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February 4, 2021
Enjoy a restaurant-quality Valentine’s Day dinner at home
Here’s where to order to-go and delivery meals in Charlotte
By now, we all have our regular takeout options and are getting used to eating restaurant-quality food at home. That doesn’t mean you can’t experience something special at home on Valentine’s Day, however. Local restaurants and food delivery services are putting together stellar meals you can enjoy at home. Here are some of our top picks.
Alternative Chef NC
The meal prep company run by chef Hannah Riley is offering a filet mignon special for Valentine’s Day. The dinner serves two, and comes with scalloped potatoes, grilled asparagus, and chocolate lava cake. $85 for two. Pick up Feb. 12 by 4 p.m. at Carolina Commercial Kitchen.
Aqua e Vino
One of our highest-rated restaurants is serving an a la carte Valentine’s Day menu, with options that include octopus a la plancha, asparagus flan, rock shrimp and wild mushroom risotto, pistachio-crusted lamb, dover sole, and eggplant parmigiana. Order by 4 p.m. for Feb. 14 pickup.
Ilios Noche
Customize your menu with a choice of shrimp, Caesar salad, goat cheese ravioli, or salad for an appetizer; filet mignon, lamb chops, halibut, or shrimp scampi as an entree; and various sides. Dinners serve two and also include a bottle of wine. $159, pick up on Feb. 13 or Feb. 14.
KiKi Bistro
The sister restaurant to Soul Gastrolounge is donating 15 percent of proceeds from its Valentine’s Day to-go sales to Plaza Presbyterian Weekday School, and three-course meals can also be ordered vegan. On the regular menu is roasted eggplant rolls, lobster pasta with champagne cream, and panna cotta. The vegan offering switches out the main course for a pan-roasted cauliflower steak, with olive oil cake for dessert. $100 for two, pick up on Feb. 14.
L’Ostrica
This chef-driven food delivery service requires a little bit of cooking time, but the result is worth it. The Valentine’s Day menu includes an amuse bouche of pork rillette followed by beet salad, pasta stuffed with lobster and ricotta, your choice of seared fish or braised short ribs, and chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies for dessert. Available for delivery Feb. 12 or pickup on Feb. 13 at Tabor. $65 per person.
Orrman’s Cheese Shop
Celebrate love with a heart-shaped hunk of truffle brie surrounded by charcuterie roses, chocolates, and accoutrements. $27, pick up at Orrman’s Cheese Shop.
Patrick’s Gourmet
Former Aix en Provence owner Patrick Garrivier and his daughter create French-tinged, multi-course meals that you simply reheat and serve. Valentine’s Day brings lobster bisque, arugula salad, and filet mignon or salmon with a raspberry tart for dessert. Pick up Feb. 13 at Halal Mobile Kitchen.
Salmeri’s Italian Kitchen
The newest addition to Jon and Amy Fortes’ Flipside Restaurant Group serves a three-course Italian meal for takeout or dine-in. Start with shrimp scampi, followed by grilled sirloin steak and lobster fra diavolo, with Italian chocolate s’mores bundino cake for dessert. $50 per person, pick up Feb. 12 through Feb. 14.
Sea Level NC
Cheekily named the “Wanna Go Back To My Place?” meal, this to-go option from Sea Level in Uptown includes salmon poke tacos, Brussels sprout salad, lobster tail and a steak or fresh fish with sides, and red velvet trifle. A bottle of sparkling wine is also included, and oysters can be added on. $150 for two. Pick up Feb. 13 from 4 to 8:30 p.m.
Your Mom’s Donuts
Make Valentine’s Day breakfast sweet with holiday-themed doughnuts, including conversation hearts. Flower bouquets are also available for purchase. $16 for four, pick up on Feb. 14.