What’s On: Valentine’s Day

Sprinkle the petals, fill the toilet bowl with rose water and turn up the Barry White: that sweeter than honey lovey-dovey day is almost upon us. That’s right lovers, Foodepedia was never sure how to say this before but, uh …we really like you, and we’d love to take you out for dinner sometime, so here are our most romantic Valentine’s Day date ideas for all you paired up penguins that don’t pay too much attention to clocks and calendars.

Pan Seared Valentine’s Steak with a Vanilla Peppercorn Sauce

Pan Seared Valentine’s Steak with a Vanilla Peppercorn Sauce and Vanilla Panacotta with Valentine’s Berries. Sourced from the vanilla orchid, vanilla has been regarded as an aphrodisiac since the time of the Aztecs, while in the 1800s Dr John King advised in the American Dispensatory that one should use vanilla to “stimulate the sexual propensities”.

Waipara West 2014

There must be something special about this site because every Waipara West wine that I’ve tasted has been memorable for all the right reasons; and the wines are numerous.

Review of Poppies fish and chip shop

‘Where’s there a bloody good chip shop?’ is a question probably not asked often enough; if you’ve ever read anything about fish and chips, you will of course be aware that the unequivocally beige meal is’the nation’s favourite dish’, despite the fact that most chip shops are rubbish.

Kanteen – K West Spa

I realise it doesn’t sound like a ground-breaking menu and the hardcore Come Dine With Me lovers will scoff and demand much more flamboyance, but that’s not the point of coming to Kanteen. If you want something bland from a brand and covet sitting in a huge fishbowl so everyone can see you eat, go to Westfield.

Almond Bar- 100 Syrian recipes

Syrians believe you should never eat alone and there is, Salloum says, good natured rivalry between household chefs to put on a great show. It’s from those women; the kitchen was almost entirely a female domain in her youth, that she learnt her skills and recipes.

Celebrity Cruises of the Ben Fogle variety

The Fogle’s got a new role as “Destination Expert” with Celebrity Cruises, creating a series of shore excursion programmes that I would have enjoyed more than nutmegging Gordon Banks or waiting in the Pompeii gift shop for the bus back to the boat.