Sweet seductive Valentine's Day dining in Phoenix

Are you scrambling for dinner plans for Valentine's Day? The best restaurants in the Phoenix area have created some outstanding menus for you to share with your sweetheart on February 14, 2012.

Arizona Biltmore

Try something different throughout the month of February at the historic Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Thursdays through Sundays, you can take your sweetheart to Afternoon Tea in the resort’s lobby.

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The sensual experience includes such specialties as white chocolate love strawberries, heart-shaped shortbread cookies and Valentine honey-cherry snap cones. You can also indulge yourselves in savory treats that include smoke salmon with crème fraiche on pumpernickel, lobster dill salad in profiterole, smoked chicken fig with goat cheese on pecan-raisin bread, house-pulled mozzarella and prosciutto melon lollipops.

After the relaxing, romantic tea, you and your Valentine can stroll hand-in-hand around the beautifully manicured grounds. Valentine Afternoon Tea is available from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday in February 2012. The cost is $36 per person, or $46 with Kir Royal or a Mimosa. Call 602-381-7632 for reservations.

Arizona Biltmore
2400 E. Missouri Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85016
602-381-7632
http://www.arizonabiltmore.com

Cask 63

Cask 63, located in the Shops in Gainey Village, is offering the Valentine’s Chocolate Evening Embrace four-course dinner. This unique meal pairs chocolate-inspired cuisine with chocolate cocktails.

The Valentine’s Day menu includes a baby spinach salad with mole, bitter chocolate balsamic paired with Chocolate Mint Mojito; cocoa nib crusted Ahi tuna with white chocolate wasabi foam paired with a Cocoa Butter Cocktail; cocoa coffee-rubbed venison loin with chocolate spaetzle and a red wine reduction paired with a Blackberry Zin Chocolate Sangria; and finishes with chocolate agnolotti with brioche, chocolate ganache and cinnamon sugar paired with a 70% Chocolate Martini.

The Chocolate Evening Embrace dinner is available 5 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 for $65 per person. For reservations, call 480-922-5666.

Cask 63, American Eatery and Wine Bar
8877 N. Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85253
480-922-5666
http://www.cask63.com

Different Pointe of View

The Valley views from Different Pointe of View at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort in North Phoenix are among the most romantic and breathtaking anywhere. The sunsets are spectacular and the city lights glisten across the horizon after the sun goes down. The food measures up to the ambience.

For Valentine’s Day 2012, the AAA Four-Diamond restaurant under the guidance of Executive Chef DeMuro, is offering a five-course, prix fixe menu. You and your sweetheart begin with an appetizer choice of either applewood smoked pork belly or Cedar River short rib ravioli. The next course is a choice of sweet red pepper-and-basil bisque or the resort’s signature lobster bisque, followed by a salad course. The main course features a choice of Cedar River grilled filet mignon, pan-seared Pacific cobia, citrus scented olive oil poached Maine lobster, and seared Muscovy duck breast. The meal ends with a choice of Chocolate Temptation or a Vanilla bean crème brulee.

The Valentine’s Day dinner at Different Pointe of View is $99 per person for the 5 p.m. seating and $110 per person for seatings between 5:30 and 10 p.m. Wine pairings are available for an additional $40 per person. Call 602-866-6350 for reservations.

Different Pointe of View at Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort
11111 N. 7th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85020
602-866-6350
http://www.differentpointeofview.com

El Chorro

The historic Paradise Valley restaurant El Chorro offers a special Romance in the Desert menu for Valentine’s Day 2012. You can enjoy the desert surroundings in the shadow of Camelback Mountain as you savor the romantic meal created by Executive Chef Charles Kassels.

The dinner opens with a choice of hearts of romaine with lobster vinaigrette or roasted Valentine pepper bisque with crispy red beets; the entrée is a choice of a lovebird duo of pan-roasted chicken breast and leg confit with herb crust, a center cut filet with sweetheart potato gratin, or Chilean sea bass with wild-for-you mushroom ravioli. Dessert is chocolate hearts – a dark chocolate cake served with white chocolate mousse and milk chocolate ganache. The menu also includes El Chorro’s famous Sticky Buns.

The dinner is $98 for two. A menu of wine pairings is also available. Call 480-948-5170 for reservations.

El Chorro
5550 E. Lincoln Drive
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253
480-948-5170
http://www.elchorro.com

Monti’s La Casa Vieja

Monti’s La Casa Vieja, one of the Valley’s historic restaurants, is located on Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe. The chef has created a three-course Sweetheart Special for Valentine’s week, February 10 through 16, 2012.

You will be able to choose from a selection of starters, entrées and desserts. Starters offered are hearts of romaine salad with applewood smoked bacon, toasted almonds and champagne vinaigrette; prawns stuffed with creamy risotto and prickly pear sauce; or lobster and tomato bisque.

Entrées offered are roasted Chilean sea bass with grilled asparagus, red pepper coulis and fingerling potatoes; filet mignon and lobster tail with lemon zest butter, grilled asparagus and mashed potatoes; or double cut chicken with roasted tomato cream sauce and creamy spinach risotto.

Finish the evening with a choice of red velvet cake with raspberry sauce; mini cheesecake bites with sweet Bailey’s caramel sauce; or chocolate decadence cake with white chocolate sauce.

The meal is available during dinner service, February 10 – 16, 2012, for $45 per person. For reservations, call 480-967-7594.

Monti’s La Casa Vieja
100 S. Mill Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85281
480-967-7594
http://www.montis.com

Westin Kierland Resort and Spa

Westin Kierland will celebrate Valentine’s Day 2012 throughout the resort in grand style. Start your romantic evening out with a Muddle Mania class in deseo. Deseo’s master mixologist will offer a fun lesson in muddle drink making from 4:30 to 5 p.m.

The resort’s signature restaurant, deseo, is offering a Valentine’s prix fixe menu and their specialty South American wines for pairing. This Latin-inspired restaurant is the ideal setting for you and your sweetheart. The prix fixe menu is $75 per person. You can add wine list pairings for $25 per person.

How about chocolate and champagne for Valentine’s Day? The Resort’s Rim Lobby Lounge and Hershey’s Sweet Shoppe are offering a romantic pairing for the romantic day. Beginning at 4 p.m. in the lobby lounge, you can enjoy a bottle of Charles de Fère Brut Champagne with a Frangelico Ganache Tartlet Heart with fresh raspberries for two for $45.

To make dinner reservations or for information on the Valentine’s Day events at Westin Kierland, call 480-624-1202.