In Love With Food

If you're in the market for a Valentine's supper, there are plenty of special menus planned at restaurants around town. The restaurant choice is important, but it's also critical to consider what you want to eat. Sharing a meal with your loved one can mean seductive oysters, splitting a steak for two, a giant pot of bubbling fondue or something as casual as a pizza and ice cream.

BLT Steak doesn't have a special menu for the night, but diners can opt to up the romance by ordering the porterhouse or bone-in double sirloin, both of which are meant to be shared by two people. At Dino, there is a set Valentine's menu, but it includes the option of a Chateaubriand for two with bernaise sauce.

Fondue is the classic lover's dish. Not only does it offer the chance to share one pot of melting cheese or warm liquid chocolate, it offers the opportunity for a chance meeting of fondue forks. The Melting Pot is the obvious destination for all things fondue-related, but especially on Valentine's Day, your best bet is to secure a bubbling pot of chocolate or cheese at other area restaurants.

At the fairly new Grand Cru in Ballston, fondue is always on the menu. For Valentine's Day, the restaurant will offer free rose champagne, which should be delicious with an order of dark chocolate fondue and fruit. On the savory side, try the cheese fondue with croutons or an array of veggies.

At Neyla, the four-course menu of Middle Eastern dishes ends with a pot of chocolate fondue and long-stemmed strawberries. Georgia Brown's offers both savory and sweet fondues as specials on Valentine's Day. The appetizer lobster fondue is a mixture of lobster and mozzarella with sausage and brioche. At dessert, the restaurant offers strawberries that have been injected with Frangelico and Bailey's Irish Cream to be dipped in a white chocolate fondue.

Oysters are almost a necessity if you're looking for love on Valentine's Day. For some of the best, visit Hank's Oyster Bar, BlackSalt, Kinkead's, Oceanaire or Old Ebbitt Grill.

But February 14 doesn't have to be about the standard fancy food. I think that dinners can be most romantic when you're splitting a pizza or lapping up ice cream sodas.

When it comes to pizzas, you can go for the one-two punch of a delicious pizza with an ice cream for dessert at Comet Ping Pong or 2 Amys. Comet's sundaes are one of the biggest draws, but the pizza at 2 Amys is probably the best around. You can also hit Potomac Pizza in Chevy Chase and follow it up with a trip to Gifford's.

For an old-fashioned ice cream soda, you can't beat the root beer float at Colorado Kitchen unless you consider the creamsicle, purple cow or black & tan. The menu offers more ice cream sodas than anywhere else around town. Order up a chicken pot pie or meatloaf to go with your soda, so long as you can save room for the cake of the day.

--Erin

By Erin |  February 6, 2008; 1:29 PM ET Restaurants
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