Valentine's Day in Sonoma Valley – here is where to go/what to do

After this delicious Valentine's Day, there'll be more of you to love…|

As we approach one of our biggest Hallmark holidays, Valentine’s Day, we have lots of giving opportunities, some with no calories and some loaded with calories and aphrodisiac properties.

At the low end of the calorie chart would be giving someone you like or love a card, a kiss, a call, or even a plant – especially a perennial that will bloom for several years and help the recipient think of you for a long time. Flower arrangements cheer us up for a while, and drawings last forever.

At the other end of the caloric fun is candy, of course. Cooking your friend or lover their favorite meal, from bacon and waffles to filet mignon, salmon or Portobello mushrooms and kale (or any combo thereof) can do the trick.

Some Sonoma restaurants are planning specials.

Order Ramekins’ Valentine’s Dinner to-Go ahead and pick up on Tuesday, Feb. 14, actual Valentine’s Day. The price of $125 is for dinner for two people. Pick it up, take it to the park or beach, or home, with or without candle light.

The dinner for two includes appetizers of wild mushroom polenta cakes, asparagus spears wrapped in smoked duck, and truffled mini leek and Gruyere cheese quiches. Next course is a poached pear and chicory salad with Point Reyes Blue Cheese and candied bacon and coconut and carrot soup. Entrées will be a choice of one per person between braised short rib or seared Pacific salmon with salsa verde, with sides choices of root vegetable and potato gratin or roasted winter vegetables with pine nut sage butter. Everyone gets a chocolate torte with Graham crust and torched meringue. Order at ramekins.com/shop.

The Fig Café in Glen Ellen will serve a special “Aphrodisiac Valentine Dinner” inspired to inspire. Diners will start with chili pepper crusted tuna carpaccio, fried oyster, and pineapple-ginger salsa; seared scallops with honey roasted carrots and warm truffle vinaigrette, followed by flourless chocolate torte with raspberry fool. $45 food only, additional $15 for wine pairings. 5 to 11:30 p.m. 13690 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen. Reserve at 938-2130 or thefigcafe.com.

Saddles Steakhouse offers an extensive Valentine’s dinner to include an amuse bouche of Bay shrimp with jicama and radish; butter-poached oyster bisque with caviar toast; and tangerine sorbet in champagne. Choose between entrées of grilled Black Angus filet mignon and slipper lobster with Yukon potato purée and vegetables with Béarnaise sauce; seared Diver scallops, prawns and Little Neck clams with calamari, bok choi and black forbidden rice, Liberty duck breast with French beans and three potato gratin, all followed by three desserts. $90, $49 children 12 and under. Wine pairing additional $40. 5:30 to 9:30. 29 East MacArthur, Sonoma. 933-3191.

And then there’s Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn with a whole Valentine’s Day special of chocolate covered strawberries, sparkling wine, rose petal turndown of your bed, and more. Chef Andrew Cain has concocted four- and seven-course menus that might include lobster bisque, butternut squash ravioli I or pan seared Diver scallops, mussels and clams; seared filet of Niman Ranch beef or wild sea bass; poached pear and almond tart, Tahitian vanilla bean crème or Valrhona chocolate soufflé. Four courses $115, seven courses $165. Wine pairing extra. Reserve at 939-2415 or santediningroom.com.

Don’t forget: a phone call or kiss can go a long way, too.

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