With Valentine’s weekend upon us, here are some thoughts for romantic dining.
Pelican Hill
For something completely different, Pelican Hill Resort offers its Dinner of the Senses. The five-course menu for two, served in a private Coliseum Cabana, is a unique way to share cherished moments together. It is available Friday through Feb. 14 at $150 per person or $200 per person with paired wines, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations are required.
Pelican Hill’s acclaimed Andrea has its monthly seasonal dinners that are available throughout the month. The February Menu dell’ Amore is a savory menu of love, designed by Luca Cesarini. It showcases the romance and flavor of Venice.
The multicourse dinner is $90 or $145 per person with wine pairing, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations are required.
Resort at Pelican Hill: 22701 Pelican Hill Road South, Newport Coast, (800) 820-6800.
Fleming’s
Fleming’s in Fashion Island has a really good value with its Romantic Meal for Two. It comes with a $25 gift card that can be used on a future Fleming’s meal.
Since the menu here is a la carte, these complete menus for two at $90 (prime New York steak and scampi) and $99 (filet and crab-stuffed shrimp) are impressive. Dinners include sides and salad.
For reservations: Fleming’s, 455 Newport Center Drive (949) 720-9633.
Antonello
Antonello Ristorante is a romantic setting with approachable but eloquent Italian food. That makes it an ideal place for a Valentine’s dinner from Friday through Feb. 14. The romantic prix fixe menu is $70 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
Begin with your choice of a seafood or wild boar appetizer, then lobster ravioli in saffron sauce or champagne and wild mushroom risotto. Tenderloin beef with gorgonzola, red wine and walnut reduction is one main course. The other choice is sea bass with fresh fennel, a splash of Pernod and chopped scallops.
Dessert is layered sponge cake and espresso mousse crusted with pistachio or chocolate fudge topped with creamy zabaglione served with vanilla gelato.
Reservations required. Antonello: 3800 South Plaza Drive, Santa Ana (714) 751-7153.
TerraNova
For something new, consider Valentine’s dinner at TerraNova in the redesigned Wyndham Orange County in Costa Mesa. The restaurant has garnered good reviews thanks to Chef Robert Biebrich, who honed his skills in Napa Valley.
He’s serving a Valentine menu from Friday through Feb. 14 at $55 per person, excluding tax and gratuity. Wine pairings are available for additional $40 per person.
The dishes, made with local and sustainable ingredients, include velouté of lobster with spiced cream, scallops with crispy pork, glazed short rib with consommé, potage of early spring vegetables, lobster with spinach-onion marmalade and Jidori chicken with foie gras jus.
Desserts on the special menus include chocolate mini trio (a tart, malt mix and sea salted chocolate) or chocolate ganache with peanut butter and marshmallow cream.
TerraNova: 3350 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa (714) 442-8593. Reservations requested.
Brasserie Pascal
Valentine dinner is $55 plus tax and gratuity ($25 extra for matching wines) at Brasserie Pascal in Fashion Island. Chef Pascal Olhats’ menu is available Friday through Feb. 14.
Settle into the charming bistro atmosphere and select from sautéed Maine scallops, frisée salad or a mixed fruit and shrimp salad with greens, lobster bisque or terrine of foie gras for first courses.
Entrees: sautéed Dover sole, roasted Cornish hen with wild mushroom mashed potatoes, surf and turf of filet mignon and Australian lobster tail or rack of lamb Provençal. Sweetness at the end of the meal comes as a Sweetheart Patchwork of mini chocolate soufflés, homemade marshmallow, Tahitian vanilla crème brûlée, homemade cheesecake and a chocolate-covered strawberry.
Brasserie Pascal: 327 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach (949) 640-2700. Call for reservations.
La Vie en Rose
The place we invariably end up taking anyone who is a Francophile or an ex-pat: La Vie en Rose in Brea. The country French restaurant has a long lunch menu at only $17.75 and a prix fixe dinner menu at only $39.75 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
The place is so like the charming and intimate inns that we’ve enjoyed in the little regional villages in France.
For the two-course lunch, there are two appetizers and nine entrees. Prix fixe dinner items include five appetizers, 10 entrees, and a trio of desserts from which to choose.
The dishes run the gamut with lamb, pork, beef, poultry and fresh seafood in classic French preparations and vegetarian dishes as well. There’s as much romance in this food as in the holiday itself.
La Vie en Rose: 240 S. State College. Blvd., Brea (714) 529-8333.
Five Crowns
Five Crowns is romance and good food all year long. So, a Valentine dinner for two is a natural. This one is tagged at only $99 per couple, plus tax and gratuity, Friday to Feb. 14. It’s a three-course affair that includes your dessert and a glass of wine.
One more enticement: You get to take home a jar of their famed C.C. Brown’s Hot Fudge Sauce.
Your meal begins with a choice of salads or lobster bisque. Entrees—all with sides—are potato-crusted salmon, Maple Leaf Farms duckling or aged slow-roasted prime rib of beef. Then indulge in the dessert called Chocolate Sweet Heart, which is a chocolate ice cream gateau topped with C.C. Brown’s Fudge Sauce and a nice cup of coffee.
Five Crowns: 3801 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Corona del Mar (949) 760-0331.
