Nobody should go to a restaurant for Valentine’s dinner this year, but that does not mean you have to thank yourself for eating out of whipped cream mussels or greasy pizza boxes. (Eating the pizza straight out of the box is a heel – just not a heel for romance.) Whether you cook your meal or call it, treat the evening as a dinner party for two will ensure that you get a special, thoughtful tone.
Actually, if this is a step you want to break out for a dinner party, you should break it out for the dinner you are serving on February 14th. Dinner is all about impressing people with how mature and considerate you are, which should be an atmosphere that should expand your valentine. This is – more than likely – the person with whom you have been almost constant for a whole year. Attention to detail can be a language of love and make a home meal feel else, even if you have not left home in more than 11 months.
Set the table
If you have ‘delicious’ dishes, use them. If you have kids, banish them for the evening so you don’t have to worry about them breaking the pretty plates (let them watch a movie or sit in bed early). However, do not use plates that are so tasty that you cannot put them in the dishwasher, or plates that are so tasty that you are anxious to eat them off. It’s supposed to be fun, after all.
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After choosing the plates, you can focus on the rest of the table. Placing rugs, cloths and – yes – candles are all that make the meal feel more intentional and thoughtful. I also recommend place cards, even if there are only two places on the table. Write your Valentine’s name on a cute card or, even better, a clementine (get the kind with leaves still attached if you can), put it in front of their chair and watch their face lift in the beautiful, edible detail .
Warm your plates and cool your glasses
If you are going to make the effort to cook a beautiful medium-rare steak, or mix a completely chilled and diluted martini, you might as well take the extra step of serving it in or on a vessel that has the temperature one or other way. For plates that will be flavored with hot food, only put it in a low oven (the lowest is) on a baking sheet for a few minutes right before serving. (It’s a good brunch too – few things ruin a hot egg like a cold plate.)
If you’re going to serve a salad, put the salad plates in the fridge (for 20 minutes) freezer (if you are in a hurry) to keep your greens cold and crisp. It may not be necessary depending on how warm your home is, but it is useful if your plates are fresh and warm from the dishwasher.
If you serve cocktails, white wine or even Diet Coke, put a few glasses in the freezer while you prepare the meal. This is a very pleasant way – some may say ‘crucial’ – if you drink martinis that are at their best when they are icy.
Learn some fine plating tricks
I did not expect artificial plating to be one of the things I missed during this pandemic, but it is – I miss the pure white plates with their negative space and carefully placed garnishes. People really do it eat with their eyes first , and although mashed potatoes may feel silly at the moment, it feels considerate on the plate. If you at least feel uncomfortable with the amount of civil decadence get your dish ready with a purple lemon, a drop of good olive oil, or sprinkle with fresh herbs and crunchy stuff,.
Do not forget the butter (and delicious salt)
My favorite bread bottle at room temperature is what serves my favorite restaurants for bread from the rest. If a waiter brings me butter with some kind of flake salt, I’ll be there for the night and follow them into hell, or at least the more expensive pages in the wine list. I say this is a powerful step, and you can harness its power by using good butter (that is) different from your everyday butter), nice salt (Maldon or something similar), and a pepper mill full of whole peppercorns.
If you need meals or valentine spices, pickles or gravy, you need to put it all out before the meal is served so that no one has to leave the table. clean the bottles and lids of the spices before putting them out. You can also transfer it to cute bowls with cute serving spoons, but cleaning the hot sauce bottle should be sufficient.
Discuss the division of labor in advance
If you are presenting the meal as a ‘gift’, you need to clean up the mess you are making in the kitchen. One of the best things about going out for Valentine’s Day is to not clean anything, so do not perform an unexpected task on your partner or spouse.
If the meal is a joint effort, you must split the labor before February 14th. Decide who makes the main, who makes dessert, and who is responsible for the liquor program, mood music and cleaning before the time so that you do not end up arguing on an evening that is supposed to be romantic. Do this even if you pick up. Throwing the plastic removal container in the dishwasher after dinner is not as important as cleaning grease from a cast iron pan, but it is still a question, and you may want to ask about other activities instead.