5 Fun Places to Say, 'I Love You'
Romantic restaurants don't have to be French. Or expensive
Champagne, roses and an elegant restaurant? That's one way to toast your mate on Valentine's Day. But in a region as diverse as ours, and with a world of dining rooms to choose from, there's more than one way to pull someone's heart strings. The classic French model might suit traditionalists, but not all of us belong to that club (or that income bracket). If over the years I've learned anything about the intersection between matters of the heart and matters of the table, it's that romance and food are very personal.
Restaurant owners are going to take me to task for saying so -- and some diners might, too -- but this Tuesday is really not the night you want to find yourself in a public dining room with your significant other. Why? After Mother's Day, Valentine's Day is the most popular occasion for eating out in this country. February 14 is, in the words of a lot of restaurant workers, an "amateur night." As with other major dining holidays, a lot of restaurants trot out set menus, sometimes at inflated prices, turning what should be an intimate occasion into a group event. Do you seriously want to share your partner with a crowd of strangers?
  Ching Ching Cha waiter Desmond Yim shows a customer the art of tea service. (Allison Dinner) |
I'm not proposing you do nothing to let your significant other know you're in (pick one) like, love or lust with him or her. I'm not even suggesting you steer clear of a place to eat. All I'm saying is be a little creative. Celebrate Valentine's Day right before or after the actual date. Show your mate there's more than one way to woo. Here's some kindling, a few ideas for stoking a fire.
MAYBE IT'S THE LUTE MUSIC. Perhaps it's the handsome rosewood tables, the sunlight pouring in from the skylight or the chance to unwind on big pillows and while away an afternoon with your date over a pot of tea. Everything at Ching Ching Cha (1063 Wisconsin Ave. NW; 202-333-8288), the serene tea house off Georgetown's busy main drag, conspires to put you in a better mood than when you came in. And it has all the makings for a great date -- a lovely setting, more than 60 different teas and a small menu of little dishes to accompany your beverage of choice. The best of the bunch: steamed dumplings stuffed with lamb and cabbage; peanuts tossed with star anise and peppercorns; and curried beef sealed in a packet of puff pastry. "You should always try something new," a waiter with a beatific smile coaches me when I ask for his recommendation. Today I'm sipping an aromatic ginseng oolong, but next time I might try the jasmine blossom, with tight buds that unfurl into what look like flowers as it steeps in its glass of hot water. Tea snacks $1.50 to $4.25.
IF YOU WANT TO SET OFF SOME SPARKS, consider eating oysters, long thought to pump up the libido and certainly one of the most sensual of foods. The late food essayist M.F.K. Fisher referred to the oyster, with its cool shell and slippery center, as "a lusty bit of nourishment." Hank's Oyster Bar (1624 Q St. NW; 202-462-4265) takes its bivalves seriously. The narrow, high-ceilinged restaurant in Dupont Circle offers six or so kinds of oyster on the half shell, and the changing selection reminds fans that oysters taste as different as the waters from which they're plucked. Pointing to a Gold Creek oyster from Washington state on the plate, a waiter promises "a cucumber finish," and he's right on. Six shucked oysters $12.
AS MUCH AS I ADORE Bistrot Lepic the restaurant, I find myself gravitating more often to Bistro Lepic the Wine Bar (1736 Wisconsin Ave. NW; 202-333-0111). Whereas the ground-floor dining room in Georgetown is bright and snug, the second-story lounge is dim and cozy, arranged with chairs that seem to wrap themselves around you and low tables for holding cocktails or "appeteasers." Those would be the small plates of food -- scaled-back versions of the French bistro menu down below -- that make such nice companions to a cocktail or glass of champagne. There are almost 20 dishes from which to put together a meal. Go light with smoked trout salad brightened with grapefruit or tuna carpaccio made refreshing with seaweed salad. Or go classic, with a slab of armagnac-stoked pâté or bacon-laced onion tart in puff pastry. Whatever your pick, there's something to make it more celebratory: 20 wines, thoughtfully offered by the half-glass as well as by the glass and the bottle. Small plates $6.50 to $11.50.
IS A HAMBURGER A TURN-ON? It is when the sandwich is made well and is (relatively) good for you, as it is at Elevation Burger (442 S. Washington St., Falls Church; 703-237-4343). Launched last September, the friendly joint uses as its main draw organic kobe beef, which is nicely seasoned, grilled to retain a juicy center and slipped in a soft yellow bun. Following the same philosophy are the skinny french fries, cooked in heart-healthy olive oil and tasting of real spuds. The milkshakes, on the other hand, are the real deal: rich, thick and served with a fat straw (chocolate is my favorite). Distancing itself from the pack even further, the dining room eschews the bright colors and plastic appearance of most fast-food joints with its blond wood floors, buttery walls and a pale-blue ceiling. Because everything is made to order, your first name will be called once your food is ready -- which is pretty amusing when there are three of you with the same name in the place. "Fast food doesn't have to be junk food," read the servers' T-shirts. Agreed. Burgers $2.29 to $4.36.
LIKE A RELATIONSHIP, pizza is all about sharing and compromise; few of us eat a whole pie by ourselves, after all, and two people deciding what to put on top sometimes drifts into Unselfish Acts Territory. ("Sure, honey, we can add anchovies tonight.") One of the draws at Old Town's Faccia Luna (823 S. Washington St., Alexandria; 703-838-5998) is the seating. I welcome the wooden booths for two, the backs of which are high enough to prevent your eyes from roving away from your companion's. The pizzas are pretty good, too. Diners can order them "red" (with tomato sauce) or "white" (without) in countless variations and in sizes from 10 inches to 14. I tend to splurge on the Florentine with spinach and ricotta or the Piedmontese with sliced meatballs, basil and sun-dried tomatoes. The kitchen's wood-fired oven makes for a nice visual, pleasant aromas and thick pizzas that are pleasantly chewy. The crying in the background reminds me that this mini-chain of pizza parlors (there are others in Arlington and State College, Pa.) is popular with young families early at night. So go later in the evening if you want a little peace with your pie. Pizza $7.45 to $19.
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A self-described "foodie" who suffered from a severe illness last year, Doug Gladstone says one of the hardest parts of being sick was the dietary restrictions. "Now that the illness is abating (although sadly not the limits on what I can eat)," reports the Gaithersburg reader, "my friends want to celebrate with me at one of the area's fanciest restaurants. However, I'm concerned that my inability to eat anything with dairy or drink alcohol will render most of the menu off limits and diminish the celebration." Several kitchen talents want him to know that a memorable meal is possible. A good, properly trained chef "should be able to accommodate almost any whim," says Cathal Armstrong, the chef-owner of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, who has created vegan tasting menus and seasonal fruit juice-based "cocktails" for his guests. R. J. Cooper, the chef at Vidalia in Washington, agrees. At the request of diners, he has prepared food without garlic, sans onions and free of dairy products. Doug Mohr, Vidalia's sommelier, recently added Navarro Vineyards' appealing nonalcoholic grape juices to the drinks list. Similarly, Andrew Evans of the Inn at Easton in Easton, Md., has been asked to devise dishes without peanuts or gluten (though he says his biggest challenge is the couple -- he's a carnivore, she's a vegan -- who come in regularly for a four-course tasting menu and want something different each time). All the chefs interviewed say they prefer advance notice for special requests, usually when the reservation is made. Armstrong and Evans say an early alert gives them time to buy special ingredients and be more creative; Cooper likes to present specials-needs guests with personalized menus.
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