Spread the celebrations across the day with a champagne breakfast, a lunch somewhere you’d never usually get into, or a well-stocked picnic at a favourite place.
Valentine’s Day is just that – a whole day. This year, with the annual Day of Love falling on a Saturday, there’s time to do more than just a dinner out. You could book brunch or lunch, pick-up a special treat, plan a picnic or prepare a special meal at home. Here are six ways to celebrate beyond the usual dinner reservation.
Pick up a pastry
Where words fail, pastries rarely do. This year, Sydney bakeries are embracing Saint Valentine’s Day with a host of special treats. For a sweet surprise on the day, Humble in Surry Hills has iced vovo finger buns (three for $24) and heart-shaped shortbread cookies ($15), while Lucien Baked Goods in Parramatta is selling a Persian love cake, topped with pistachio praline and rose petals.
If you’re happy to plan ahead, several bakeries are taking pre-orders. Loulou Boulangerie & Traiteur in Milson’s Point is making a tarte de l’amour ($11) on a butter biscuit base topped with mascarpone and berries. Shadow Baking in Marrickville and Darlinghurst has created a special Valentine’s Day tart ($42) made from croissant pastry filled with white chocolate chantilly, freeze-dried raspberries and rose petals.
Plan a picnic
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A good picnic is mostly about knowing where to shop. Simon Johnson’s Alexandria outlet is the spot for specialty cheese on sale, with well priced wedges ripe and ready to enjoy on the day. Its Woollahra boutique is also running a February special on Oscietra Gold caviar with 20 per cent off across the range ($119.20 for a 30g tin).
For a grab-and-go option, Continental Deli in Newtown offers charcuterie boxes ($25 per person) filled with cheese, cured meals, pickles and grissini – perfect for a picnic at nearby Camperdown Park. Loulou Boulangerie & Traiteur, a short walk from Lavender Bay, stocks pâté, rillettes, cheese and salami, alongside freshly baked baguette and lavash to pair with it. Choose your own selection or pre-order a hamper.
Norma’s Deli in Manly offers heartier picnic fare, from Roman pizza slices and focaccia sandwiches to spanakopita ($45 half, $85 whole) and lemon-and-rosemary-rotisserie chicken ($14 half, $28 whole) with salads, available to pre-order online.
Don’t forget the wine
Sparkling rosé is the right colour for Valentine’s Day, and it’s also the perfect match for picnic foods like taramasalata, fresh prawns and strawberry desserts. Good Food’s national drinks writer Katie Spain believes the best pink bubbles come from Tasmania, calling A by Arras Premium Cuvee Rosé “astoundingly good value” at $39 a bottle. Here are four more she recommends, all under $100.
Head out for brunch or lunch
Love doesn’t wait, unless it’s for a table at Bills. Start the day with pancakes at Sydney’s best spots, or line up at an occasion-worthy cafe such as Bills in Surry Hills, which serves yellow peach and jasmine flower bellinis from 7am. Cafe Margaret in Double Bay serves mimosas from 10am, while Cafe Cressida in Paddington has a strawberry bellini from 10am.
Some of Sydney’s best restaurants have opened up additional lunch sittings. Infinity by Mark Best, the city’s revolving restaurant, is fully booked in the evening, but still has a few tables left for lunch.
Eleven Barrack will also open its doors during the day for a special Valentine’s Day menu of prawn ravioli and strawberry mille-feuille. In Gymea, Fior will open for their usual lunch service with the special addition of a pink tiramisu, made with rosé and ruby chocolate.
Cook something
You can also just skip the Valentine’s Day mark-up, and make a special meal at home. Seafood pasta is a favourite for the occasion: it’s impressive, but more importantly, it’s easy. Adam Liaw’s seafood marinara marries prawns, calamari and tomatoes in a garlicky wine-based white sauce. Gnocchi is another option – Jessica Brook’s version combines mushroom and pancetta in a creamy, cheesy sauce. For dessert, Emilia Jackson shares her ultimate chocolate brownie recipe, which delivers a fudgy centre and crackly top. Save them now in the Good Food app.
Organise dessert
The heart wants what it wants – and for some, that’s a golden, cheesy knafeh. Online bakery Oh My Knafeh is offering its signature Middle Eastern dessert in a heart shape ($100), served with syrup, crushed pistachios and rose petals, available for pick-up in Bonnyrigg Heights.
In the Sydney CBD, Kiki Bakery has petite heart-shaped cakes ($28) layered with genoise, chantilly cream, raspberry jam and strawberries for pre-order.
Erina Starkey – Erina is the Good Food App Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously, Erina held a number of editing roles at delicious.com.au and writing roles at Broadsheet and Concrete Playground.
