VALENTINE’S DAY is a fixture on the calendar, a time to focus on appreciating the people you love. It also can be a stressful holiday, with pressure to create the perfect event for your significant other. In Savannah, the options are endless to craft a successful date. Area restaurants are already romantic, like a table at the vintage-inspired Prohibition complete with a tasting menu and handcrafted cocktails. However, some of the establishments in Savannah have created a special set of options for Valentine’s Day.
Fox & Fig’s Valentine’s Thai Pop-Up Dinner
The plant-based cafe created a menu of Thai options that can serve as a sit-down feast or be taken to go. All the items are offered a la carte for a reasonable $6 - 12 per dish. Popular Thai street food noodles Pad See Ew, spicy coconut soup Tom Kha Gai, tofu Pad Thai, red coconut curry and pan-fried dumplings are served with green papaya salad (Som Tam), black rice and mango. It’s a great option for couples happy to celebrate a traditional Valentine’s day with a sit down feast or a tasty vegan option for singles and those that don’t believe the hype. There may even be some leftovers for National Singles Awareness Day on the 15th.
Cotton & Rye’s Food Specials for Two
Owner Zach Shultz has a new reason to be celebrating this Valentine’s Day. He recently became engaged to girlfriend, local lawyer Caroline Bradley, making him a pretty lucky man, “She’s my best friend and my biggest supporter.” You can feel the love in his menu at the restaurant, with specials meant to be shared by a couple. The first is whole Maine lobster split and grilled, served with a rice pilaf and haricot verts with almonds and lemon. The second dish is a 55-day wet aged 24-ounce prime ribeye cooked over a wood-fired grill with creamed spinach, roasted red bliss potatoes and a brandy cream sauce Valentine’s Day drinks will include a rose-infused gin cocktail among other concoctions.
Leoci’s Mercato Italiano’s 3-course meals
The city loves Chef Roberto Leoci and his new restaurant, Leoci’s Mercato Italiano on Abercorn Street. On Facebook, the restaurant’s pictures of pappardelle bolognese and herbed garlic lamb leave social media followers hungry and ready to make reservations for the delicious Italian plates. The special menu created for Valentine’s Day is no different. Leoci’s is offering a 3-course meal with four options for the main course, local Hunter Cattle short ribs, lobster ravioli in champagne red sauce made in-house, handmade gnocchi tossed with Swiss dairy cream and forest mushrooms or thinly sliced veal roulade wrapped with prosciutto and stuffed with mushrooms served with a four cheese risotto. The restaurant is taking reservations for the night.
Lulu’s Chocolate Bar’s 'Loved-Up Menu’
Lulu’s not only offers an after-dinner hot spot for sweet indulgences downtown but has a bakery offering cakes, cheesecakes and mini-desserts on Hodgson Memorial Drive. They are in full swing at both, with a menu that co-owner Janine Finn describes as “heart-shaped and loved-up.” Popular options are the giant chocolate covered strawberries, as big as apples, for $40 a dozen, the honey lavender cake and a chocolate caramel tart with gold glitter. The cocktails available at the bar reflect a Valentine’s Day theme: the true love champagne cocktail, a white chocolate strawberry martini and an ice cream float made from a chocolate whiskey. They are sharing the love at Lulu’s. Before the recent tragic death of employee Niema Ross, the self-named ‘Whiskey Mama’ created and served a cocktail based on that same chocolate whiskey. Now, the bar serves the mixture, called the Niema Screama’, and donates the proceeds to a trust for her children. Expect to have a crowd on the holiday. If this isn’t your style, Lulu’s has just signed up with the Waitr app to provide delivery.
Savannah Riverboat Queen’s Dinner with a View
The Valentine’s Day Dinner Cruise offered by Savannah Riverboat Cruises on River Street is held several nights, February 14-16. Couples board and enjoy a 2-hour boat trip with a four course meal, music, a bottle or wine or champagne, roses and dancing. Advance reservations are required for this all-inclusive experience. Dinner choices are filet mignon au Poivre, baked red snapper, stuffed chicken roulade and pink pasta, pappardelle with tomato & wild mushrooms in a blush cream sauce finished with sherry & Boursin cheese. The menu also includes local ingredients, like Ghost Coast Cocktail Sauce served with jumbo shrimp cocktail and Leopold’s Lemon Sorbet with mint. While enjoying all the indulgences, the view over Savannah’s waterways is sure to inspire love.
With a city as romantic as Savannah, love (and pollen) is certainly in the air on Valentine’s Day. Couples, singles, romantics or those who like to abstain from the holiday can all find tasty options for eating out.