Things to do on Valentine’s Day 2010 in Dallas-Fort Worth

by Teresa Gubbins

• Tweet
• Email
• Print
• 3 Comments

Valentine's events are becoming more popular than Christmas and New Year's.

Hello young lovers, whoever you are, if you're looking for a big fat list of things to do on Valentine's Day 2010, you've come to the right place. With 189+ events in Dallas-Fort Worth, Valentine's Day is hotter than it's ever been -- and that list doesn't [yet] include the movie of the same name, opening on February 12.

Local restaurants and shops say that, from a wining-and-dining perspective, the popularity of this Red-Letter Day is on its way to surpassing other, more storied holidays.

"Valentine's Day has become as big as Christmas, with people buying cheese and wine and chocolate," says Michael Perlmeter, owner of Molto Formaggio in Highland Park Village, whose Cheese, Wine, and Chocolate Lover's Class on February 11 is almost sold out.

Glenn Hartzel, a manager at Chamberlain's Fish Market Grill, says that Valentine's Day is bigger, even, than New Year's Eve.

"My manager and I were talking about the fact that people won't go out anymore on New Year's Eve, but for some reason Valentine's Day is OK," he says. "Maybe it's because of the perception that on New Year's, you'll get popped with a DUI."

What day it falls on is also a factor; this year's Sunday Valentine's Day gives restaurants an entire Valentine's weekend. Some restaurants such as Tre Amici, Coast Global Seafood, Hotel St. Germain, and Bailey's Prime Plus Steakhouse are beginning their Valentine's Day observance as early as Tuesday. On the flip side, Charlie Palmer extends it right through to Monday.

Let the romance begin:

Work up an appetite

Love Your Lane Valentine's Day Bike Ride, the first Bike-Friendly Oak Cliff ride of 2010, will be a leisurely tour with participants decorating their bike or dressing up in their favorite love-themed costume (cupid, cherub, love bug, Queen of Hearts, etc.). Prizes! Including a B.F.O.C. Valentine T-shirt.

Start wining

Valentine’s Day Wine Trail visits eight Grapevine wineries.

They'll each dispense three one-ounce tastes, a bottle of wine, wine glass, and food samplings.

Get treats

Bronwen Weber, world-famous owner of Dallas-based Frosted Arts & Studio, is doing "baby cakes" and gold-dusted chocolate-covered strawberries. What are baby cakes, you ask? They're a spin-off of the cupcake trend that has swept the nation.

Call 214-760-8707 or e-mail bronwen@frostedart.com. Be sure to do it by February 13 -- that's the cut-off date.

Lift your pinky

Caviar and Champagne Tasting and Class lets you get a jump on the holiday early-early.

Gwen Baird, from Petrossian Caviar, will teach how to differentiate between American white and Siberian sturgeon caviars and school you on the etiquette, too.

Get classy

After a reception with a "Valentini" (Valentine + martini, of course), chef Richard Chamberlain will present a demonstration of a quartet of dishes -- shrimp strudel, goat cheese salad, beef Wellington, and chocolate peanut butter pie -- which will then be paired with highly ranked wines.

Get entertained

Leave it to a married couple to come up with a Valentine’s Day show that focuses on NOT having sex. Andy and Joleen Mullins riff on marriage, friendship, mid-life crises, and absurdities of relationships.

Get depressed

Nothing says romance like a story about two young lovers who both end up dead.

And what better place to feel their pain than Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, which itself has cupid statuary.

Get swanky

Sunday night, Ricki Derek offers his trademark old-school take on this most romantic of days with a combination performance and screening of Casablanca at the Lakewood Theater.

DINING

Start with brunch

Maximo's brunch not only has $2 mimosas, blueberry mimosas, blood orange mimosas & pomegranate mimosas, but also a dessert station with tres leches cupcakes, Mexican donuts, chocolate-covered strawberries, margarita cheesecake, vanilla flan, blueberry empanadas, and eclairs filled with caramelized apple mousse. We're in!

Surf versus turf

Bolla is one of the many restaurants ordinarily closed Sundays which will open specifically for this Valentine's Day. Chef David Bull has two tasting menus, you can only pick one: 1. lobster & Champagne or 2. steak & mushrooms.

Sexy-sexy

Read the menu at Sangria slowly for maximum effect: butter leaf lettuce with haricot vert and crispy lobster, mushroom soup with sherry cream, lamb chops, and minted white chocolate bombe.

Sparkling sushi

Dinner at Nobu includes a complimentary glass of Veuve Cliquot champagne.

Bubbly is as good as, if not better than, sake, as an accompaniment to sushi.

Punny romance

Oceanaire clearly takes the view that laughter is an aphrodisiac. Its menu includes "I Love You Foie Ever!" foie gras, "Love Birds" quail, "Love Potion #9" lobster bisque, and a sweetbreads dish called "Offally Sweet." Offal stuff.

Valentine classic

Craft assembles the archetypal Valentine's meal with lamb, black cod, and of course chocolate. Specifically: chocolate pavlova, a large, crunchy meringue often filled with fresh fruit. Other desserts include roasted pineapple and banana tart, and Craft's signature ice cream and sorbet tasting.

Keep your glasses

The Place at Perry's four-course meal for two comes with a bottle of wine and a pair of hand-etched Waterford crystal champagne flutes. But keep your hands off the silverware, bloke.

Gas station love

Chef Point Cafe's menu includes "What Nots" -- stuffed mushrooms -- and the Chocolate Delight for Two: warm brownie topped with caramel, nuts, chocolate chips, and ice cream.

Just dessert

Wherever you begin, you'll want to end up at Salum for the Chocolate Mousse Trio: crunchy dark chocolate, milk chocolate with cherries, and white chocolate with almonds. Officially, it's a dessert to be shared, unless you and your date decide to order one apiece.

Stragglers

If you miss the boat over the weekend, no worries: Charlie Palmer is carrying its Valentine's Day weekend right on through to Monday. Menu includes strawberry "pate" and dark chocolate velvet cake with red currant sorbet.

Tweet