Typically one of the busiest nights of the year for restaurant going — a fact that accounts for its nickname in the biz as “amateur night” — Valentine’s Day falls on a Thursday this year, which guarantees that even the humblest boîte will be filled to overflowing.
Predictably, then, it’s already too late to snag some of the city’s top tables. Both downtown’s Lola Bistro and Valley View’s Dante, for instance, are all booked up for February 14; and primetime reservations at spots like Vue (Hudson), Red the Steakhouse (Beachwood), and Michaelangelo’s (Little Italy) are going fast.
Most foodies will tell you to simply stay home. Plenty of V-Day horror stories are just a Google away, but this post from “Fire & Knives” does well to sum it up, including this depressing passage: …
This article appears in Jan 23-30, 2008.