What did you have for Valentine's Day dinner?

A

amanda_pennsylvania

Well-known member
I cooked steamed mussels with shallots and wine, served with frites and crusty french bread (for sopping up the liquid). Dessert was chocolate mousse with whipped cream and raspberries. Rosé champagne with raspberries (I drank half a bottle). It was all very good.

 
Table for 1 at Amma's Kitchen

The other half had symphony chorus rehearsal and I had a table for 1 at Amma's Kitchen, our neighborhood southern Indian family vegetarian restaurant, to reintroduce carbs to my body before a 15 hour travel day.

Onion Masala Dosa with chutneys and sambar (I had already eaten half of the dosa before I took the picture. It hangs off both sides of the long side of the plate)
Garlic Cilantro Naan
Vegetable Biryani
Rhaita
Lemon Pickle

Heavenly.

Last night there were roughly 50 or so people in the restaurant dining. 48 Indians and 2 Occidentals. One usually knows that ratio is going to get good authentic food.

https://recipeswap.org/fun/wp-content/uploads/Finer_Kitchens/IMAG2544.jpg~original

 
Yum - wish I had dinner at your house:)

Actually - ours was delicious:) But we had another couple over and the wife dislikes heat, most spices, all veggies, etc. Likes meat and potatoes. I served:

Goat Cheese topped w/ fig preserves/crackers
Flank Steak (in our favorite marinade)
Gnocchi that I pan fried in butter (after they cooked)
Caramelized Butternut Squash glazed with maple syrup/hint of curry
They brought a salad
Chocolate Silk Tux Pie with a Walnut Crust

She actually ate everything and liked it:)

 
That is the question, isn't it...

after much trial and error, I make the picture appear by pasting the Direct link in the Image attachment field.

Good luck.

 
DH got home at 7:30, I got home at 8 so he picked up our favorite Chinese takeout. After

a longggg day on my feet and a grueling commute home inching along in stop and go traffic that took 3 times longer than normal, it was great to walk in the house and have dinner ready. He even had the table set and a glass of champagne waiting. He's a good guy -- I think I'll keep him.

 
We had people over on Sunday, so we were kind of sated already. I made lentil soup with vegetables

and a prune clafoutis. (insert fiber joke here.)

 
We went out... not doing that again in the near Valentine future

we were seated 20 minutes after reservation, which is expected on a busy evening, fine.

between the appetizer and the first course we waited for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

I had lost my appetite and almost wanted to skip dinner, ask for dessert and head home, but of course just waited politely

food was great, but they TRULY overbooked the place, it was hell in there, I felt sorry for the staff

 
I feel your pain Sally, we have done that too many times. So now, and even for Mother's Day

we dine at home and go out a few days later or the following week. Food is usually better when the place and staff is not so overbooked.

 
we almost never go out in "big" dates

but yesterday was a tough day, I had a long experiment in the afternoon, Phil had three meetings, we decided it was the perfect excuse to go out

backfired.

oh, well - there's always next year!

 
Having worked in many restaurants as a waiter, I would never go out on Mothers' Day, Valentines, or

New Year's Eve. Expectations are too high, and most restaurants can't handle the extra load very well. They book to the maximum for these once-a-year opportunities. The kitchen can't keep the pace up because there is never a lull to restock. They "tube" as we used to say. In fact, at the worst place I ever worked (TGIFridays) we used to take bets on when the kitchen would tube.

Also, customers try to make a night of it when the restaurant only expects them to tie up the table for an hour or so and the seating gets backed up.

Many stressful memories!

 
Yes exactly, all the same reasons we no longer go out on Valentine's or other major holidays, plus

It seems prices are often higher on those special days.

 
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