A Valentine’s menu for everyone to love
Friday - February 02, 2007
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Chef Hiroshi Fukui offers a ‘comfortable’
multicourse Valentine’s menu
Whenever I used to go out for dinner on Valentines’ night, I spent more time worrying about how to eat what was on the menu than what to eat. And I’m sure I wasn’t alone. No one cultivating romance wants to be seen with spinach in their teeth or mayonnaise on their chin. And you’ll never convince me that there’s anything remotely romantic about barbecued ribs.
Easy-to-understand menus, recognizable food, a touch of elegance and limited choice is what the perfect Valentine meal requires. This year you’ll find all of that at Hiroshi’s Eurasion Tapas. Trust me, if you’re looking for a place that has elegance, a touch of romance and a menu that’s interesting enough to be a conversation piece if you run out of things to say, then Hiroshi’s has it all.
Eurasion Tapas might suggest that Hiroshi’s serves a Japanese version of the popular Spanish delicacies, but in reality tapas are tiny (oftentimes just a bite or two at most) while Hiroshi Fukui serves some fairly large plates.
The Valentine’s menu is one of those perfectly put together set meals, thoughtfully conceived by a chef whose idea of fun is coming up with 10-course kaiseki dinners three times a year. A multicourse Valentine’s menu presents no problem for the talentedFukui.
“We wanted to feature a menu that had bold dishes, but dishes that are recognizable to everyone,” he says. “Oysters, for example, might be considered an aphrodisiac, but half of the guests don’t like them. This is a menu that we hope will appeal to everyone.”
It’s one of the easiest Valentine’s menus to navigate - a simple presentation of beautiful food with most of the difficult decisions taken care of.
‘We wanted to feature a menu that
had bold dishes, but dishes that are
recognizable to everyone.’
“Sometimes it’s hard when you come to a place for the first time to be faced with a large menu,” says Hiroshi, so the Valentine’s menu offers just two choices on a menu with four courses. Start with Kalbi Salmon Sushi followed by Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp over a salad of Nalo tatsoi, yellow bean tsukemono and kim chee lemon grass sauce, then choose between Sous Vide of Onaga (sous vide just means that it’s been cooked in a bag for hours, resulting in a tender, moist fish) or Filet Mignon. Dessert is Hiroshi’s take on the classic Baked Alaska.
And the very cool thing about Hiroshi’s is the wine list. You can start your evening with one of his foam cocktails and then move to inexpensive wines by the glass, or splurge on some stunning bottles. Either way the wait staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. They’re all wine nuts who enjoy nothing more than helping guests choose something special to drink.
“We like to think that even if people are coming for the first time, they’ll feel very comfortable with the menu and the wine,” says Hiroshi.
I think you will too.
It’s approachable, and sophisticated without being severe - just like the perfect Valentine’s date. Now all you have to do is make sure you reserve a table.
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