It sounds so fundamentally good, so easy, so natural — it’s dinner out on the town with someone special, with your sweetheart. Well, pull your head out of the clouds, lover boy, because this is no time to be getting all mushy. This is Valentine’s Day. And this is serious business.
It may be known to some as a Hallmark holiday, but Valentine’s Day is definitely a restaurant holiday. In fact, it serves as an annual stimulus package for the restaurant industry as dining rooms fill to capacity. Of course, reservations are hard to get, especially at this very late date. It’s always one of the busiest nights of the year at restaurants around the country, and New Orleans is no exception. But every few years, New Orleans does find a way to add its own little distinction to the whole rigmarole. That’s right: Carnival time.
Feb. 14, known to the rest of the restaurant reservation-seeking country as Valentine’s Day, is this year known to New Orleanians as the Saturday before Mardi Gras.
So, if your sweetheart’s idea of an ideal outing involves tailgating on Canal Street, a crawfish boil at your friend’s house near Orleans Avenue or just hanging out somewhere Uptown after Tucks rolls, you’re all set. But otherwise, do not expect Carnival considerations to get you off the hook. Yes, Mid-City is under siege and parts of downtown are extremely crowded while Endymion holds sway. But the Uptown parades wrap early, and for many restaurants Saturday will be business as usual — usual for Valentine’s Day, that is, and reservations are bound to be scarce.
Try, certainly. You never do know how the tides of Carnival can affect bookings, and dinner plans aren’t the only things to fall through after a long day on the parade route.
But let me also offer a few Plan B options that are a little more spur of the moment. One is the oyster bar. Remember that whatever other powers raw oysters may possess, they certainly have the ability to impress with their easy elegance and elemental flavor. For the purposes of the last-minute Valentine’s Day dash, the oyster bars where they’re served can be the ultimate in unscripted dining grace.
Then there’s the rise of small wine shops around town, and many of these double as wine bars. Sharing their cheese and charcuterie plates with glasses of wine amid the retail wine racks can make a low-key, intimate evening. Finally, consider restaurants that don’t take reservations at all. You’ll probably have to wait, but then at least you’re in the same boat with everyone else.
Of course, the parades and changeable business hours makes all of this more complicated too, but at least this close coincidence of Cupid and Carnival isn’t an every year affair. We won’t face a Valentine’s Day this close to Mardi Gras again until 2018, when Fat Tuesday falls on Feb. 13. That means Valentine’s Day will double as Ash Wednesday. Now that’s a day more associated with repenting, recovery and religious devotion than a night on the town — but for those on the hook for a Valentine’s dinner, I’m betting they’ll still muster the energy.
Looking for last-minute Valentine’s Day dining ideas? Here are a few recommendations for plan-B approaches that can save the day:
Oyster Bars
No reservations are required at oyster bars, which can be the ultimate in unscripted dining grace for lovers who are also lovers of oysters. Here are picks for restaurants with dedicated oyster bars where you can carve out your own space (though keep in mind that parade schedules may complicate access this year):
Bourbon House
144 Bourbon St., New Orleans, 504-522-0111; bourbonhouse.com
Grand Isle
575 Convention Center Blvd., 504-520-8530; grandislerestaurant.com
Pascal’s Manale
1838 Napoleon Ave., New Orleans, 504-895-4877
Seither’s Seafood
279 Hickory Ave., Harahan, 504-738-1116
Superior Seafood
4338 Saint Charles Ave., New Orleans, 504-293-3474; superiorseafoodnola.com
Wine Night
Wine shops often double as wine bars these days, and some offer cheese and meat plates or significantly more substantial menus. This can be a casually romantic setting for a low-key evening. Some local examples:
Bacchanal
600 Poland Ave., New Orleans, 504-948-9111; bacchanalwine.com
Faubourg Wines
2805 St. Claude Ave., New Orleans, 504-342-2217; faubourgwines.com
Martin Wine Cellar
Various locations, martinwine.com
Pearl Wine Co.
3700 Orleans Ave., New Orleans, 504-483-6314; pearlwineco.com
Swirl Wine Bar & Market
3143 Ponce De Leon St., 504-304-0635; swirlandsavor.blogspot.com
Vine & Dine
141 Delaronde St., New Orleans, 504-361-1402; vine-dine.com
Wine Institute of New Orleans
610 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans 504-324-8000; winoschool.com
