Wine and Dine Your Valentine

January 31, 2023 – How do I love thee? Let me count the ways… and there are myriad in which one could celebrate this Valentines Day here on the Central Coast. Ah, there are many flowers to pluck from this rose-adorned and hopefully not thorned bouquet. 

Here goes, in no particular order, as randomly as Cupid’s arrows fly. 

The Pocket in Carmel is offering a Galentine’s Day 3-course on Monday, February 13, for $72 pp ++. Menu items include shrimp bisque, beet salad with strawberries and goat cheese, miso maple salmon, duck confit, petit filet, buttermilk panna cotta and chocolate brownie. Reserve on Open Table and add code GDC in notes.

Scheid Vineyards kicks off Valentine’s Weekend with Sweetheart Brunch, on Saturday, Feb 11, from 11am until 1pm, at the Estate Winery Tasting Room in Greenfield. Brunch, live music, wine, and a commemorative glass will start the day off right with your loved one. The purchase of a ticket will enter you in a raffle for a romantic prize! Cost: $30 per person (Club: $24) ScheidBrunch

Estéban Restaurant presents a 5-Course Valentine’s Day Dinner special by Chef Mario Garcia on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, from 4:30 to 8:30pm, $90++.  Menu starts with Saffron Arancini with Tetilla cheese, then a choose from Kale a la Catalana with jamon serrano or Lake Family Forest Farms Roasted Mushrooms and Ad Astra grilled bread. Entrée choices are Surf & Turf with Australian Wagyu bavette, gambas al ajillo, patatas bombas, charred baby carrots and herbed butter, or Pan Seared Pesca de Dia with baby spinach with pancetta, crushed Marcona almonds, black garlic mashed potatoes and truffle butter sauce. Dessert choices are Classic Spanish Flan with mixed berries, glass tuile or “Coffee & Doughnuts” with Valrhona dark chocolate cremeux, espresso gelato. Indulge in After Dinner Petit Fours to wrap up. Wine pairing additional. To reserve, call (831) 375-0176 or email info@estebanrestaurant.com

Chocolate in Santa Cruz is serving an array of small plates, mains and desserts a la carte, so you can sample what you wish. Selections include warm gruyere fondue pot, crab latkes, shiitake pastry, spiced king salmon, strawberry-cayenne roast pork with chocolatey BBQ sauce, green curry coconut shrimp, chanterelle rosettes and chicken and hand-rolled fettucine with parm cream. Desserts include chocolate mint ecstasy and cardamom-chocolate-rose topped cheesecake. Make sure to try one of their new hot cocktails, like Hot-Choco-Coco-Rum. Email to reserve:david@chocolatesantacruz.com

Lucia at Bernardus Lodge goes all out with a Casanova-themed dinner, including Kumamoto Oysters, paired with a champagne-cucumber relish or the Fire Roasted Tomato Bisque served with garlic brioche croutons. Fresh from the organic gardens, the Forbidden Fruit salad blends heirloom apple, endive, candied pecans and local blue cheese with a refreshing fig vinaigrette.  Big Sur foraged mushrooms come into play in the Spiced Butternut Squash Risotto, as do braised leeks and a kiss of pomegranate molasses. For romantics who relish red meat, the Prime Beef Filet served with caramelized onions, confit endive and a black truffle bordelaise is a showstopper as is the local Diver Scallops paired with black sticky rice and a fine-tuned bouillabaisse reduction. Desserts runs the gamut from a Tropical Crémeux with a passionfruit, mango and kumquat ménage to a Dark Chocolate Mousse, crafted with Valrhona Chocolate ganache, sour cherry coulis and toasted hazelnuts. $125++.  This special four-course menu will be featured weekends, February 3-26, 2023. www.bernarduslodge.com. Special cocktails, too. 

Stokes Adobe invites you for a Valentine’s night 6-course prix fixe wine dinner including braised beef short ribs and raspberry-white chocolate eclaire for $125pp from 5pm until 9pm. StokesVDay

Jacks Monterey at the Portola Hotel and Spa invites couples to start their evening with a drink in the cozy fireside bar followed by Jacks 4-course dinner including Bacon Wrapped Lobster and Petit Filet Mignon plus wine pairings. The special dinner is $74.99 pp with optional wine pairings available for $60. See full menu at portolahotel.com.

Quail Lodge and Covey Grill invite you to enjoy a two-night stay in a king suite at Quail Lodge with “Romantic Inclusions and Sweet Treats.” Valentine’s Package available Sunday, February 5 to Friday, February 16, 2023, based on availability. With a minimum 72-hour advance booking online at quaillodge.com using promo code: VDAY, you will receive two nights in a spacious, yet cozy suites accompanied by more than $750 of inclusions like Champagne and Lula’s chocolates and half a dozen red roses and six chocolate-covered strawberries in your fridge upon arrival. Daily Breakfast Basket for Two and In-Room Couples Massage from Spa Adeline. Learn details and book your romantic getaway: QUAILVDay 

Dine at Covey Grill at Quail Lodge: Feb 10 to Feb 14 Enjoy a Valentine’s special prix fixe menu from Friday, February 10 to Tuesday, February 14, from 5:00pm to 9:00pm. Enjoy a “Lovebirds Special” three-course, prix-fixe menu, including two glasses of champagne and two chocolate covered strawberries for $150++ per couple. Reservations are required for dine-in. Learn more about the holiday dining offer at QuailVDayDinner

Shearwater Tavern’s Valentine’s Day menu, created by new chef Fabian Di Paolo is priced at $170 per couple and includes a split of Champagne. Begin with Kumamoto Oyster served with mignonette, Osetra caviar, and sake yuzu gelee, topped with pork rinds crumbs. A first course of Baby Winter Greens with and poppy seed vinaigrette, is followed by an Intermezzo of Passion Fruit and Lime Sorbet. Mains are Wagyu Sirloin accompanied by pomegranate and port wine syrup, golden steak potatoes, and carrot cream drops, served with intertwined shrimp with sage beurre blanc and saffron cauliflower puree; or Black Cod with choco tea and verjus glaze, artichoke puree, roasted baby heirloom tomato, and spinach pesto. For a sweet ending, chef Di Paolo puts his award-winning pasty experience to work with an impossibly rich Flourless Chocolate Cake served with Godiva cremosos and green tea and lime crème fraiche gelato. Space is limited: call (831) 624-1841 or visit opentable.com.

Pacific’s Edge in Carmel offers a three-course prix-fixe Valentine’s Dinner with a stunning view. Start with a choice of scallop and spot prawn carpaccio or vegan zucchini tartare with roasted tomato vinaigrette. There are four delicious entrée choices and dessert options include strawberry shortcake, Frangelico, chantilly cream, and a Valrhona chocolate-covered strawberry or sorbet trio with fresh berries. Price is $125 per person or $175 with wine pairings. Reserve on opentable.com.

Aubergine Carmel presents the splendid mastery of chef Justin Cogley in a 6-course dinner on Valentine’s Day, complete with exquisite wine pairings, including one from our back yard, for $595pp plus 20% charge, plus tax and service. They just reopened and are eager to serve you a feast to remember, including Krug “Grande Cuvée” 170ème Édition Brut Champagne (made from 195 different wines spanning 12 vintages, the youngest of which is 2014), to accompany caviar, allium cream kohlrabi and braised seaweed. A 2016 Riesling from Nahe, Germany sets off the Dungeness crab, mustard, toasted rice and shiso course. In a perfect world, there is Pinot Noir with everything, and in this case, perfection comes in the form of Windy Oaks Proprietor’s Reserve Pinot Noir served with black truffle, sunchoke, crosnes and fried herbs. 1995 Chateau Calon Segur in magnum from St. Estephe is then served with your choice of 32-day dry-aged ribeye or California squab with red rose gremolata, Chanterelles, dandelion greens and rose hip jus. Finish with a dessert of pistachio, white chocolate and winter strawberry, accompanied by Champagne Moussé Fils “La vie en Meunier” Ratafia, made entirely of Pinot Meunier, and retailing for $42.50 for a 500ml if you can find it. AubergineVDay

Fonda Felix presents a Valentine’s Aphrodisiac Dinner at the Doon to Earth Tasting Room (formerly Ser Tasting Room) in Aptos.  The five-course menu with wine pairings is $120 per person. Begin with Nicole Walsh’s welcome drink of Orange Muscat vermouth paired with California oysters and candied basque with peppers mignonette and Big Sur crystal salt with forest oil drizzle. First course is Grenache Rose paired with fish roe cevichito and tangerine with beet causa corn and molle dust. Second is Bonny Doon Orange Wine with poached local cod and dried marigold flowers, achiote and chanterelle risotto crocante and saffron apricot soup. Prepare yourself for the Principal course, served with Cabernet Sauvignon and braised mole ribs and radicchio, with smoked purple yams and Northern CA chimichurri. Finish out the evening with Vermentino and buttermilk goat cheese panna cotta wit candied squash and citrus. 10 Parade Street, Ste B, Aptos. 6pm. Reserve online at the Fonda Felix website.

Persephone in Aptos invites you to spend Valentine’s evening with them as they prepare a special 4-course feast to celebrate your love. Chef Cori has created a beautiful menu with four courses, $85pp. Wine pairing optional. Seating time is 5PM – 9PM. Delight in artichoke, spinach and crab dip to begin, then dig into pork stuffed dill agnoloti with clams served in aurora sauce with braisd fennel. Mains are steak or chicken roulade served with mushrooms and ricotta gnudi with red wine sauce. For dessert, chocolate-passionfruit Bavarian crème. PersephoneVDay

Copal is throwing a fiesta of Oaxacan love for $75 per person, featuring Chef Ana’s tasty treats like black bean soup with corn masa dumplings, a mole sampler and entrees like fried fish, chiles rellenos and pork ribs in adobo. Reserve: CopalVDay

La Posta is opening especially for this night with a prix fixe dinner for $90pp guaranteed to warm your heart and tickle your tastebuds. Menu items include mushroom and fontina crostini; a salad of citrus, crab and avocado; pan-roasted quail with faro; beets with burrata; herbed tagliatelle with foraged mushrooms and green garlic; scallops with fennel puree and hazelnut pesto and duck leg confit with parsnip mash, chicories and golden raisin agrodolce. Dessert options are panna cotta, citrus olive oil cake and chocolate semifreddo with caramel and whipped cream. LaPostaVDay

Mentone invites you to a romantic evening February 14 in Aptos, with a 4-course prix fixe at $115/person, with tempting supplementals. Begin with Beau Soleil oysters and citrus kosho, or choose beef tartare with caviar and Manresa Bread crostini for an additional $30/pp. Then a Brokaw avocado with mustard greens and toasted seeds, followed by your choice of roasted pork collar with black truffle polenta and glazed carrots or mushroom tortellini in porcini brodo with black truffle (add $30 for truffle).  Finish with brown butter almond cake with Cara Cara marmalade and Fior di Latte gelato. Vegetarian options available. MentoneVDay

Burrell School Vineyards is holding a romantic Valentines Dinner at the beautifully set old red schoolhouse on Summit Road on Feb 14^th.  BurrellVday

Cella Restaurant & Bar in Monterey is offering a 3-course Prix Fix for $85 with $45 beverage pairings on Valentine’s Day. CellaVDay

Chez Noir is offering a prix-fixe menu including oysters, chilled shellfish, handmade pasta, fish, dry-aged beef and chocolate tart. Cost is $150 per person and wine pairings may be purchased for an additional cost in advance or at the time of the dinner. ChezNoirVday

In Pacific Grove, chef-owner Soerke Peters at Mezzaluna wants to remind diners that they will be open for Valentine’s Day dinner this year, even though Tuesday is usually one of the days they are closed. The always-romantic regular menu will be available along with some Valentine surprises.

On Tuesday, February 14, the View Restaurant at Chaminade offers a three-course take on contemporary California cuisine, including Kumamoto oysters, heirloom beet salad, chateaubriand with lobster tail, wild king salmon, sous-vide prime fillet, Valrhona chocolate molten cake, and basil panna cotta. Cost is $130 per person with a complimentary glass of champagne and roses for women. Three seating times are available: 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 9 p.m. Reservations for both events can be made at www.chaminade.com.

Sierra Mar Restaurant at Post Ranch Inn offers a five-course shared experience featuring a range of traditional Valentine’s ingredients (including rosemary, lavender, red wine, chocolate, strawberry, and basil) alongside aphrodisiacs (including oysters, watermelon, avocado, salmon, pomegranate, truffles, chiles, vanilla, among others) with luxury items (including foie, caviar, and truffles). Prices start at $185 per person with wine, cocktails, and other beverages additional. Reservations can be made at www.postranchinn.com. 

Folktale in Carmel Valley invites you to celebrate your cherished relations, and all forms of love in your life, with a special prix fixe dinner menu on February 14th. Chef J, and the exceptional culinary team at the Folktale Kitchen, have curated an intimate dining experience for the occasion, and they can’t wait to share it with you! To start, Hot & Cold, Folktale Estate Rosé Granita with Warm Meyer Lemon Foam and Breath of Heaven Oil. Next is the Waldorf Wedge with lemon poppyseed vinaigrette. Your choice of Pave of Prime Niman Ranch NY Striploin, Lobster Infused Yorkshire Pudding, Peruvian Root Vegetables, Sauce Perigourdine or Cast Iron Seared Local Black Cod, Puy French Lentils, Candied Beet Relish, Lobster Tuile, Elderberry Reduction, Lemon Olive Oil or Local Chanterelle Mushroom & Artichoke Risotto, Watercress Pesto, Sauce Romesco, Micro Nasturtium Salad. Two seatings at 5pm and 8pm. Cost: $95pp. Wine by the glass and bottle available for purchase. Call 831-293-7561 with any dietary restrictions & modifications to menu selections. FolktaleVDay