Restaurants for a romantic Valentine's dinner

Originally published: June 21, 2009 10:07 AM
By Erica Marcus Newsday Staff Writer

If you're planning a special evening for Valentine's Day, you'd better get cracking. Feb. 14 is one of the restaurant industry's busiest nights. Here are some choices to help you plan a romantic dinner.

Nassau

Bistro M , 70 Glen Head Rd., Glen Head, 516-671-2498. Chef-owner Mitch SuDock is offering a 3-course prix fixe for $80 (not including drinks, tax or tip) at his charming bistro. Choices include foie gras terrine, seafood paella, waffles and ice cream.

Brivo ,290 E. Glen Cove Rd., East Hills; 516-626-5200. The luxurious andwell-appointed room is a great foil for chef Peter Petti's modern Italian cuisine.

The Glen Cove Mansion (formerly the Harrison Conference Center) is holding a 4-course chocolate-and-wine dinner for $69 (excluding tax and tip) The menu features 3 chocolate-accented appetizer choices, an "intermezzo" of chocolate ice, and a surf-and-turf entrée composed of grilled petit filet mignon with dark-chocolate demi-glace reduction and white-truffle-balsamic-glazed lobster tail with white-chocolate beurre blanc. Dessert is a flourless chocolate torte with raspberry cream and a Godiva shooter (with a chocolate straw). Each course is paired with a different wine. For guests who wish to extend the romantic celebration until morning, the Mansion is offering a special Valentine's Night room rate of $149. The Glen Cove Mansion, 200 Dosoris Lane, Glen Cove, 516-674-2990.

NYIT's de Seversky Center is holding an assortment of Valentine's Day festivities. During the day, the elegant Georgian mansion will host a lunch buffet featuring shrimp cocktail, salads and appetizers, chafing-dish selections, a carving station, dessert and coffee for $19.95 a person. At the dinner buffet in the evening, highlights include freshly carved prime rib and a mashed-potato bar for $45. Prices do not include tax, tip or drinks and reservations are required. The de Seversky Center is at Northern Blvd., Old Westbury, 516-686-7675.

La Pace with Chef Michael , 51 Cedar Swamp Rd., Glen Cove,516-671-2970. Chef Michael Mossallam is offering a 3-course dinner for $70 (excluding tax, tip and drinks). Appetizer choices include grilled portobello mushrooms, crespelle (Italian crepes) with lobster, crab and shrimp, and ribollita, a hearty Tuscan soup. Among the entrees are braised short ribs with polenta, house-made pappardelle with duck-and-porcini ragu, and surf (filet mignon) and turf (shrimp oreganata) with truffle sauce. Dessert entails all manner of gooey chocolateness. All ladies get a long-stemmed red rose.

At Page One in Glen Cove, chef-owner Jeanine DiMenna is offering a 4-course Valentine's Day menu for $39.95 a person (excluding tax, tip and drinks). Everyone starts with a winter squash soup, then a choice of salads, choice of entrees (e.g. Asian-style ahi tuna, cider-glazed pork) and a choice of either mango-and-white-chocolate bread pudding or baklava. Included in the price are a valentine and chocolate-covered strawberries. Page One, 90 School St., Glen Cove, 516-676-2800.

Shiro of Japan , 401 Old Country Rd., Carle Place, 516-997-4770. For an intimate dinner a deux, why not go Japanese? Shiro of Japan has two small, private tatami rooms that guests can reserve (as well as a larger room that seats up to 24). Each room is provided for 2 hours and the cost of dinner is a minimum of $150 a couple (not including drinks, tax or tip). To make a reservation, call the restaurant and ask for Hiro or Peter.

Soigné ;,1066 Broadway, Woodmere, 516-569-2259. This gracious restaurantcombines Old World charm with chef Craig Bedell's vibrant, artfulcuisine.

Taste , 660 Franklin Ave., Garden City, 516-663-5140. Chef Ed Witt is offering a prix-fixe for $75 (not including tax and tip) that will kick off with champagne and house-smoked wild salmon. The set menu features wild-mushroom gnocchi, filet mignon with lobster ravioli and a trio of sweets.

TrattoriaDiane , 21 Bryant Ave., Roslyn, 516-621-2591. The modern-Italianmenu changes daily, the room is eternally lovely. The desserts areby chef-owner John Durkin's wife, the accomplished pastry chefDiane Margaritis.

PalmCourt at the Carltun , Eisenhower Park, East Meadow,516-542-0700. The yellow-hued room is gorgeous; chef RodrigoBernal's menu mixes classics new and old.

Suffolk

At H2O in Smithtown, chef Scott Szekretar is highlighting oysters for Valentine's Day. His 3-course menu ($70 with matched wines, $55 without; tax and tip not included) starts off with either Blue Point oysters two ways (3 raw, 3 Rocke.feller style) or rock shrimp with caviar mayonnaise. Entree choices are grilled swordfish or Dover sole, and dessert is chocolate truffle cake. H2O, 215 W. Main St., Smithtown, 631-361-6464.

Jedediah's ,400 South Jamesport Ave., Jamesport, 631-722-2900. Contemporary,market-based cuisine from chefs Tom Schaudel and Michael Ross in abeautifully restored Victorian setting. If you can go in to worklate on Feb. 15, consider staying the night in one of the charmingrooms upstairs.

La Plage , 131 Creek Rd, Wading River, 631-744-9200. This cozy but elegant restaurant overlooks the Sound at Wading River and serves some of Long Island's most accomplished French-inspired cuisine. Regular menu prices.

LakeHouse , 240 W. Main St., Bay Shore, 631-666-0995. Enjoychef-owner Matthew Connors Mediterranean-inflected New Americancooking while sitting at a candlelit table overlooking a placidpond.

February is, fittingly, oyster month at Legal Sea Foods . Legal always has a good assortment of raw oysters from both the East and West coasts (as well as baked oysters "Legal" with spinach, cheese and bread crumbs), but in honor of Valentine's Day, the menu also will feature mascarpone-baked oysters ($15.95), pickled oyster-and-cucumber salad ($14.95) and oyster stew ($11.95). Legal Sea Foods at Roosevelt Field, 630 Old Country Rd., Garden City, 516-248-4600 and Walt Whitman Mall, 160 Walt Whitman Rd., Huntington Station, 631-271-9777.

LouisXVI , 600 S. Ocean Ave., Patchogue, 631-654-8970. Classic-modernFrench food (courtesy of chef Jean-Claude Teulade) in one of LongIsland's most luxurious dining rooms, with spectacular views ofPatchogue Bay and beyond.

Mirabelle ,404 North Country Rd., St. James, 631-584-5999. Guy Reuge's assuredFrench cooking is matched by the charming rustic-but-elegantsetting.

NorthFork Table , 57225 Main Rd., Southold, 631-765- 0177. Gerry andClaudia Hayden (respectively, chef and pastry chef) work culinarymagic at this accomplished and lovely restaurant. Book one of theinn's rooms and order champagne with impunity.

The Gatsby , 712 Main St., Islip, 631-581-1900. The 3-course prix fixe for $75 (not including tax and tip) offers many choices, among them truffled oyster bisque, pan-seared duck breast with basmati rice, chocolate soufflé cake. Ladies get a red rose. .Entertainment by Bobby V.

Ruvo , 105 Wynn Lane, Port Jefferson , 631-476-3800 and 63 Broadway, Greenlawn , 631- 261-7700. The price of a 3-course prix fixe (not including tax and tip) is determined by the choice of entree, from $44 for veal scaloppini Sorrentino for one, to $125 for tableside Chateaubriand for two. Ladies get red tulips; everyone gets homemade truffles.