Sourced from Provence
With Dine Out Vancouver wrapping up this weekend (until February 4, 2018), the next big eating occasion out for Vancouverites will be Valentine’s Day. For those wanting to celebrate their love over a lovely multi-course meal, the city offers many restaurants eager to woo you with their culinary prowess.
Here are six establishments that have put together unique and sumptuous menus for paying tribute to the day of hearts.
Wildebeest
This sexy Gastown establishment (120 West Hastings Street), with its exposed brick and long tables, exudes romance. Wildebeest‘s Valentine’s Day menu this year ($69 per person plus tax and gratuity, $35 per person for wine pairings) is a four-course culinary adventure, starting with a choice between crab salad, salt-baked celeriac, or duck carpaccio. The second course is handmade ravioli with 36-month aged comté, burnt onion consommé, and thyme oil. The mains will seduce with winter comfort, with selections like porcini risotto, seared ling cod with smoked mussels, game lasagna, and Cache Creek flat iron steak. Make sure to leave room for Earl Grey panna cotta for dessert. Toast your love with the Final Rose cocktail, a mix of sparkling wine, muddled raspberries, aperol, rose water, and lemon.
Rocky Mountain Flatbread
If you want a night out together and don’t want to spend too much, Rocky Mountain Flatbread (1876 West 1st Avenue; 4186 Main Street) is offering a very affordable $30 (per person plus tax and gratuity) three-course Valentine’s Day dinner menu centred on Koko Monk Chocolate pairings. Better yet, each course has a vegan/gluten free option. The night begins with a Bliss Fix (passion fruit raw chocolate) and a salad (fig and goat cheese, basil and blackberry, or fresh herb salad). Next, choose any handcrafted traditional flatbread pizza or featured organic pasta with local seasonal vegetables (paired with Diablo Del Amar, a mango tequila raw chocolate with chili). And last but not least, enjoy a signature Rocky Mountain Flatbread warm double chocolate brownie (trust me, it’s good), vegan apple cinnamon crumble, or baked cheesecake with gluten free toasted coconut crust. The dessert comes paired with Flirt (a salted caramel raw chocolate with almond, cashew, and organic red rose petals). Plus, if you want to celebrate with the kids, there’s a three-course kiddie menu ($12.95 per child plus tax and gratuity) with a Hershey kiss with each course. They’ll get a drink or veggie monster bowl to start, followed by monster pizza or pasta, and a warm chocolate brownie with house-made ice cream or one scoop of vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
Homer Street Café and Bar
At the end of last year, Homer Street Café and Bar (898 Homer St) fully reopened after recovering from flood damage. I went there with my boyfriend and the food is as top-notch as ever. This Valentine’s Day, the menu relies on beloved and reinvented favourites in a three-course menu ($65 per person plus tax and gratuities, $35 per person for wine pairings). The appetizer consists of a choice between cured beef heart with beet tartare, cornichon and egg yolk or seared tuna with fennel, trout roe and pomegranate. The entrée is either elk Denver Leg or steelhead with mussel & leek chowder and pork lardon. And make sure to save room for either chocolate pudding or creamy potted lemon curd. The regular menu is also available.
Provence Marinaside
At nearly sweet sixteen, Provence Marinaside (1177 Marinaside Crescent) has definitely proven its longevity as a popular water-side Yaletown fixture. Take in the romance of French cuisine and the spectacular views this February 14th with their seven-course Tour d’Amour dinner ($92 per person plus tax and gratuities, $40 for BC wine pairings, $65 for French wine pairings, and $95 for champagne pairings). This is certainly a romantic meal to remember. After your chef-created amuse bouche, you’ll move onto fresh oysters with smoked herring caviar and fresh lemon, and then Argentinian prawn consommé, followed by Dungeness crab and bay scallop spinach cannelloni. After a palate cleansing sorbet, you’ll indulge in a double cut Australian lamb chop pôele or truffle infused Mediterranean seabream. The tour d’amour ends with a grand marnier and orange zest custard with candied blood orange, served with house made macarons and Thomas Haas chocolates. Credit card reservations are required.
Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar
Photo Credit: Leila Kwok
Executive Chef Alex Chen and his team at Boulevard (845 Burrard St) are pulling out all the stops for the 14th with a five course menu ($110 per person plus tax and gratuity, $75 or $95 per person for wine pairings) that even has a take-home sweet treat for enjoying together later. Begin with an aphrodisiac amuse bouche of a poached Joyce Point oyster before moving onto kanpachi with cucumber and champagne gelée, dill cream, brown butter crouton, and Northern Divine Caviar. The second course moves away from seafood to pâté en croute consisting of Yarrow Meadow duck, foie gras, venison, porcini, blood orange marmalade, and pistachio. Then, feast on either prime New York striploin or roasted sablefish with lobster miso chowder. Finally, the last decadent course entails either dark chocolate mousse or white chocolate and rose panna cotta. And, savour a box of petits fours that you can take home.
TWG Tea
Photo Credit: TWG Tea
TWG Tea (1070 West Georgia Street) unveils an exceptional Valentine’s Day Set Menu celebrating the ethereal romance of the season. To start the multi-course set menu, guests will sip a signature Bain de Roses tea infused sparking wine cocktail. A tantalizing Altlanic lobster main course that follows, featuring Hokkaido scallops and served with a sea urchin emulsion, is bound to impress. To complete the menu, TWG Tea is showcasing an inspiring sweetheart meringue with fresh berries, dressed with Mon Amour Tea Yuzu curd, and decorated with Champagne lychee pearls and candied rose. The Valentine’s Day Set Menu is available for lunch and dinner from February 1-14 (weekdays from 10am-7pm and weekends from 10am-8pm), priced at $58 per person. On February 14, the menu will be available for extended hours from 10am-9pm, with diners enjoying a special surprise!
Make sure to reserve as soon as you can at any of these restaurants, since time slots are filling quickly.
