Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, meaning restaurants are bracing for one of the busiest nights for the industry. While dining out can provide a romantic evening, so can a thoughtful and intimate meal cooked at home (while also avoiding the expected crowds).
But if you choose to celebrate at home, don’t treat it like any other night – it still is a special occasion that should be treated as such!
With just a couple of alterations to your typical home-cooked meal, you can elevate the experience and create the ultimate romantic evening without even leaving your home.
Here are a few methods to turn a home-cooked meal into the ultimate Valentine’s Day celebration.
Curating a menu
One of the allures of dining out is the sort of ritual in how the food is served: you start with drinks, move onto an appetizer, enjoy a main course and finish with the indulgence of dessert.
When eating at home, this experience is often truncated.
But for Valentine’s Day, seek to craft a dining experience at home by emulating that of a restaurant.
Don’t worry. I’m not suggesting you provide a full menu with options for your significant other to choose from (although if you’re up to the challenge, this could be such a sincere way to show your love and appreciation), but rather to cultivate the evening through a series of courses.
First thing, offer your partner a glass of wine, a cocktail or a mocktail to enjoy on the couch or in the kitchen with you as you prepare the meal. This is a great way to set the mood for the evening and pamper your significant other.
But drinking on an empty stomach can be tough, so make sure you offer some sort of appetizer to begin the evening’s meal. I know what you’re thinking, “this is a lot of work!” and it totally can be, but it does not have to be.
An appetizer can be as simple as a basket of bread with olives or a charcuterie board with a couple of cheeses and cured meats, so have fun with this and don’t overthink it. Your energy should be invested in the main course, so use the appetizer to simply provide a snack to keep your significant other satiated while you work on dinner.
Which brings us to the main course. This is self-explanatory: make something exciting, bold and indulgent. Go wild.
And finally dessert. Unless you have an affinity for baking, I’d suggest keeping this component simple and picking up something to serve up from a store. Skip the easy options like a box cake from the grocery store and select something to set the evening apart, like fancy pastries from a local patisserie.
If dessert isn’t for you, a glass of wine or some other specialty beverage can scratch that same post-meal itch.
Wine pairings
A Valentine’s Day meal is almost deemed incomplete without a bottle of wine, but don’t just grab whatever is on the shelf. Thought should be put into all the details of the meal, including the glass of vino served alongside it.
Wine can bring out the flavors of a meal, elevating the dining experience from just enjoying a meal to really experiencing its full offerings.
But choosing the right bottle of wine can be daunting. The two main aspects I consider when selecting a wine are varietal and location.
The variety is a wine’s designation based on the dominant grape variety used, such as a cabernet, a chardonnay or a rosé.
When selecting which variety to serve, base your choice on the food you are serving and the meal’s dominant flavors. This can either be done by selecting a wine that has similar tasting notes to the meal, or the complete opposite to complement it.
Here are some pairings I suggest based solely on the variety:
- Filet mignon with pinot noir
- Oysters with champagne
- Meatballs with Cabernet
- Lobster with Sauvignon Blanc
- Grilled salmon with chardonnay
- Charcuterie board with rosé
The other aspect to consider is where the wine comes from, but not necessarily for the reason you may expect.
While you may want to seek out a Cabernet Sauvignon from California’s Napa Valley or a champagne from, who could have guessed, Champagne, France, the region you choose from can also bring a new meaning to dinner.
Instead of picking a region solely based on its star quality, choose a region that has significant meaning to you and the person you are celebrating Valentine’s Day with. This could be done by selecting a bottle of wine from where you had your first date, or from an area you once traveled to together. Selecting a wine from a place that holds great meaning for you and your partner can also be a sweet gesture to reminisce about and honor aspects of your relationship.
While I wish I could say I came up with this idea on my own, it was my dad who taught me this little trick. For my college graduation party, my dad stocked up on wines from California’s Central Coast where I attended university. While wines from this region are well-renowned, it also brought an extra level of sentimental value that I still think about to this day.
If you’re still confused or overwhelmed about choosing the right bottle of wine, I’d suggest going to a wine specialty store and asking the employee for recommendations. They know the product best and can be an easy resource in finding the right one for you.
