ALL ABOUT FOOD: Where to serenade your sweetheart with taste

“Don’t let love interfere with your appetite. It never does with mine.”

“” Anthony Trollope

“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”

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Cupid is loading his quiver in anticipation of his favorite holiday. See’s employees are working hard into the night to prepare for the onslaught that next week will bring.

Florists nationwide are gathering up every red rose that can be found because red roses are the symbol of romantic love. However, other colors also have meanings that may or may not be appropriate for the day. Purple or lavender signifies that the giver has fallen in love at first sight with the recipient. Orange/coral roses signal desire. Yellow are a bit tamer and are given in friendship and for happiness, while pink and peach express gratitude and appreciation. White express reverence and humility. So choose your colors carefully, depending on how you want the evening to end.

The next important ingredient in your romantic evening is dinner. Many Laguna restaurants are featuring special menus to whet your appetites, many include reputed aphrodisiac viands such as sensual oysters and luscious chocolates. If you haven’t booked already, pick up the phone before it’s too late! (Prices vary widely “” check below.)

Valentine’s Day is the biggest day of the year for Ti Amo, (949) 499-5350, and it’s very special, in part because every couple gets a dozen long stemmed red roses, which are included in the $115 per person price, along with a four-course dinner: an appetizer, a salad or soup, a choice of entrée and dessert. The venison chops with blackberry sauce served over butternut squash puree sound good to us. There are three seatings, so call for details.

A sumptuous repast is offered by Mitch Gillan at French 75, (949) 494-8444, featuring a selection of dishes from hors d’oeuvres to dessert. Live entertainment begins at 7 p.m. and every couple will be presented with a chocolate truffle keepsake and a rose for $130 per person. Some divine sounding choices are: “menage au foie,” with seared foie gras, terrine of foie gras and foie gras crème brulée as an appetizer; for an entrée, white salmon with fines herbes spaetzle, broccolini and rock shrimp fume; and for dessert, passion fruit and Callebaut chocolate soufflé.

Ashley Ewart at Hush, (949) 497-3602, is presenting an a la carte menu with five starters, six entrées and three desserts. We would choose the ahi tuna poke Napoleon with avocado mousse and pickled ginger, layered in sesame rice paper. For the main course, Maine lobster “ménage a trois” “” poached with vanilla butter, in ravioli; and crusted with fennel. To finish, a Valrhona chocolate tower.

Sorrento Grille, (949) 494-8686, has a variety of choices on a three-course dinner menu for $60 per person. Chef Ryan Adams will tempt you with oysters topped with chili, green apple and cucumber mignonette; grilled filet mignon and butter-poached lobster, crispy potatoes, asparagus in béarnaise sauce; and chocolate covered strawberries with whipped cream for dessert.

Mozambique, (949) 715-7777, has sweetheart specials and exotic elixirs all weekend long. Their prix-fixe “In love with lobster” dinner for two is $99. Choose from lobster bisque or vanilla bean poached lobster salad, then filet mignon or lobster tails and finish with Grand Marnier crème brulée with wild berry sauce.

There will be two seatings at Picayo, (949) 497-5051, from 5 to 8 p.m., and 8 p.m. to closing time. Chef Bijan Risdana is planning a dinner for $65 per person. You will dine on lobster bisque or French onion soup, salad, filet mignon or Chilean sea bass, and crème brulée or chocolate cake with berries.

Azmin Ghahreman at Sapphire, (949) 715- 9888, is offering as an appetizer a seafood tasting in four parts: lobster carpaccio, gravadlax, a mini-crab Monte Cristo and almond crusted ahi, followed by your choice of four entrées including a Jamon Serrano wrapped barrimundi; and milk chocolate/passion fruit torte with hazelnut chantilly cream, tangerine praline and mango sorbet. All for $68 per person.

The Loft at the Montage, (949) 715-6000, is offering Chef John Cuevas’ oysters topped with a champagne, mango and vanilla granita and Osetra caviar, or white asparagus and almond soup. The next course is Maine lobster salad with fennel and avocado or heirloom beets, goat cheese and tangerines. For the entrée, choose between salmon, veal loin and chicken. The Valentine dessert extravaganza includes 5 “love bites”: spicy Michel Cluizel chocolate, almond roasted fig fritters, vanilla, raspberry champagne fizz, cardamom apple shortcake and white chocolate passion Pavlova. This repast will set you back $90 per person or $135 with wine pairings.

Chef Lindsay at Nirvana Grille, (949) 497-0027, has a four-course menu for $95 per person including a glass of champagne. Three seafood appetizers are offered, salad or soup, then Chilean sea bass or filet mignon, and for dessert pot de crème or passion fruit Napoleon.

Canyon Lodge at the Aliso Creek Inn, (949) 499-2663, will be serving a reasonably priced $40, three-course meal with a glass of champagne, in addition to their regular menu. Select soup or salad, salmon or filet mignon, warm chocolate cake or strawberry shortcake .

Spice up your Valentine’s Day with dinner at Eva’s, (949) 499-6311. She has created a new drink called “First Kiss” especially for the occasion. Two can dine for $99 on a three-course dinner with soup or salad, a selection of entrées including pork tenderloin with Caribbean mango rum sauce and key lime meringue tart or coconut crème brulée for dessert.

Café Zoolu, (949) 494-6825, Lumberyard, (949) 715-3900, and Las Brisas, (949) 497-5434, are all featuring additional a la carte specials for lovebirds. Bluefin, (949) 715-7373, has an $80 per person omakase (chef’s choice) feast. K’ya, (949) 376-9718, is having a $99 per couple four-course menu.

Several other restaurants around town are planning special Valentine menus but have not yet finalized them at this writing, so check at your favorites. Make this more than a Hallmark holiday and tell everyone you care about that you love them.

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A note to our readers

With regard to our annual top 10 list: This is not a top 10 list of our favorite restaurants but rather of our favorite dishes from the particular restaurants we reviewed in 2008. We also neglected to mention that they are listed in no particular order.

ELLE HARROW and TERRY MARKOWITZ owned A La Carte for 20 years. They can be reached for comments or questions at [email protected]