Unclogged: Mario Batali's Valentine's Day Menu

Required Eating

Posted by Mario Batali, February 12, 2008 at 1:15 PM

This year for Valentine's Day, I'm taking my kids and wife, Susi, out for our traditional fondue fest at Artisanal. We all send Susi a dozen wacky flowers (never roses—way too common), and then it's out for the first seating at 5:30 p.m. for some cheese and chocolate, and then home early!

My ideal menu celebrates the most mysterious and romantic town of Italia—Venezia—and is based on Carnevale, which always falls near, and sometimes overlaps, with Valentine's Day. The celebration is simple and based on seafood and birds from the Venetian lagoon—or the closest lagoon to you.

I love dungeness crab, but good lump crabmeat is delish in February and easy to find and works well in a crab tortelloni. The quail is extra special in its honey and balsamic marinade; just be sure to make the polenta very thin, almost the texture of a velouté, as it will be less filling and much more tasty.

For dessert, the brutti ma buoni cookies ("ugly but good") may or may not define the entire evening for a few first daters.

It's all about love on February 14.

In boca al lupo!

Mario Batali's Valentine's Day Menu

About the author: Mario Batali has created a thriving restaurant empire and has established himself as a top restaurateur. Together with his partner, Joe Bastianich, he operates seven New York City hotspots. Mario splits his time between New York City's Greenwich Village and northern Michigan with his wife, Susan Cahn, of Coach Dairy Goat Farm, and their two sons. More Mario: mariobatali.com.

4 Comments | Tags: holiday menus, holidays, Italian, Mario Batali, Valentine's Day

4 Comments:

Last year I took my girlfriend to esca and it was one of the best meals I've ever had. This year we're going to lupa. Batali+Valentines=awesome.

AndreSala at 2:43PM on 02/12/08

What? No lamb-and-mint love letters?

BTW, I did a riff off your duck liver ravioli the other day using wild duck livers and it came out fabulous - thanks for the inspiration!

HunterAnglerGardenerCook at 4:05PM on 02/12/08

AndreSala,
My husband and I went to Esca in 2001 for our first anniversary and we STILL talk about that meal! It was the most expensive dinner we've ever had but it was worth every penny. Bravo, Mario!

jennyren at 3:18PM on 02/13/08

My husband made the crab tortelloni last night-- delicious! (Sorry Mario, we didn't have time to make homemade pasta so we used fresh pasta from an Asian market.)

therealpotato at 3:11PM on 02/18/08

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