credit:delaurenti.com

​DeLaurenti hosts its regular, free, expertly-led wine tasting on Saturday afternoons, but on the occasion of that big, red holiday, bubbly wines are on the menu for an added Friday tasting. On the menu, a series of sparklers: Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace (Brut Blanc de Blanc), Jeio Rosé Prosecco, Les Gardettes Rosé, and Claudio Corallo Chocolates, too.

The shop's longtime cheese buyer, Connie Rizzo, will provide her Coeur de la Crème, a heart-shaped cheese dessert made with crème and crème fraîche, strawberry coulis, and fresh strawberries.

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credit: licorous.com

​If the idea of a big, sit-down dinner on Valentine's Day seems like more fuss than you want to invest in, consider going small-scale, and more casual. If you're lucky enough to sign up for seats to the second annual Pre-Valentine's Bubble and Bites tasting at Licorous, consider yourself charmed. (Reservations were going fast, and the hours of the event were being extended, when I last spoke with the staff.) Five small plates will be paired with five French sparkling wines, prepared by Jonathan Sundstrom (and staff), in tandem with wine expert Jason Marvin, from the Pike and Western wine shop.

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credit:cadeauxchocolates.com

​Got some chocolate shopping to do, and wonder which local brand is best? The Lower Queen Anne Metropolitan Market is offering three pre-Valentine's days of sweet nibbling (beginning in a few short hours) so your holiday purchasing can be well-informed.

Sample your way through the candy aisles with Fran's, Dilettante, and Theo, as well as the lesser-known, single-candy-maker operation, Cadeaux Chocolates. Also on the docket: sparkling beverages, gelato, cookies, and fudge.

Thurs., Feb. 11, 4-7 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 12, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 13, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 3-6 p.m.
Metropolitan Market, 100 Mercer St., 213-0778.
Free.

​You haven't had cheesecake until you've had it at Paul Verano's boutique bakery in Pike Place Market. It's so damn decadent that they only make cakes ($4 each) that in their entirety still fit in the palm of your hand. Cute!

The Confectional upped its decadence factor yesterday by debuting two new flavors in celebration of Valentine's Day: strawberry white chocolate and raspberry dark chocolate. (Cue the fat girl in me crying with happiness.) A batch of each -- 80 cakes in a batch -- will be churned out daily until February 14.

Keep in mind, this is the bakery's busiest time of the year. You'll want to swing by in the afternoon, or better yet, the morning, to ensure you get your paws on these calorific lovelies.

credit: springhillnorthwest.com

​Garrett Melkonian, the former executive pastry chef at Tom Douglas Restaurants, has been pastry chef at West Seattle's Spring Hill restaurant for a little over a week now, and he's liking his new, smaller digs.

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Reps from chocolatiers local and imported converge at Pike Pub tomorrow for a very fun, and CHEAP, Valentine's Day pre-funk. All chocolates will be matched with plenty of Pike beer and various other brews like Ommegang's Chocolate Indulgence (worst beer name ever -- I still think that sounds like some sort of feminine laxative). For variety's sake, you'll be able to sample Northwest wines and Sky River mead, too. Who needs to drop a wad to get crammed into a two-top and treated like cattle when you can peruse sweets with your sweet?

Highlights: XXXXX Stout floats made with Gelatiamo gelato. Italian BruCo chocolates. Carter's Chocolates (who have made some truffles using Pike beer). Pike neighbor Fran's Chocolates. The Chocolate Box. Claudio Corallo (so hot right now). And Trevani pretzel truffles (be still my heart)

PIKE CHOCOFEST: Thursday, February 12, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m., The Pike Pub's Museum Room, $25 per person. RSVP to Michael St. Clair, 206-812-6613.

I taste thousands of wines each year, and I always wait for something to stick its head above the crowd, especially when it involves bubbly. The price of rose Champagne is just plain stupid these days, and don't lecture me about the Euro because I don't care. I know what they taste like and I know what I'm willing to pay for them. At $85 and up, they're a colossal rip off.

This Bortolomiol Rose Prosecco is THE Champagne killa of the season--all bright and fresh with the aroma and flavor of tart strawberry, a creamy finish, and hot package. For $22-24. Four of these for the price of one bottle of champers? No brainer. At these prices, you can almost afford another valentine to share your bubbly booty. (Ask your local wine shop to order you a bottle if you want to check my math.)

Seattleites are notorious for making reservations at the last minute, so consider this your official alarm clock: You have only 10 days left to score a table on Valentine's Day. I know the restaurant business is slow, but if you don't start calling around now you may find yourself next to the front door at 9:30.

In this week's food section and the next, we've devoted our Featured Eats listings to our picks for restaurants whose atmosphere can enhance your inner Don Juan. For your convenience, I'm also posting the full list here after the jump (thanks to intern Neil Estep for help with the links). Let me know if I've forgotten to list your favorite.
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All right. It's five o'clock. No one's going to get naked if you can't come up with a Valentine's dinner in two hours. It's time for desperate measures.

And Pagliacci's is there for you. Free artichoke hearts. Free! On any pizza! For you! Of course, artichoke hearts look like this:

Not this:

But you'll have to improvise. If you really want something that looks more like this:

...then Papa Murphy's is selling heart-shaped pepperoni pizzas. Only today! A special-edition pizza has to count for something.

Good luck.

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Oh, people, this is so embarrassing for Seattle. New York has one, of course. Chicago has one, too. But as far as I can tell, no one’s mapped our city’s cupcake crawl. (Yes, that's it. Pub crawl. With cupcakes.) And given the proliferation of cupcake shops in the area (there’s even one in downtown Tacoma!), I think it’s high time.

If your Valentine’s Day fantasies run more along the lines of reading cupcake porn over at CakeSpy and biting into a freshie (or if you’re just too young to drink), gather ‘round. Here’s how a cupcake crawl works:

First, find a group of people you can depend on to eat their weight in cake. Be sure to designate a driver. Because really, doesn’t someone need to remain responsible and alert after all that frosting?

Next, make a map. Any self-respecting cupcake lover could hit Trophy and Cupcake Royale and New York Cupcakes on their lunch hour, but there are more options than you might think. Places like Columbia City Bakery and Dahlia Bakery might also come up big. And c’mon. The Erotic Bakery? Now that I think about it, what two cupcakes don't look like boobs?

Plan your route according to neighborhood, adding in stops at less dedicated cupcake purveyors, those have crumbled under the benefits of the economies of scope (such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, etc.), so you have a better reason to appreciate why you pay more for a great cupcake. And to be sure to keep an open mind.

Then just buckle up.

Click here (or on the map above) for a good guide to places in Seattle that sell cupcakes. Let me know who I forgot (or if you know of an existing map), and come back to tell us where you went, and what you liked best.

(Full disclosure: Maggie Dutton, who writes for Seattle Weekly, also works for Trophy.)