Michele StuevenThe always artful Kim Chi Avocado by Yunnie Kim is offering an eye-popping selection of sweet Valentine’s Day boxes that would tempt Eve herself. There’s a half-dozen sour straw rose bouquet, a collagen hot cocoa set for two including mugs and marshmallows, a candy heart box and the dessert box filled with an assortment of chocolate covered nuts, pretzels, specialty cookies, candy and chocolate bark.
Show your gals and pals love at SocialEats Food with BOGO 50% off (second item of equal or lesser value) on menu items from all restaurants Saturday, February 13: Pop!s Burgers & Shakes, Azule Taqueria, Supertoro, Street Noods, STRFSH and Adelaide Coffeebar. SocialEats is now open for outdoor dining in Santa Monica and Hollywood – order ahead of time or for free contactless local delivery on orders $15 or more at ordersocialeats.com.
Sour straw rose bouquet (Courtesy Kim Chi Avocado)
What better way to say “I love you” than with a heart-shaped pizza or charcuterie board? For Valentine’s Day, Paper Pizza Company fans can get any of their pizzas made with a red heart. Heart-shaped charcuterie boards are also available and come with wonderfully corny messages like “Meating You Was Worth It” or “We’re Gouda Together.” Paper Pizza Company is also offering boxes of chocolate covered strawberries, balloons and flowers.
Tsurumaru Udon will be celebrating love all weekend long with do-it-yourself Valentine’s Day meal kits containing fresh homemade Japanese udon to enjoy in the comfort of your own pod. Udon kits for two are $7.75 and available to order Thursday, February 11 – Sunday, February 14 at tsurumaruudon.com. Pair the udon with a Valentine’s sushi box from Tamon Sushi featuring an arrangement of the restaurant’s signature dishes for two for $65 or Shojin’s vegan Valentine’s Day Special for a rosy night in with your loved one for $88 per person available Friday, February 12 – Sunday, February 14. Orders can be placed online at tamon-ten.com or at theshojin.com.
Cindy’s Eagle Rock is back open for outdoor dining and offering a dramatic Valentine’s Day cupcake bouquet. Choose from devil’s food or vanilla bean, topped with pastel flowers or red roses. They’re available in half and one dozen bouquets.
And for more sweet treats, Trejo’s Coffee and Donuts has fritters for lovers from now through Valentine’s Day: Sprinkle of Love (purple, pink and red raised donuts with Valentine’s Day sprinkles), I Love You So Matcha (old fashioned cake donut with matcha white chocolate glaze, heart sprinkles and dusting of matcha powder), Cupid’s Heart (yeast-raised heart-shaped donuts filled with berry jam) and the Full Heart (yeast-raised rings filled with dark chocolate pudding, glazed with strawberry buttermilk and drizzled with dark chocolate).
Valentine’s Day cupcake bouquet (Courtesy Cindy’s Eagle Rock)
The Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories is spreading love to food enthusiasts’ kitchens with their lineup of virtual Valentine’s Day cooking and baking classes. On February 12, aspiring bakers are invited to spend the morning baking a variety of macarons including the classic almond shells, colorful shells, heart-shaped shells and chocolate ganache in the School’s Friday Bake: Valentine’s Macarons class. Later that evening, couples are welcome to share in a special Date Night: Valentine’s Pasta Dinner where they will learn the art of creating the perfect pasta dough and tomato sauce to pair with a simple arugula fennel salad and berry vanilla panna cotta.
On February 13, at-home cooks are encouraged to grab a loved one and join in a Date Night: Valentine’s Steak Dinner to master a steak au poivre paired with classic potato gratin, endive, radish and herb salad with Dijon vinaigrette and finished with a caramelized apple cake.
Each interactive virtual class is led by a Gourmandise chef who will be the guide through a live step-by-step tutorial of each dish. Guests can sign up for a class online at www.thegourmandiseschool.com. Registered participants will receive a grocery list and a Zoom ID prior to the start of the course.
Valentine’s macarons (Courtesy Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories)
Golden State Papayas, a small exotic farm serving the greater L.A. area, is teaming up with CropSwap on Sunday, February 14 at 5:00 p.m. to host a virtual pizza making cook-a-long for those who purchase a Golden State Papayas Valentine’s Day Pizza Box on the CropSwap app. Included in the box are all the ingredients needed to build your own pizza, including a freshly made ball of dough to show off a variety of organic and locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. The Pizza Box ingredients include:
- 1 ball of dough
- 5 oz Drake’s Family Farm goat cheese
- 2 heads winter lettuce
- 3-5 pears
- 8 oz jar of raw super greens pesto (Basil, arugula, onions, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, olive and sunflower oils, lemon, balsamic vinegar and salt)
- 1⁄2 lb locally grown mushrooms
Gelateria Uli has a limited time heart-shaped gelato cake made with chocolate and raspberry sorbet topped with ganache as well as sweetheart popsicles made up of the same loving combo.
Sweetheart popsicles (Courtesy Gelateria Uli)
For a romantic evening at home, share this cocktail with a loved one:
Passionfruit Martini
2 oz Grey Goose La Vanille vodka
1 oz passion fruit liqueur
2 ½ oz passion fruit puree
2 flat bar spoons of homemade vanilla sugar
1 shot of champagne on the side
Method: Fill a cocktail shaker with ingredients and shake for 20 seconds. Fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with half a passion fruit. Serve with a shot of champagne on the side.
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