ROMANTIC ENCOUNTERS IN THE BIG APPLE

POLLYTALK FROM NEW YORK
FEBRUARY 8, 2010
By Polly Guerin

ROMANTIC ENCOUNTERS

IN THE BIG APPLE

Happy Valentine’s Day! “May your heart’s desire be with you,” said Willy Shakespeare. And let’s not forget Esther Howland, the First Lady of Valentines in America who started the business of sending those sentimental frou frou valentine greetings that capture the hearts of one and all. So my dearest dear where shall we go by land or by sea to celebrate a deux? Here’s the Scoop!!!

Just in time for Valentine’s Day! Come aboard with your sweetheart for a gala evening of ocean liner elegance at the Art Deco Society of New York’s preview event featuring “Decodence: Legendary Interiors and Illustrious Travelers Aboard the S.S. Normandie on Valentine’s eve, Saturday, February 13th. Libations, hors d’oeuvres, festivity and romance await you at the South Sea Seaport Museum, where the swank and swell will be swaying to the music of Grandpa Musselman and his Syncopators. Noted ocean liner author and curator Bill Miller will guide us through the opulent “floating Palace” exhibit. ADSNY members $125, Guests $150. South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton Street. For more information call 212.679.DECO (3326). Email: kathrynhausman@artdeco.org.

Take a Gallic trip to W. 46th Street where LE RIVAGE on Restaurant Row, a charming bistro, takes you to the banks of the scene with vivid scenic oil paintings that surround the walls of the cozy restaurant while you dine with your sweetie. The Prix Fixe lunch is $22, including appetizer, entrée and dessert with coffee. Evening Prix Fixe is $37 with all the mentioned accoutrements and if you can dine at 8pm after the theatre crowd has left it’s a Prix Fixe at $25. The French cuisine is dished up by Chef Paul Denamiel and Marcel Denamiel may even greet you at the door. 340 W. 46 St., 212.765-7374 or www.lerivagenyc.com. Open 7 days a week.

If you desire a bit of the exotic, a gigantic BUDDHA dominates the Tao Restaurant where lunch is my favorite choice, but they serve dinner too. The Prix Fixe lunch is $24.07 including appetizer, my favorite is the dumplings, entrée, my favorite the soy ginger glazed salmon, and dessert, my favorite is the tangerine sorbet with fruit. Dinner is $38 from 5 to 7 in the evening. For entire menu viewing go to www.taorestaurant.com. Or call 212.888.2288.
It may still be a bit chilly but THE LOEB CENTRAL PARK BOATHOUSE restaurant affords a romantic view of the frozen lake, but be sure to get there early, there are no reservations for brunch/lunch from 9:30 to 4 pm, but reservations will be taken for Valentine’s night dinner, Prix Fixe at $75 per person, which is served from 6 to 9 pm. East 72nd Street and Park Drive North. 212.517.2233.

Well, Ta Ta darlings!!! I’m off to the Art Deco Society’s S.S. Normandie gala. Ship Ahoy!!! I’ll see you at the Seaport Museum on Valentine’s eve February 13. Fan mail goes to pollytalk@verizon.net, Blogs: www.amazingartdecodivas.com, www.thefashionhistorian, and www.awakenyoursleepingbeauty.blogspot.com.