Restaurants can enhance the eating experience to create a special evening.
Pandemic or not, sweethearts embrace Valentine’s Day. Even in a limited-contact, touch-free environment, restaurants can play cupid this year and show couples some love with dinner kits for two.
Creating a cozy Valentine’s experience at home can take the shape of ready-to-eat meals, meal kits complete with preparation instructions or appetizers and desserts for nibbling on beside a warm fireplace. The Gordon Food Service culinary team has ideas to make this heartfelt holiday special and profitable.
Keep it simple and portable
Sharing meals or three-course options—appetizer, entrée and dessert—offer elegance and simplicity. With romance in the air, your specials can last through the month of February with these inspiring ideas:
Appetizers
- Charcuterie boards (premium meats, cheese, preserves, pickles, chutneys, olives, etc.)
- Shucked oysters (with mignonette, lemon, hot sauce, horseradish, caviar, etc.)
- Gyoza, potstickers or Asian dumplings.
Entrées
- Steak and lobster tails (with rosemary roasted baby potatoes or truffle mashed potatoes)
- Meat pies (individual or family sized chicken or lobster pot pie)
- Pizza (a make-your-own version with a heart-shaped crust—perfect for kids)
Desserts
- Chocolate fondue (with fresh-cut fruit, berries)
- Cookie kits (heart-shaped sugar cookies with holiday sprinkles)
A meal to remember
Encourage compatibility in the kitchen with simple-to-create kits. Salads are a natural fit. Provide a toss-at-home Caesar salad, with romaine lettuce in one container and dressing ingredients in another. Or, elevate the salad with a blend of greens, asparagus, grapefruit, pistachios and a lemon honey vinaigrette.
A smart way to manage your margins and satisfy expectations is through a prix fixe menu—one price for choices among the three courses. Add some profit and allure with optional add-ons or upgrades.
Enhancements like a small box of artisanal chocolates, strawberries dipped in chocolate or flowers from a local florist (order early) can elevate the experience. Suggest wine pairings or champagne consumers can buy for themselves to seal the Valentine’s meal with a kiss.
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