Paul and I went out for a Valentine’s Day dinner last night (to avoid crowds/reservations on the actual day), and that is probably how we’ll celebrate the holiday from now on. It makes me feel like we Did Something for Valentine’s Day, and also gives me an answer if friends ask. We each ordered a fancy cocktail from a menu that didn’t have prices (why do cocktail menus so rarely have prices? is the answer “because if they had prices, no one would pay $12 for a cocktail”?) and after dinner we ordered a dessert sampler.
I wish to further discuss the dessert sampler, because on one hand it was amusingly overpriced (for that money we could have instead purchased four half-gallons of mid-grade ice cream plus the family-size bottle of Hershey’s syrup and a canister of real whipped cream), but on the other hand it was perfectly priced: expensive enough to feel like doing something special. Also, I hardly ever have room for dessert after eating out (I will eat the entire bread basket and all my dinner and some of yours too), but I always WANT to have room for dessert, so it is a very nice way to get just the right amount of dessert. Also, I was happy to get to try samples of several different things, instead of having to choose just one. (Perhaps that last one is the wrong sentiment for a Valentine’s Day dinner.)
And wouldn’t a “coffee and dessert sampler” date be a fun early-dating date?? You could adjust the intimacy level fairly easily, either by splitting the number of samples so you each choose and eat your own, or else by getting all different samples and then sharing them. MY SPOON IS WHERE YOUR SPOON WAS <3 <3 <3
I would also like to say that more restaurants should have dessert samplers. So if you are in charge of making that kind of decision at a restaurant, or you are in a position to influence someone who is, could you get on that please.
Some love songs to mark the day:
Rewrite the Stars – Zac Efron and Zendaya
A Thousand Years – Christina Perri
Beautiful Soul – Jesse McCartney
Rhythm of Love – Plain White T’s
Hold Each Other – A Great Big World ft. Futuristic
For the Longest Time – Billy Joel
It seems to me you’re ready for a DoTS rewatch.
Glad you got to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Pricey desserts do kill me. I can’t stop myself from thinking about the full size pie or bakery cake I could’ve picked up on the way home . . . that would’ve fed the entire clan. I do like a sampler tray, but whether or not I should – I always have room for dessert. I stuff it down my pie hole – because it is DESSERT! Honestly, now that I have celiac disease there isn’t much dessert I can eat at restaurants with the exception of ice cream. I just wait till we get home. Sigh.
You totally have to come to France… Nearly every restaurant now serves a “café gourmand” as one of the dessert choices, and it’s exactly that: a coffee of your choice (French people go for the really strong, tiny amount of almost tar-like coffee at the bottom of a tiny cup, I generally go for a large, milky coffee) with 3 or 4 mini portions of whatever desserts they have. It’s incredibly practical and widespread (even the IKEA Restaurant has them), and I love it!
Secondly, I love your music choices. My younger daughter and I saw The Greatest Showman on 26 January (it opened here in France on the 24th, but that was a school night) and have been listening to/singing along to the soundtrack ever since. The “Never enough” song is amazing, but ever since my (mainly French-speaking, but totally English-understanding and starting (at last) to speak some English with me) 13-year-old daughter pointed out the odd way the singer says “spotlights”, that’s pretty much all I can hear (go on, listen to it – she really “explodes” the “p” sound, it’s very odd)… Also, I remember several years ago you did a post about The Plain White T’s song and I’d never heard of them, let alone their song, but since then I’ve loved that song and it features on my “Spotify Happy Songs” playlist, so thank you for that!
I adore that Billy Joel song. Heart eyes.
While I dislike sharing food, I am also a big fan of the sampler. Such a good way to try things you might not be willing to shell out $12 for!
I love dessert samplers or in fact sampler type things for any stage of the meal, but my husband very much prefers to order one full sized thing and eat it all so I have given up on making him share with me and only order that sort of thing when it’s for one person rather than for two people to share
I think every place should have dessert samplers-such a great way to share and enjoy after a meal.
My husband and I were married on Feb.18th-which turned out to be a good idea, because we kind of skip Valentine’s Day and do something for the anniversary. It wasn’t planned that way at all, we got married at the courthouse and that was the date some of our friends could attend. Anyway we miss the Valentine’s crowd and usually have a nice dinner out on the 18th. I like that we just chill at home on the 14th, and have something to look forward to in another 4 days.
My husband and I were married on the 19th, at the court house and pretty much do the same as you.
I’m glad you found a Valentine’s Day solution. Ours was very much of the family-oriented, heart-shaped food variety and that’s nice, but something romantic would have been nice, too.
OMG, yes a dessert sampler is the best idea! Like you I always want it but rarely have room (one cannot just NOT eat all of the bread prior to dinner being served!). Also, my husband and I have largely different preferences for dessert (me: “It’s not dessert if chocolate is not involved and cooked fruit is just wrong.” him: “what is the most vanilla and custardy thing on the menu and if there’s some fruit incorporated, all the better!”) so it’s basically impossible to share one dessert. Therefore, the sampler is perfect! We each get a bit of what we like and have the opportunity to try something else without feeling badly if we don’t finish it as it was just a sampler. This is a cause we should all support!
Swistle. You have got to be my long lost sister. The bread. The desserts. The practicality of NOT celebrating Vday on Vday.
Romantic song for middle-aged married people:
Thank You by Charlotte Kendrick
Ok, now I’m going to have to start googling restaurants around here to see if any serve a dessert sampler – that sounds like heaven.
I’m SO glad you included that Billy Joel song in your list; I absolutely adore anything he does. Just found out he’s coming to town and I am SO going to be there!
Romantic song for people who support marriage equality:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rikj0WMGbDU
I have ALWAYS loved The Longest Time.
We were in Williamsburg, VA once on vacation and my son, then aged 9 and a soup lover, chose the soup sampler for his dinner. He tried them all, and then announced, “Okay, I choose THIS one!” We were baffled. Choose this one? “This is the one I want,” he explained. “For dinner.” Ohhhhh, honey. That’s not how samplers work.
I heartily agree with your dessert sampler sentiment. It is always difficult to choose and since the first bite is always the most delicious anyway, small portions of many desserts is ideal.
I love it when I see dessert samplers on a menu, and yet I can never bring myself to order them. I think I’m afraid that my husband – who usually does not eat dessert, or has only one or two bites of dessert, thus leaving most of a dessert for me – will actually eat bites from each of the samplers, because they seem so small and unfilling, and thus I will end up with LESS dessert. Or, we will both want lots of the cheesecake option and not much of the carrot cake option and, again, I will get less of what I like most. This speaks either to my own very weird issues around food, or possible societal issues whereby we are taught that dessert is a sinful indulgence, and thus when we get to sinfully indulge, we want to make it count as much as possible. Either way, I’ve only realized all of this just now, so thank you – your posts are very often like insightful, mini-therapy.
Um hi. I kinda really want to know what kind of desserts were included in the samplers. Be descriptive. Leave out nothing.
Here in France (where these “cafés gourmands” are really, really common), you usually get something with fruit (maybe a pannacotta with a fruit coulis, or a piece of apple pie, or some homemade fruit purée…), something cake-y (a piece of brownie, etc.) and one other thing, which might be a piece of lemon cheesecake, or a caramel mousse.
It varies a lot – in some places, it’s a standard selection that changes little (maybe just seasonally – a fresh fruit salad in summer, for example, versus something more comfort-foody in winter), in others it’ll be a selection of their day’s desserts so it might change every day.
Whatever, it’s a fabulous idea (here in France, as the name suggests, they come with a coffee too) and I heartily recommend them!