by Charlotte Beal
Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday this year, but also on a three-day weekend for some lucky workers, and we bet that meant more people just focused on food and relaxation, staying home to cook a romantic dinner or going out to a low-key restaurant. Or they went to White Castle, which has been dressing up with tablecloths and waiter service on Valentine’s Day for more than a decade. Talk about recession-friendly love.
Indeed, a report from the National Retail Federation showed that couples planned to spend less on each other this year ($63.34, down from $67.22 last year), but more on friends, coworkers and pets (Chicago Sun-Times 2.2.10). Maybe romance is dead, having ceded its place to platonic love?
Since forever, going out to dinner has been the de rigueur way to celebrate V-Day. Yet more of the people in our foodie circles were bemoaning the whole tradition entirely. At the very least, restaurants are getting more creative about the celebration. Two of our favorites: New York’s Prune does a “lovers’ menu” ($69) and “cynics’ menu” ($25) — for the latter, think bourbon sours, bitter greens with a broken vinaigrette and blackberry fools (TastingTable.com 2.3.10). And one Toronto restaurant even encouraged couples to have relations in its unisex bathrooms (Toronto Star 2.3.10). Yum!
But the true sign that Valentine’s hearts and minds are living in a new zeitgeist? Necco added “text me” and “tweet me” to its Sweethearts candy messages this year. Eat it, Cupid.
