Your Guide to a Picture-Perfect Valentine’s Day in Los Angeles

At seasonal darling Rustic Canyon, chef de cuisine Andy Doubrava and executive chef Jeremy Fox will showcase a certain holiday-appropriate color palette in their beloved, family-style, prix-fixe. Each table will get to choose six out of twelve dishes, to be enjoyed over three or four courses.

Menu Highlights: crudo ajo blanco, pink chicories and Liberty Farms duck with salt-roasted beets.
Price: $105.

At Jean-Georges, an impeccable night of fine dining awaits. Should you choose to celebrate Valentine’s Day at this Beverly Hills staple, enjoy an elegant five-course tasting menu (or a la carte, for those not wanting to commit) and live jazz throughout the evening.

Menu Highlights: sea urchin and caviar, fresh tagliatelle with black truffles, Wagyu beef tenderloin with miso mustard sauce, chocolate meringue with blood orange and rose sorbet.
Price: $155, with a $110 wine pairing available.

Up the ante this Valentine’s Day with a romantic rooftop dinner, complete with  360-degree views of Beverly Hills. Add to that a special a la carte menu designed specifically for the evening, and you’re golden.

Menu Highlights: stay tuned!

Everyone’s favorite Frogtown stomping ground—where the flour tortillas are house-made and a distinctly delicious smokiness accents every last bite—famously does not offer reservations. But oh, what they’ll do for love: nab a two-top for Valentine’s Day, and celebrate with perfect tacos, mezcal-based cócteles, and good vibes.

One of 2018’s notable newcomers, Otoño is known for its boundary-pushing tapas menu, courtesy of chef Teresa Montaño. For Valentine’s Day, she’s folding inspiration from Japan into her expertise with Spanish flavors—and pairing it with a flight of sake and sherry.

Menu Highlights: Baja sea bass sashimi, Japanese vegetable tempura, unagi paella, chicken heart yakitori pintxo.
Price: $80.

A new Westside mainstay—and not just because of the stellar view—Elephante is taking things up a notch to celebrate the holiday of love. Nab a Resy for the prix fixe menu, and be sure to tack on the $65 wine pairing. Trust us, you’ll get your money’s worth.

Menu Highlights: warm oysters with Champagne butter, caviar, and charred scallion; tajarin pasta with black truffle and pecorino; Aspen Ridge Ribeye for two.
Price: $80.

Seasonal produce meets exquisite Japanese technique at Shibumi, chef David Schlosser’s ode to California and Japan. Better yet, enjoy his love letter to the best of both worlds on 2/14, when he’ll serve a five-course set-menu, for one night only.

Menu Highlights: warm tofu with lobster and gingko nuts (add $25 for caviar); seasonal sashimi; steamed halibut, shrimp, and chrysanthemum flowers; chocolate-crusted chocolate tart with berries.
Price: $80.

Greatest hits and specials will grace Cassia’s prix-fixe menu on February 14th. Plus, dinner will be served family-style—ideal for double-dating, if that’s your move—and sommelier Marianna Caldwell will be pouring a flight of three half-bottles for $120.

Menu Highlights: spicy blue crab and sea urchin roe, pork and shrimp wonton noodle soup with lobster broth, ice cream sundae.
Price: $85.

Keep things casual but fun this year at Tallula’s, where a la carte specials will be offered alongside agave spirits and wine flights. Bonus points for its seaside location. (Hint hint: take a stroll on the beach and catch the sunset before dinner).

Menu Highlights: blue crab nachos, Flannery beef tenderloin in chile butter, lime coconut posset.

A Valentine’s Day menu featuring share plates, salatim, and dessert will be the main attraction at this Israeli sensation, located within Downtown’s trendy Freehand Hotel. But don’t fret—if you’re keen on the usual hits, the regular menu will be available as well. Opt for a wine pairing for $40 per person or level up to a Champagne pairing for $60.

Menu Highlights: lobster chraime with salt spring mussels, spicy tomato sauce, turmeric and uni butter; grilled oysters with seaweed butter, mint zaatar, lemon, and breadcrumb; strawberry pavlova with rose meringue and toasted buckwheat.

Ari Taymor, one of LA’s most darling chefs, will debut a hand-rolled pasta special, Valentine’s Day dessert, and he’ll even whip up some other fun surprises based on what he finds at the market—all in the name of love. Champagne flights plus a one-night-only cocktail (read: romance in a glass) will be on offer as well.

Start your night off at this inventive New American locale with rosé Champagne and shoestring pommes frites and end it with Grand Marnier-infused strawberries over salted caramel mousse and dark chocolate pot de crème. It’ll be your choice of starter, salad, and main course in between.

Menu Highlights: oysters on the half shell five ways, wild mushroom and truffle risotto, Maine lobster and ricotta ravioli.
Price: $95.

Perhaps Italy’s not in the cards this year. Fret not, because your very own Los Angeles has Nerano. Take a trip to the Amalfi Coast, if only for a night, with Southern Italian specials from chef Michele Lisi, offered a la carte or as part of a tasting menu for two. That’s amore.

Menu Highlights: house-made taglioni with Norcia black truffle, rosemary, and Parmigiano fonduta; pan-roasted snapper fillet with squash blossom and Sicilian caponata; guanaja dark chocolate mousse with coffee gelato and Maldon salt.
Price: $240 for the two-person tasting menu.

Where better to celebrate romance than at a quaint French bistro? Belle Vie is dishing out a set menu of five courses—shaved black truffles included—and an amuse bouche for good measure.

Menu Highlights: “Lady and the Tramp” pasta (handmade spaghetti with slow cook beef ragout and fresh black truffles), scallops with safran beurre blanc sauce and roasted parsnips, strawberry and chocolate fondue.
Price: $70.

Craft cocktails and elevated gastropub fare—think bone marrow with crispy brussels sprouts, luxurious mac & cheese, and the like—is what Gray Tavern does best. Valentine’s Day is no exception, so you can bet that its set menu will deliver.

Price: $45.

Sparks will fly at Saddle Peak Lodge, where chef Adam Horton’s Valentine’s Day offering will take place in the Lodge’s cozy and intimate fireside dining room. An evening spent at this hideaway, nestled into the Santa Monica Mountains, is practically the definition of romantic.  

Menu Highlights: Pacific oysters “Ménage à Trois (three preparations); silky velouté of artichoke hearts with shaved truffles from Périgord, France; roasted elk tenderloin with bacon-asparagus chutney and Meyer lemon sauce; warm croissant bread pudding.
Price: $145.

Just south of LA in Fullerton, the artful Journeyman’s Food + Drink will add two extra-special courses to their standard four-course menu. All guests will walk away with a parting gift, to be eaten for breakfast the next day.

Menu Highlights: green asparagus bisque with a perfect poached egg and black truffle brioche, crab and brie raviolo with melted leeks and watercress, sous-vide beef short ribs with gold potato and jus.
Price: $120.