Valentine’s Day: who said red is the color?

This year, the last day of work before the Spring Festival holidays begin falls on February 14th, darkening one of the most celebrated (and feared by many) festivities: Valentine’s Day. Many people celebrate Valentine’s Day in an exclusive restaurant, however, in recent years a new trend has emerged which suggests that you pretend to be a chef for a night (a big thanks to video-tutorials that make this notion even remotely possible), in order to organize a romantic candlelight dinner at home. Besides the menu – which we will advise you on later – do you have any idea of how to set the dinner table? If you think that merely lighting up a scented candle and placing some flowers around is enough to create the “magic”, then we guess that you don’t want to hear about the latest table setting rules yet. You may think that you’re not a fashion victim and you’re not bound to any of these rules. Well, you’re partially right but think carefully: what if the dinner won’t be tasty enough or you make some mistakes? What if you spend the entire afternoon (and, probably, your wallet as well) to cook a fish-based dinner and your partner is allergic to seafood? So, if you are not a master-chef or a doctor, you can check out the latest suggestions about how to set a beautiful Valentine’s dinner table. If something goes wrong (and we deeply wish that it doesn’t), at least you can say that your table was a fashion icon masterpiece. The colors Choosing the correct colors shall not be taken for granted. The first color that comes up in mind when speaking of Valentine’s Day (and love, in general) is red, of course. So, let’s set up a red tablecloth, with red plates, red tissues, red candles and the inevitable red roses. Seriously? You will celebrate Chinese New Year the day after, so for Valentine’s dinner the only thing that shall be red is the wine. What we suggest in order to make your dinner to be unforgettable is to mix the colors pale pink with brown sugar and silver. How to mix them. The color that shall prevail is the pale pink. Pink tissues, pink glasses, pink flowers. Which flowers? You can opt for the traditional roses, or some fluffy peonies or yet the elegant orchid. Brown sugar is a color that basically fits everywhere, tablecloths included. It gives a “rustic” touch, which slightly runs counter to the romantic atmosphere (you don’t want to be too sappy, right?) Lastly, silver is perfect to create that precious allure; then, research further for some beautiful decorations – such as flowerpots, place mats, napkin rings- which bring to mind the idea of vintage (or you can go vintage for real, if you have your grandma’s doily to use). The color-customized menu. Since we don’t want to leave anything to chance, as promised at the beginning of this post, we can suggest for you a menu which is a good quality/price ratio value for money and that perfectly matches with these colors, as well as with the rustic-romantic vintage atmosphere. Start with a rose’, cold enough to accompany the appetizer of shrimp cocktail. Delight your partner with an aphrodisiac strawberries risotto (it may look weird, but we guarantee that the sweet’n’sour contrast of the different flavors is very catchy). Continue on from there with a pink pepper steak served with a fresh salad or asparagus wrapped in bacon and finish off the evening’s delicacies with a chocolate soufflé with hot strawberry cream. For these recipes, we turn the floor over to the cuisine experts; last but not least, just remember that anyway in which you decide to decorate your table and personalize your Valentine’s dinner, do it with love and everything will be nicer, perhaps even the food (alternatively, you can always call for food delivery). Happy Valentine’s Day from the Eastant team!