Valentine’s–Best or Worse Day for Dining?

 

Well, now that we are officially past the annual February 14, Valentine’s Day extravaganza (is it real or is it Hallmark?) GraTRUEities wants to know, how was your Valentine’s dining  experience?

 The best evening of the year or one of the worst?

There seems to be a lot of opinon about this. Some maintain that you should absolutely never dine out on Valentine’s evening because of crowds, harried wait-staff and a la carte menus replaced with uninspired prix fixe.

Even servers tend to advise against going out on Valentine’s evening; admitting that they are often way too busy,  as owners over-book  dining rooms with maxed-out multiple seatings.

But, what about romance? Isn’t it more romantic to go out to eat at a special, candlelit restaurant than to stay home and eat in your own, everyday kitchen? And, if you do stay home, who does the cooking? And, the cleaning-up? All of this can be decidedly unromantic.

The Obama’s appear to have it figured out. They choose the dining-out option and chose a hometown favorite, Chicago’s Table Fifty-Two.

I had coffee with a friend on Friday afternoon. She and her husband are self-proclaimed “foodies”. Instead of fighting the crowds for a maybe not-so-good restaurant meal, they had decided to stay home and cook together. She had already created a romantic table setting, and was heading off to the market to stock-up on ingredients. On the menu: stuffed squab with demi-glaze; her husband’s specialty.

What was your pick? Stay in or go out?

And, how did it work out for you and yours?