each menu is $65.

* Accents, Sutton Place Hotel, 4500 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach; (949) 476-2001.

The Belvedere will also offer couples gender-specific Valentine’s Day menus--one menu for women and a different one for men. Each menu has five courses and costs $88. And cross-eating is definitely permitted.

* The Belvedere, Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel, 9882 Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 788-2306.

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Atlantic restaurant is serving a four-course menu of dishes such as belon oysters, lobster cakes, Sonoma rack of lamb, and lobster with a truffle chive sauce. The price is $100 per couple.

* Atlantic, 8256 Beverly Blvd., L.A.; (323) 951-1949.

At Cicada, in the 1928 Oviatt Building downtown, the music of Art Deco & His Society Orchestra accompanies a five-course meal with choices such as roasted fennel soup, mousse of foie gras, artichoke and saffron ravioli, roasted duck breast and a cheese and quince chutney selection. The price is $175 per couple.

* Cicada, 617 S. Olive St., downtown L.A.; (213) 488-9488.

If you go as part of a foursome (or more) to Lavande on Valentine’s night, your table gets a bottle of Moet brut. The menu for the evening is a four-courser for $58. Dishes include lobster bisque, rack of veal and New York steak.

* Lavande, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, 1700 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica; (310) 576-3181.

The Renaissance restaurant adds special Valentine’s dishes including a buffalo chateaubriand with foie gras and red wine sauce for two ($60). It comes with scalloped potatoes, baby zucchini and deep-fried Maui onions. Beluga caviar is also available at $100 an ounce.

* The Renaissance, Manor Hotel, 5930 Franklin Ave., Hollywood; (323) 960-3222.

Be My Homey Valentine: If you don’t want to go out on Wednesday, the Sisley Italian Kitchens (all four locations) continue their tradition of making their gourmet pizzas in the shape of hearts for Valentine’s Day. All 10 types--including the BBQ chicken, goat cheese, cheeseless and prosciutto mushroom versions--will be available heart-shaped. Prices range from $7.75 to $13.65 per 6-inch or 8-inch pie. Pizzas (no matter what their shape) can be taken out or eaten in the restaurant.

* Sisley Italian Kitchen, Westside Pavilion, 10800 W. Pico Blvd., L.A., (310) 446-3030; Valencia Town Center, 24201 W. Valencia Blvd., Valencia, (661) 287-4444; The Oaks, 446 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, (805) 777-7511; and 15300 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 905-8444.

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Angela Pettera can be reached at (213) 237-3153 or at pettera@prodigy.net

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