SMALL BITES ROMANTIC LOCALES FOR VALENTINE'S DAY.Byline: - Larry Lipson Tim and Nina Zagat, in town this week and staying at the Hotel Bel-Air The Hotel Bel-Air is a 5-star boutique hotel located in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California. Since opening in 1946, the 91-room Hotel Bel-Air, located on Stone Canyon Road, has served many celebrities, heads of state and dignitaries. , home of one of the most romantic dining places in the L.A. area, suggest that Valentine's Day Valentine's Day: see Saint Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day Lovers' holiday celebrated on February 14, the feast day of St. Valentine, one of two 3rd-century Roman martyrs of the same name. St. celebrants check out their 2006 Zagat Survey Zagat Survey (pronounced za-GAT)[1] was established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979 as a way to collect and correlate the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, covering New York City, the Zagats surveyed their friends. for romantic restaurants. More than 90 listings, beginning with Arnie Morton's (Burbank, West Hollywood and downtown) and ending with Yamashiro in Hollywood, are listed in the publication's Los Angeles-area Special Features grouping under the Romantic Places heading. As for Tim Zagat's idea of the most romantic restaurant, ``It's whatever Nina thinks,'' he says. And what does Nina think? ``Small, not brightly lit, pretty,'' she says of the qualities she feels are important for a restaurant to possess romantic status. Nina Zagat looks around her on the dining patio of the Hotel Bel-Air, 701 Stone Canyon Road, Bel-Air, and says, ``This is it - soothing flowers.'' For the hotel's Valentine's Day information and reservations, call (310) 472-1211. MORE ROMANCE: Other hotel dining rooms worth Valentine's dinner consideration include the former Diaghilev space at the Bel Age Hotel, 1020 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, which offers ``Aphrodite's Interlude Menu'' of five courses ($95), and the posh Jaan restaurant at the Raffles L'Ermitage, 9291 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, where a five-course meal ($135) includes a glass of Roederer's L'Ermitage bubbly. Aphrodite's repast begins with the ``flirtation'' course of ``nude'' Yaquina Bay oysters, then the ``infatuation'' course of a Colorado lamb chop with truffled truf·fle n. 1. Any of various fleshy, ascomycetous, edible fungi, chiefly of the genus Tuber, that grow underground on or near the roots of trees and are valued as a delicacy. 2. risotto ri·sot·to n. pl. ri·sot·tos A dish of rice cooked in broth, usually with saffron, and served with grated cheese. [Italian, from riso, rice, from Old Italian; see rice. ; a ``courtship'' course of basil and kumquat kumquat (kŭm`kwŏt), ornamental shrub of the genus Fortunella of the family Rutaceae (rue family), closely related to the orange and other citrus fruits. vapor with cucumber sorbet; a ``romance'' course of three options: caramelized halibut halibut: see flatfish. halibut Any of various flatfishes, especially the Atlantic and Pacific halibuts (genus Hippoglossus, family Pleuronectidae), both of which have eyes and colour on the right side. , bone-in cowboy steak or semi-boneless chicken; and a ``passion'' chocolate dessert ending. Reservations: Bel Age, (310) 854-1111; Raffles, (310) 278-3344. LOVELY CHOICES: More down-to-earth Valentine dinners may be enjoyed at the Steak Joynt, 4354 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, where three-course ``Woo Me'' and ``Love at First Bite'' meals include steak and other entree choices at $25 and $35 per person, and at Taix French Restaurant, 1911 Sunset Blvd., where four-course meals are $28.95 each. Reservations: Steak Joynt, (818) 761-9899; Taix, (213) 484-1265. |
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