Michele StuevenGalentine’s Day is a global holiday on February 13 that celebrates women’s friendships. The annual sisterhood festival originated from the Parks and Recreation TV series, with the sitcom’s main character, Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler, as the originator of the holiday.
Since then, it has become a mainstay of popular culture. So grab your bestie for a GNO to remember with our guide to Galentine’s Day.
If you want to get spoiled like Moroccan royalty, enter another world at the new candlelit Kasbah at Members on the Sunset Strip. Get into the mood with a Members Pornstar cocktail of Albsolut Elyx, passion fruit, lime and vanilla syrup served with a side shot of champagne. Native African servers fuss over you as they gracefully ladle hot harira lentil and chickpea soup into classic Moroccan tableware.
Share and sample finger food appetizers like roasted eggplant dip, Moroccan carrot salad, and shakshuka while belly dancers work the room and fan the flames with feathered wings. A variety of tagines includes lamb plum, chicken lemon, and kefta. For dessert, a fruit plate that mimics the mosaic tiles of the attached Members Restaurant and Club, which remain from the storied Dar Maghreb. Pastry and cookies are accompanied by a dramatic Moroccan mint tea pouring ceremony.
The Kasbah by Members (Michele Stueven)
The Ruby Fruit, Los Angeles’ only permanent Lesbian wine bar and restaurant, will be hosting a fundraising benefit, Leather & Lace, in partnership with the Los Angeles LGBT Center to preserve the popular sapphic space after the sudden and unexpected closure of the concept in January.
A night of live entertainment, ample food and drinks, and a silent auction to benefit the restaurant’s re-opening will take place on Sat. Feb. 22. The event will include passed appetizers, natural wines from female and queer producers, craft beer from Highland Park Brewery, Tito’s Vodka and Anytime Farmhouse Gin cocktails, and Juneshine canned cocktails. There will also be performances by The L Word: Gen Q’s Jacqueline Toboni, comedian Ever Mainard, and activist Janaya Future Khan, with DJ sets from Bri Giger and Sorrell Scrutton. Auction items include a weekend getaway in Idyllwild, a tattoo session with Erin Russel, and more.
Individual tickets are available via Resy for $150/pp, with VIP packages and private tables available for up to six. Donations to support The Ruby Fruit’s re-opening efforts can be made HERE.
Feeling like staying in? Dolly Parton is reclaiming red this Valentine’s Day season by releasing her signature, Dolly Wines Pinot Noir, the same month Jolene was released fifty-one years ago. Grab a bottle and a handful of girlfriends and relive that famous Nine To Five giggly couch scene in your pajamas. The pinot has red fruit characters and a hint of vanilla with subtle warm blueberry pie fresh from the oven, sweet cherries ripe from the tree, and subtle thyme dried from the family garden aromas.
The Dolly Wines Pinot Noir is available now at leading retailers, including Kroger, Total Wine & More, Publix, and Cost Plus World Market, among others, in-store and online, priced accessibly at a suggested retail price of $14.99
Project Rhinestone Pinot Noir (Courtesy Dolly Wines)
On Thursday, Feb. 13, Sirena at The Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica will be offering a Calling All Sirens Rose and Seafood Tower special. Santa Monica’s First Lady will be the backdrop for girl groups clinking glasses and sharing a tower of oysters, shrimp cocktail, hamachi crudo, spicy tuna tartare, snow crab claws, sweet potato chips, and a selection of dips, including mascarpone scallion dip, cocktail sauce, mignonette, and drawn butter.
Also on Thursday, Feb. 13, Lodestar Whiskey will be serving whiskey cocktails as a part of The Ripped Bodice’s Galentine’s Day Celebration featuring a fun lineup of romance authors, including Kate Spencer, Jeannie Choe, Karina Halle, and Bridget Morrissey. Tickets to the event are $35, and 100% of the proceeds will support Vow For Girls – their mission is to end child marriage and ensure every girl gets the happily ever after she deserves.
Pinstripes at Westfield Topanga will have a Galentine’s Day celebration on Thursday, Feb. 13, that includes an exclusive wine tasting and pairing experience with a charcuterie arrangement, as well as a glamorous buffet with a chocolate fountain and plenty of red and white wine to keep the night flowing. Reservations can be made here (cost: $50 pp).
On Thursday, Feb. 13, Ardor at The West Hollywood EDITION will be serving up a girl’s dinner-style menu, consisting of a welcome cocktail and the vegetable-forward restaurant’s cult-favorite dishes, from tempura onion rings to milk bread, all served family style. The night will continue with a complimentary showing of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in the hotel’s screening room, with sweet treats and popcorn. Bookable on OpenTable, for $90 per person.
On Sunday, Feb. 16, the Galentine’s festivities continue with a three-course brunch at Ardor with bottomless mimosas and a waffle board, followed by a complimentary viewing of Princess Diaries 2” in the screening room. Bookable on OpenTable for $95 per person.
What’s Popping Up is a column in the L.A. Weekly that explores everything new in food and drink.