Love Is on the Menu

Turn up the heat this Valentine’s Day without, well, turning up the heat — in the kitchen at least. Let some location restaurants arouse your senses with special love-brewing menus. Below is a sampling of Valentine’s Day offerings; be sure to make reservations in advance.

Manakin Grill
12912 Plaza Drive, 784-0544
Three-course prix-fixe menu for $45 to include choices such as she-crab soup, coconut shrimp, pecan chicken and pan-roasted escolar (be advised that the latter could disrupt your romantic intensions).

Edible Garden
12506 River Road, 784-2011
Chef Ed Blasé is cooking up a fabulous meal — served Feb. 14-16 in conjunction with the restaurant’s third anniversary — focusing on local ingredients that both meat-eaters and vegetarians alike will love. Menu items include an appetizer of grilled Italian sausage, fennel, cannelloni beans, sun-dried red pepper and a roasted garlic crostini; and a roasted Portobello mushroom, butternut squash, caramelized onion and parsnip Napoleon entrée.

Berkeley Hotel
1200 E. Cary St., 780-1300
This four-course menu is $150 per couple, excluding tax and tip. Menu items include Surry sausage and oyster-stuffed clams in a roasted tomato broth; broccoli Reggiano Parmigiano bisque with grilled lobster; petite grilled beef tenderloin topped with Hudson Valley duck breast, whipped potatoes and baby broccoli with sherry balsamic reduction; and red currant key lime tartlets.

Zed Café
5109 Lakeside Ave., 261-5656
Prix-fixe five-course dinner ($75 per person) starting at 5:30 p.m.

Virginia Crossings Resort
1000 Virginia Center Parkway, 727-1400
At Virginia Crossings Resort look for several special offers between Feb. 14-17, including entertainment each evening. A room package ($249) includes a Valentine’s Day dinner and breakfast. If you’d rather romance your honey in your own bed, try the “Celebration of Romance” dinner ($49.95 per person), a four-course meal that includes soup, and shared candied-curry crab martini and grilled shrimp cocktail appetizers. For your entrees, choose from wild mushroom ravioli with mozzarella-stuffed portabella served with creamy risotto and asparagus; chicken oscar with lump crab and hollandaise; to grilled petite lamb chops with balsamic drizzle; grilled salmon with caper berry beurré blanc; and twin tornados filet with au poivre cognac cream. Finish off the meal by sharing a cheesecake sampler or chocolate-dipped strawberries.