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Kibbeh-poached lobster from Melange
Kibbeh-poached lobster from Melange
Rey Lopez/For Melange

Where to Find a Special Valentine’s Day Meal Around D.C.

Splurge-worthy take-home deals — and a few dine-in menus — full of oysters, caviar, chocolate, and supplies for brunch in bed

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Kibbeh-poached lobster from Melange
|Rey Lopez/For Melange

Valentine’s Day dinner may look a little less romantic during a pandemic, but many restaurants and bars are still trying their best to help diners woo their sweethearts, be they significant others, “galentines,” family, or friends. From oyster shucking kits atSalt Line andDistrict Fishwifeto pricey takeout packages full of caviar, chocolate truffles, and Champagne at Fairmont, Xiquet and 1789, there are plenty of ways to celebrate with a meal at home. Here are a handful of options for a carryout-filled Valentine’s Day — and a few for couples who want to support restaurants offering indoor dining at limited capacity.

Restaurants on this map may temporarily close due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, so check with a business before showing up. A number of D.C. area restaurants have resumed dine-in service. The level of service offered is indicated on each map point. However, this should not be taken as endorsement for dining in, as there are still safety concerns. The Washington Post istrackingcoronavirus cases and deaths in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. More information can be found atcoronavirus.dc.gov. Studies indicate that there is a lower exposure risk when outdoors, but the level of risk involved with patio dining is contingent on restaurants following strict social distancing and other safety guidelines.

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Xiquet by Danny Lledó

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Xiquet DL’s luxurious pickup package ($450 for two) includes a dozen roses, bottle of Laurent-Perrier Champagne, Iberian cheese and charcuterie, Russian Golden Osetra caviar, Danny Lledó’s award-winning seafood paella, and Basque cheesecake finale. Weekend specials include a five-course takeout tasting menu starting at $85 per person as well as in-person dining.

Vegan paella gets cooked over orange wood fire at Xiquet
Vegan paella gets cooked over orange wood fire at Xiquet
Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Maydan

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The Michelin-starred restaurant full of Arabic plates rolls out the red carpet with an on-site spread of beet-based borani dip, sunchokes hummus, halloumi, stuffed cornish hen, and chef Paola Velez’s fruit tart ($85 per person) Or, opt for a prix-fixe curated meal to-go or its Tawle feast at home. Order details and reservationshere. And over at sister spot Compass Rose,a new streatery debuting over the weekendserves “Tour of the World” and “Russian Zakuski” menus.

Take-home treats from pastry chef Paola Velez include house-made souse or fudge and caramel sauce served with strawberries and shortbread.
Compass Rose/official photo

Seven Reasons

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Enrique Limardo’s offers a special chef’s tasting menu at one of two tables directly in front of the open kitchen starting at 4 p.m. Or at-home diners can partake in itsPlate @ Home”experience, featuring deconstructed and color-coded courses to keep couples busy.

BRESCA

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The Michelin-rated restaurant led by chef Ryan Ratino offers a five-course course menu for $150 per person (tax and gratuity not included). Highlights include tuna crudo, grilled lobster, short rib or black cod, and a dark chocolate tart.Snaga seat for Friday, February 12, to Sunday February 14.

Baker’s Daughter

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Chef Matt Baker’s carryout cafe encourages breakfast in bed with a $56 brunch box for two that comes with cold-pressed juice, coffee, a pastry basket, ham and cheese quiche, taquitos, shakshuka, avocado toast, brioche French toast, steak and eggs with whipped polenta, and more. Available forpickupFebruary 13 and 14.

The District Fishwife

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The Union Market vendor has a three-course fish feast couples can cook at home ($40), featuring Albacore tuna nachos; Maryland lump blue crab salad with Vietnamese nouc cham dressing; and New Zealand King salmon with leek and lemon risotto. Other holiday offerings include Paddlefish roe ($35), a dozen Virginia or Massachusetts oysters with a shucking knife, and tiramisu or passionfruit bombolinis ($10 each) from Toscana Market. Place orders before Thursday, February 11.

District Fishwife’s three-course takeout meal includes a scallops and risotto option.
District Fishwife/official photo

Nina May

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Feast by Nina May’s Valentine’s Dayboxescater to at-home culinary couples with marinated fresh water prawn salad with crispy shallot and sweet chili vinaigrette, orange honey glazed duck breast with yukon potato gnocchi, and red velvet lava cake.Ordertwo-person deliveries for $90, and add $28 cocktails for two. And on Saturday, February 13 and Sunday, February 14, chef Colin McClimans handles date night withdine-in or pickupon venison and veal dishes ($150).

Feast by Nina May offers cook-at-home Valentine’s Day kits.
Nina May/official photo

1789 Restaurant & Bar

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克萊德的皇冠上的寶石在喬治敦大學重開a Champagne and chocolate truffle package ($88), available onpreorderuntil February 11. The historic fixture also hosts a prix-fixe menu ($89) with an optional winter black truffles upgrade.

Hotel Fairmont Washington D.C. Georgetown

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The West End hotel’s pretty holiday boxes wrapped in red ribbon are filled with eight of executive Pastry Chef A.J. Thalakkat’s chocolates, freeze dried rose petals, two candles with votives, personalized matches, and two splits of Mumm Sparking Wine or Moët Champagne ($49-$69).Orderboxes by Monday, February 8, and dress to impress for pickup at 4 p.m. on Friday, February 12: free future meals and hotel treats will be awarded to those decked out in the best Valentine’s Day attire.

Customers donning their best red attire at pickup can win free hotel treats.
Fairmont/official photo

Blue Duck Tavern

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Swing by the Park Hyatt restaurant to pick up Petrossian Ossetra Caviar with crème fraiche and corn Johnny cakes; whole Rohan duck with pomegranate gastrique; or slow-roasted beef tenderloin and sides ($125-$150).Ordersmust be placed by Thursday, February 11 at 5 p.m. The sleek site also offers a three-course Valentine’s Day dinner for $135 per person.

BOURBON STEAK

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The glitzy hotel’s newly named chef Robert Curtis curates date night with to-go spreads of classic wedge salad, a bone-in New York strip steak, truffle mac and cheese, whipped potatoes and its Bourbon chocolate bar, alongside a half-bottle of Thibaut-Jannison Virginia sparkling wine ($250 for two). From Friday, February 12, to Sunday, February 14, dine-in specials include lobster carpaccio with hearts of palm, Calabrian chile and fennel, grilled spring fluke, a miso-buttered shellfish platter, and red velvet mousse cake.

Bourbon Steak offers a mix of takeout and on-site specials for Valentine’s Day.
Bourbon Steak/official photo

Melange

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Chef Elias Taddesse’s hit burger counter, which incorporates Ethiopian flavors and French technique, is offering a heat-at-home meal full of five courses for two people ($150). Highlights include lobster poached in kibbeh (flavored clarified butter) with hot mitmita spice and a black garlic emulsion. For dessert, there’s a spiced tea chocolate tart with fromage blanc ice cream.Preordersfor curbside pickup (February 13 and February 14) are open until midnight February 11.

Melange’s Valentine’s Day menu include berbere-cured salmon shaped like a rose.
Rey Lopez/Melange

Taco Bamba

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Chef Victor Albisu helps curate a three-course weekend menu with lobster tortilla soup, paella, and salted chocolate pot de crème , along with a la carte empanadas, cocktails, and mixers to fill out the Valentine’s Day spread ($65 per person). Orderonlinestarting Monday, February 8, for pickup February 12 to 14, with delivery available to parts of Northern Virginia and Rockville.

Flight Wine Bar

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The Chinatown wine bar offers a February 14, three-course dinner ($65) filled out by Japanese eggplant, hanger steak, and flan, with an optional $45 wine pairing. Limited indoor reservations availablehere.

Flight Wine Bar/official photo

Zaytinya

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Zaytinya’s to-go Valentine’s menuinclude celebration rice, cauliflower tagnites, and smoked beet salata ($100 for two, $200 for four), along with a compilation of its greatest hits of spreads, spanikopita and lamb shoulder for dine-in service. José Andrés’s Penn Quarter sister spot Jaleooffers pricey DIY paella sets($275 for two), complete with video tutorials, a chef hat, and cookbook, roses, or caviar add-ons.

The Smith

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The American brasserie dresses upValentine’s Day delivery and carryoutwith a two-person spread of elegant appetizers, surf and turf mains, sides, and desserts to heat and eat at home. Pick up on February 12 or 13 ($135).

Lobster scampi (whole Maine lobster, oregano breadcrumbs) at The Smith.
Dana Balding/The Smith

Central Michel Richard

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The legendary late chef’s traditional pre-Valentine’s Day dinner returns Thursday, February 11, to Saturday, February 13. Available indoors or outside (weather permitting), the romantic three-course menu ($100 per person) stars beets carpaccio, dry-aged bone-in ribeye, and a chocolate heart-shaped cake for two.

Colada Shop

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The cool Cuban cafe’s Valentine’s Day brunch package includes a bottle of cava and its strawberry reduction for DIY sparkling cocktails at home, plus pairs of heart-shaped guava pastelitos, empanadas, croquetas, and breakfast sandwiches ($60).

Colada Shop/official photo

The Salt Line

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The Navy Yard oyster bar offers an ode to the aphrodisiac with a Zoom shucking class ($90 for two, $50 for one) led by a Oyster Recovery Partnership rep. The virtual deal includes two dozen Harris Creek oysters, shucking knives and gloves, two TSL “Oysters are for Lovers” T-shirts, and a donation to the Chesapeake Bay nonprofit.

Lena's Wood-Fired Pizza & Tap

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For last-minute Valentine’s Day planners, the Italian restaurant takes pickup orders the day of only (and even texts diners a reminder). Or reserve a seat now for a three-course menu ($120) with the option to pick its house Cabernet Sauvignon orHoney Game, which includes over 300 quirky questions to get to know your partner over dinner.

Xiquet by Danny Lledó

Xiquet DL’s luxurious pickup package ($450 for two) includes a dozen roses, bottle of Laurent-Perrier Champagne, Iberian cheese and charcuterie, Russian Golden Osetra caviar, Danny Lledó’s award-winning seafood paella, and Basque cheesecake finale. Weekend specials include a five-course takeout tasting menu starting at $85 per person as well as in-person dining.

Vegan paella gets cooked over orange wood fire at Xiquet
Vegan paella gets cooked over orange wood fire at Xiquet
Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Maydan

The Michelin-starred restaurant full of Arabic plates rolls out the red carpet with an on-site spread of beet-based borani dip, sunchokes hummus, halloumi, stuffed cornish hen, and chef Paola Velez’s fruit tart ($85 per person) Or, opt for a prix-fixe curated meal to-go or its Tawle feast at home. Order details and reservationshere. And over at sister spot Compass Rose,a new streatery debuting over the weekendserves “Tour of the World” and “Russian Zakuski” menus.

Take-home treats from pastry chef Paola Velez include house-made souse or fudge and caramel sauce served with strawberries and shortbread.
Compass Rose/official photo

Seven Reasons

Enrique Limardo’s offers a special chef’s tasting menu at one of two tables directly in front of the open kitchen starting at 4 p.m. Or at-home diners can partake in itsPlate @ Home”experience, featuring deconstructed and color-coded courses to keep couples busy.

BRESCA

The Michelin-rated restaurant led by chef Ryan Ratino offers a five-course course menu for $150 per person (tax and gratuity not included). Highlights include tuna crudo, grilled lobster, short rib or black cod, and a dark chocolate tart.Snaga seat for Friday, February 12, to Sunday February 14.

Baker’s Daughter

Chef Matt Baker’s carryout cafe encourages breakfast in bed with a $56 brunch box for two that comes with cold-pressed juice, coffee, a pastry basket, ham and cheese quiche, taquitos, shakshuka, avocado toast, brioche French toast, steak and eggs with whipped polenta, and more. Available forpickupFebruary 13 and 14.

The District Fishwife

The Union Market vendor has a three-course fish feast couples can cook at home ($40), featuring Albacore tuna nachos; Maryland lump blue crab salad with Vietnamese nouc cham dressing; and New Zealand King salmon with leek and lemon risotto. Other holiday offerings include Paddlefish roe ($35), a dozen Virginia or Massachusetts oysters with a shucking knife, and tiramisu or passionfruit bombolinis ($10 each) from Toscana Market. Place orders before Thursday, February 11.

District Fishwife’s three-course takeout meal includes a scallops and risotto option.
District Fishwife/official photo

Nina May

Feast by Nina May’s Valentine’s Dayboxescater to at-home culinary couples with marinated fresh water prawn salad with crispy shallot and sweet chili vinaigrette, orange honey glazed duck breast with yukon potato gnocchi, and red velvet lava cake.Ordertwo-person deliveries for $90, and add $28 cocktails for two. And on Saturday, February 13 and Sunday, February 14, chef Colin McClimans handles date night withdine-in or pickupon venison and veal dishes ($150).

Feast by Nina May offers cook-at-home Valentine’s Day kits.
Nina May/official photo

1789 Restaurant & Bar

克萊德的皇冠上的寶石在喬治敦大學重開a Champagne and chocolate truffle package ($88), available onpreorderuntil February 11. The historic fixture also hosts a prix-fixe menu ($89) with an optional winter black truffles upgrade.

Hotel Fairmont Washington D.C. Georgetown

The West End hotel’s pretty holiday boxes wrapped in red ribbon are filled with eight of executive Pastry Chef A.J. Thalakkat’s chocolates, freeze dried rose petals, two candles with votives, personalized matches, and two splits of Mumm Sparking Wine or Moët Champagne ($49-$69).Orderboxes by Monday, February 8, and dress to impress for pickup at 4 p.m. on Friday, February 12: free future meals and hotel treats will be awarded to those decked out in the best Valentine’s Day attire.

Customers donning their best red attire at pickup can win free hotel treats.
Fairmont/official photo

Blue Duck Tavern

Swing by the Park Hyatt restaurant to pick up Petrossian Ossetra Caviar with crème fraiche and corn Johnny cakes; whole Rohan duck with pomegranate gastrique; or slow-roasted beef tenderloin and sides ($125-$150).Ordersmust be placed by Thursday, February 11 at 5 p.m. The sleek site also offers a three-course Valentine’s Day dinner for $135 per person.

BOURBON STEAK

The glitzy hotel’s newly named chef Robert Curtis curates date night with to-go spreads of classic wedge salad, a bone-in New York strip steak, truffle mac and cheese, whipped potatoes and its Bourbon chocolate bar, alongside a half-bottle of Thibaut-Jannison Virginia sparkling wine ($250 for two). From Friday, February 12, to Sunday, February 14, dine-in specials include lobster carpaccio with hearts of palm, Calabrian chile and fennel, grilled spring fluke, a miso-buttered shellfish platter, and red velvet mousse cake.

Bourbon Steak offers a mix of takeout and on-site specials for Valentine’s Day.
Bourbon Steak/official photo

Melange

Chef Elias Taddesse’s hit burger counter, which incorporates Ethiopian flavors and French technique, is offering a heat-at-home meal full of five courses for two people ($150). Highlights include lobster poached in kibbeh (flavored clarified butter) with hot mitmita spice and a black garlic emulsion. For dessert, there’s a spiced tea chocolate tart with fromage blanc ice cream.Preordersfor curbside pickup (February 13 and February 14) are open until midnight February 11.

Melange’s Valentine’s Day menu include berbere-cured salmon shaped like a rose.
Rey Lopez/Melange

Taco Bamba

Chef Victor Albisu helps curate a three-course weekend menu with lobster tortilla soup, paella, and salted chocolate pot de crème , along with a la carte empanadas, cocktails, and mixers to fill out the Valentine’s Day spread ($65 per person). Orderonlinestarting Monday, February 8, for pickup February 12 to 14, with delivery available to parts of Northern Virginia and Rockville.

Flight Wine Bar

The Chinatown wine bar offers a February 14, three-course dinner ($65) filled out by Japanese eggplant, hanger steak, and flan, with an optional $45 wine pairing. Limited indoor reservations availablehere.

Flight Wine Bar/official photo

Zaytinya

Zaytinya’s to-go Valentine’s menuinclude celebration rice, cauliflower tagnites, and smoked beet salata ($100 for two, $200 for four), along with a compilation of its greatest hits of spreads, spanikopita and lamb shoulder for dine-in service. José Andrés’s Penn Quarter sister spot Jaleooffers pricey DIY paella sets($275 for two), complete with video tutorials, a chef hat, and cookbook, roses, or caviar add-ons.

Related Maps

The Smith

The American brasserie dresses upValentine’s Day delivery and carryoutwith a two-person spread of elegant appetizers, surf and turf mains, sides, and desserts to heat and eat at home. Pick up on February 12 or 13 ($135).

Lobster scampi (whole Maine lobster, oregano breadcrumbs) at The Smith.
Dana Balding/The Smith

Central Michel Richard

The legendary late chef’s traditional pre-Valentine’s Day dinner returns Thursday, February 11, to Saturday, February 13. Available indoors or outside (weather permitting), the romantic three-course menu ($100 per person) stars beets carpaccio, dry-aged bone-in ribeye, and a chocolate heart-shaped cake for two.

Colada Shop

The cool Cuban cafe’s Valentine’s Day brunch package includes a bottle of cava and its strawberry reduction for DIY sparkling cocktails at home, plus pairs of heart-shaped guava pastelitos, empanadas, croquetas, and breakfast sandwiches ($60).

Colada Shop/official photo

The Salt Line

The Navy Yard oyster bar offers an ode to the aphrodisiac with a Zoom shucking class ($90 for two, $50 for one) led by a Oyster Recovery Partnership rep. The virtual deal includes two dozen Harris Creek oysters, shucking knives and gloves, two TSL “Oysters are for Lovers” T-shirts, and a donation to the Chesapeake Bay nonprofit.

Lena's Wood-Fired Pizza & Tap

For last-minute Valentine’s Day planners, the Italian restaurant takes pickup orders the day of only (and even texts diners a reminder). Or reserve a seat now for a three-course menu ($120) with the option to pick its house Cabernet Sauvignon orHoney Game, which includes over 300 quirky questions to get to know your partner over dinner.

Related Maps

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