Food Is Love

Dallas Valentine's Day treats and eats to seduce your sweetheart

Tart Bakery's goodies include heart-shaped Linzer cookies.
Photo courtesy of Tart Bakery
The Love Doctor is back at Emporium Pies just in time for Valentine's Day.
Photo courtesy of Emporium Pies
Bread Winners is baking up a basket of Valentine's Day treats.
Photo courtesy of Breadwinners
Killer Pecans makes Valentine's Day extra-spicy.
Killer Pecans/Facebook
Kenny's Burger Joint celebrates Valentine's Day the best way it knows how: withan adult milkshake.
Photo courtesy of Kenny's

Some of us love Valentine's Day, some not so much. For the lovers, restaurants are poised and ready to serve up romantic dinners with champagne, chocolate cake and the works; we have the full list here.

But Valentine's Day noshing doesn't stop at dining out. There are seductive cakes, decadent truffles and dinners-for-two, ready for pickup that you can enjoy at home. We did a little digging and found some tasty gifts for those who like to think outside the (chocolate) box.

Killer Pecans Valentine's Day Gift Boxes
If you like Bandera Foods' signature Killer Pecans, you'll love the chocolate Killer Pecan brownies and heart-shaped Killer Pecan Shortbread cookies, available for a limited time. They're also offering a trio of gift boxes:

Totally Chocolate: four Killer Pecan brownies with a 10-ounce tin of chocolate-dipped Killer Pecans
Sweet & Spicy: four Killer Pecan brownies with an 8-ounce tin of Killer Pecans
Total Romantic: four Killer Pecan Brownies, 10-ounce tin of chocolate-dipped Killer Pecans, two chocolate-dipped Killer Pecan Shortbread cookie hearts

Price: $29.99 for Totally Chocolate gift box, $27.99 for Sweet & Spicy gift box, $36.99 for the Total Romantic package. Call 214-366-9100.

"Date in a Box" From Chefs Katie and George Brown
Enjoy a four-course "Date in a Box" gourmet dinner with dessert from chefs Katie and George Brown. Each box features lobster bisque, Local Yocal Angus chateaubriand, Yukon potato purée, baby carrots and malted chocolate mousse cake, plus Killer Pecans and Morning After Muffins. Order must be made by February 10. You can get it delivered or pick it up February 13-15 at Scardello Cheese in Dallas or Local Yocal in McKinney.

Price: $149 + $25 delivery fee. Call 214-752-6851.

Takeout Feast for Two at Sea Breeze Fish Market & Grill
Plano seafood restaurant has a take-out seafood feast on February 14. Menu starts with crab cakes and includes crab-stuffed lobster, salad, two sides and Key lime pie. The dinner is ready to serve. Bring it home, hide the evidence of picking it up from a restaurant and bask in the glory you will receive from your significant other.

Price: $75. Call 972-473-2722.

Treats at Tart Bakery
Tart unfurls a whole menu of Valentine's cookies, cakes, cupcakes, cake balls and chocolates. Heart-shaped Linzer cookies come with apricot or raspberry jam filling. Whoopie pies include Valentine's must-get options such as red velvet and double chocolate. There are petit fours, lattice-topped tarts and macaron samplers. A special line of chocolates includes salted caramels, fudge, rum balls and champagne truffles.

Price: From $1.50 per cookie to $33 for a dozen petit fours. Call 469-335-8919.

Baked Goods at Bread Winners
Dallas bakery chain has a full range of Valentine's special-edition offerings: cake balls, red velvet layer cake, Rice Krispie treats dipped in pink frosting, iced sugar cookies, cupcakes and chocolate-dipped strawberries. These items are available at all four locations. Call 24 hours in advance if your order is large or requires any kind of personalization.

Price: Range from $2.50 per cake ball to $40 for a chocolate seduction cake.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Shake at Kenny's Burger Joint
If you're the type of person who finds romance in an old-fashioned dinner of burger and fries, you already know about Kenny's Burger Joint. Yes, it's all the way up in Frisco, but the Valentine's Day "adult shake" offering might be worth the drive. Kenny's is mixing up a chocolate covered cherry adult shake that includes Godiva chocolate liquor and Grey Goose Cherry Noir vodka. Sounds like a recipe for a good time.

Price: $6.99. Call 214-618-8001.

Love Doctor Red Velvet Chess Pie at Emporium Pies
One of Emporium's most popular seasonal flavors is the Love Doctor, a red velvet chess pie, and it returns in time for Valentine's Day. The addition of cocoa makes it a chocolaty version of a chess pie, with a swirl of cream cheese to evoke the white frosting typically found on red velvet cake. The pie has the texture of a gooey brownie; the crust is flaky with a subtle hit of salt.

The Love Doctor appears on February 11 and will be available throughout the spring at both locations in Bishop Arts and downtown McKinney, which opened in November.

Price: $5 per slice or $30 per pie. Call 469-206-6126.

unspecified

Omakase News

Downtown Dallas restaurant Sauvage expands with new dining twist

Sauvage

A downtown Dallas restaurant famous for its multi-course tasting experience is letting its hair down: Sauvage, the high-end mom-and-pop restaurant near the Statler Dallas hotel, has a new dining option that gives a smaller, more casual taste.

The restaurant opened in September with a set menu featuring 16 to 18 courses — wild game, seafood, vegetables, and dessert — all cooked via grill and smoker.

While 16 courses might sound like a lot, the courses are mostly small bites. However, owners Casey and Amy LaRue received feedback from diners wanting a smaller option.

"We were getting a ton of messages from guests who want to stop by just to try one dish, a bite, or a specific pairing without committing to the full tasting — so we built something for exactly that," Casey says.

They've introduced a new three-course "Cocktails & Bites hour" featuring three dishes, each paired with its own cocktail, served from 5–6 pm on weekdays.

Last week’s menu consisted of:

dry-aged red snapper crudo with La Chinola Way, a cocktail featuring passionfruit, mezcal, lime, and ginger
foie gras & truffle on house-baked croissant with Pendennis Club, a gin sour with apricot liqueur bitters
jerk-spiced shrimp with Clarified Paper Plane, a bourbon cocktail with Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice

The new offering continues their pattern of pairing courses with cocktails rather than wine — an approach they've embraced since opening. "Limiting pairings to wine can get boring — it so often ends up being one expensive red after another," Casey says.

You can make a reservation on Tock, or just walk in and grab a seat.

Caviar
They've also added a new version of their classic menu: no caviar.

"Some love having caviar integrated into the menu, but others prefer to skip it, whether for taste or dietary reasons, but still want the full value of the experience," Casey says. "With such a small counter, this put us in a strange position: do we give everyone caviar whether they want it or not, or do we remove it entirely and lose a core part of our menu?"

Thus, a new menu without caviar, priced at $195, with an optional caviar course available for those who want it for $245.

downtown