Valentine's Day is soon upon us and planning ahead is always a good idea for a big dining holiday. In addition to restaurants, there are inns to reserve, and a few other things to celebrate the month of Cupid.
Greek Love
Elaia Estiatorio is making Valentine's Day a week-long celebration with an $85 set menu of three courses offered from Tuesday to Feb. 17. An amuse bouche will be included in the price, along with a glass of sparkling Greek wine. For more information or reservations, call the restaurant at 631-613-6469. Reservations are also available on OpenTable.
Fresno
Fresno restaurant in East Hampton has a special menu on Wednesday featuring Montauk Pearl oysters for $2 each and a 25-percent discount on Billecart rose half bottles. Other special offerings are big-eye Montauk tuna tartare, truffle cauliflower soup, a surf and turf entree with scallops and pork belly, and grilled filet mignon with foie gras and sauce bordelaise. A dark bitter-chocolate terrine is the special dessert choice.
The regular menu will also be available that evening. Reservations are recommended and can be made through the website or directly on Resy.
1770 House
Valentine's Day can become Valentine's night or even Valentine's week at the 1770 House. The East Hampton inn is offering 15 percent off winter rates in February and is serving a $95 three-course menu on Wednesday.
The dinner will be served in the restaurant and the cozy downstairs tavern. The restaurant's chef, Michael Rozzi, has a number of special dishes he will prepare.
Appetizers will include Ora King salmon gravlax with baby beets, caraway crema, quail egg, and everything bagel crumble; 24-month prosciutto di Parma with whipped ricotta, hen-of-the woods mushrooms, Madeira syrup, walnut oil, and focaccia; lobster and avocado salad with frisee and smoked trout caviar, and rigatoni alla buttera with house porcelet sausage, olive-oil-cured tomatoes, peas, and Calabrian chiles.
The featured entrees will be Cantonese-style black sea bass with soy, ginger, cilantro, scallion, baby bok choy, and steamed rice; roasted Long Island duck breast with spiced parsnip, baby spinach, and brandied cherries; rack of lamb with Moroccan spices, cauliflower, carrots, preserved plums, and almonds, and beef tenderloin Chateaubriand for two with bearnaise sauce, tourne vegetables, and wine jus.
Among the multiple dessert choices will be the house specialty, sticky date cake with toffee sauce and vanilla gelato.
The restaurant's wine cellar will have champagne and sparkling wine options from France, Spain, New Mexico, and California by the glass, half bottle, and full bottle.
The full menus and reservations are available on the website. In addition to the discounted rate, rooms at the inn will come with a half-bottle of the house Gruet brut rose when mention is made of the Valentine's special at the time of booking. Midweek stays start at $234 per night and weekends begin at $319 per night. The rates are not available for President's Day weekend, however.
Nick and Toni's
Valentine's Day will be marked at East Hampton's Nick and Toni's with a $125 set menu served on Wednesday, and Friday, Feb. 16, through Feb. 18.
Diners will be greeted with a beet-cured salmon amuse bouche, followed by an antipasto course with selections of spinach ricotta tortellini en brodo with shaved black truffles; roasted beet salad with herbed goat cheese, blood oranges and arugula; oven roasted burrata with romesco, garlic chips, and flat bread, and Iberian ham with roasted delicata squash, and ricotta salata. Pan-seared fois gras is available for $15 extra.
The main course is a choice of cavatelli pasta with a white truffle fonduta and wild mushrooms, pan-seared scallops with cauliflower puree, oven-roasted halibut with kabocha squash puree, grilled lamb rack with roasted baby vegetables, and grilled New York strip steak with cipollini and wild mushrooms.
Dessert choices are a chocolate tart, salted caramel pot de creme, and tartufo for two.
Other available supplements are rosemary, thyme, and sea salt focaccia for $12, an artisanal cheese plate for $26, and oven-roasted oysters for $28. The full menu and reservations are available on the website.
Seeing Red
Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton has a four-course Shades of Red menu it will serve on Wednesday for $80 per person.
The appetizer choices are oysters with a pink peppercorn mignonette, beef bresaola with mustard and grilled sourdough bread, and a scallop crudo with pomegranates, pepitas, corn nuts, and za'atar spices. An intermezzo offers salt-baked fingerlings with Kaluga caviar, and a red onion creme fraiche. The entree selections are duck breast with pink kraut, black pepper spaetzle, and dried persimmons; General Tso's fluke with chile crisp, jasmine rice, and steamed greens, and a lion's main mushroom "ribeye" with sun chokes, brussels sprouts, and harissa oil. When possible, ingredients in the dishes are sourced locally. The meal ends with blood orange and chocolate.
Tax and tip are not included in the price. Reservations are recommended.
Canoe Place Inn
Looking for love across the canal? Set on the canal, Canoe Place Inn in Hampton Bays has a February room special and a Valentine's Day menu as well as entertainment on the holiday weekend following.
The room promotion includes champagne, a $100 dining credit, and chocolate truffles. The Valentine's Day menu is $95 per person and has a choice of salad or Long Island fluke crudo for the first course, prime skirt steak or crusted cod with potato gnocchi for the main, and strawberry shortcake or chocolate mousse for dessert. An optional fourth course of hand-rolled agnolotti with shaved black truffles is available for a $45 supplement per person.
A candlelight concert on Friday, Feb. 16, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. features romantic music and costs $66 to $88 per ticket. A flamenco quartet performs on Feb. 17 from 8 to 9 p.m. with tickets set at $35.
