a lovely dinner

Valentine’s Day 2005 – I had the first date with my now-wife, Suzy, at Rene’s Steakhouse (now called Larkin’s on the River). Yes, I was that douchey guy who took girls out to the nicest place I could think of for the first date, even though I had no business being there. To show you how ridiculous it was for us to be there, we had to hurry through our dinner so I could get back to campus for an intramural basketball game. But hey…it worked! We began dating and were married four years later.

Valentine’s Day 2011 – Sure enough, we were. After multiple pregnancy tests of all different kinds, we were actually, positively pregnant! And to find out on Valentine’s Day! So our dinner plans were going to be extra special. We returned to Larkin’s on the River and enjoyed an amazing meal – a wedge salad for me and a house salad with spiced pecans for Suzy; perfectly cooked medium-rare filet mignon, finished with butter; oven-baked four cheese macaroni, with breadcrumb topping; and smoked gouda mashed potatoes. The whole meal was delicious—warm flavors and savory goodness—and a great way to remember the beginning of our relationship and celebrate the new beginning of being pregnant.

Valentine’s Day 2012 – We’ve got a four month old baby, but we made reservations weeks ago. The babysitters (i.e. grandparents) are ready to take care of our little man and we are ready for a great dinner at Nantucket. We haven’t eaten there before, so we are very excited to try it out. Unfortunately, Suzy is suffering from a terrible cold (that I gave her), so we opt to stay in. I pick up take-out from Thaicoon—pineapple curry with chicken and panang curry with pork—and we sit on the floor to eat, playing with the baby between bites. We finish off our romantic dinner with a dozen break-and-bake cookies…classy, I know. At one point, Suzy looks at me and says, “I'm gonna kill you for giving me this cold.” I love you, too, honey. Happy Valentine’s Day.

While we are laying in bed later that night, we joke about how “memorable” this Valentine’s Day would be. And I agree. I honestly think it will be. Obviously it was nothing like the meals we had at nice restaurants in years past, but it was still a lovely dinner: literally, a dinner defined by love.

As I’m writing this, I’m watching a story on Rock Center with Brian Williams about couples that celebrated Valentine’s Day at White Castle (check out the video clip here). My first reaction is, “Are you kidding me?! Why would they go to White Castle? Who would want to celebrate Valentine’s Day like that?” Then I think of how Suzy and I “celebrated” this year, and it made sense. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you eat…you can still have a lovely dinner.

Got any memorable (or not-so-memorable) Valentine's dinners?