Romance is in the air as we turn the corner into February: here come St Valentine’s Day! This year the 14th February is on a Sunday, which gives you the whole weekend to canoodle with your loved one. And like a fairy Godmother, iLPH is on hand to help you embrace the romance. And if you hate the very thought of Valentine’s soppiness, ignore the lovey-dovey stuff and scroll down to the bottom. There’s something for you too.
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ODETTE’S
Modern British classic ODETTE’S Restaurant, with chef-patron Bryn Williams at the helm, is ready with the romance:
“Always a highlight in our calendar at Odette’s is St Valentine’s Day; we have a special celebration Five-Course Dinner Menu for £150 per couple,” they told me. “If you’re not spoiling your partner on Sunday evening, why not join us for lunch on Saturday or Sunday when you can enjoy our fabulous 6 course course tasting menu.”
The menu includes such delights as sea bass ceviche with fennel & blood orange, Truffle Perl Wen with confit potato & chervil and salted caramel cremaux with banana and peanut butter.
£150 per couple.
Find the full menu here: http://www.odettesprimrosehill.com
They add that booking is essential; call them on 0207 586 8569.
130 Regent’s Park Road, NW1 8XL
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MICHAEL NADRA
Situated on Gloucester Avenue, beside the canal, Michael Nadra’s chic restaurant offers an eclectic spread of spaces, including his stylish martini bar. With asian influences and a lightness of touch this is where you will find Primrose Hill Valentine’s cool in abundance.
Their Valentine’s menu will be running 12- 14th February, lunch and dinner, and on February 14th it will be the only menu offered.
Highlights include salmon ceviche with keta caviar, crisp quinoa & pickled cucumber and sea spaghetti with oriental greens, ginger, chilli & crisp lotus root.
Glass of Rosé Champagne & 4 Courses £69
http://www.restaurant-michaelnadra.co.uk/primrose/
42 Gloucester Avenue, NW1 8JD
020 7722 2800
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L’ABSINTHE
The French bistro with a grand coeur, L’Absinthe is offering a Valentines menu on Sunday 14 February, bursting with old favourites regulars will recognise as well as dishes chosen especially for the occasion. Enjoy escargots, oignons, champignons “vol-au-vent” sauce marchand de vin; selle d’agneau, gratin dauphinoise, sauce au them; and poire poché au vin rouge, sorbet cassis amongst many other excellent options. Warm and hearty atmosphere, warm and hearty food. What’s not to love?
3 COURSES £37.50; EARLY BIRD COME BY 6PM LEAVE BY8PM 3 COURSES £29.50Prices include VAT, an optional 12.5% service charge will be added
40 Chalcot Road, NW1 8LS
020 7483 4848
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SWEET THINGS
Sweet things are on hand with their indulgent romantic treats for the Valentine’s weekend.
“We’re offering up some ‘Loveheart’ themed cupcakes this year, mini and regular, as well as a special box of valentines Belgian chocolates,” they told me. And if they collect the Loveheart cupcakes from the shop, customers can write their own messages with our edible pens!”
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MELROSE AND MORGAN
Our stylish local grocer is approaching St Valentine’s day with all of their usual chic and cool. Pared back Shortbread Love Hearts, a stylish Valentine’s take on Jammy Dodgers, a pinky-red Battenberg; this is where you stock up on your Valentine supplies if your message to your loved one is “I want you to know that I love you and also that I am very cool.”
http://www.melroseandmorgan.com
42 Gloucester Avenue, NW1 8JD (also a branch at Oriel Place Hampstead).
020 7722 0011
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NUYU
Naturally you’ll be wanting to look your best for your romantic weekend, and the lovely Sam Larkin of hair and beauty salon NuYu on Princess Road totally gets that. She is very generously offering 25% off microdermabrasion and peels, plus a free Kerastase treatment with every full-price hair treatment. To be taken before 14 February, quote iLovePrimroseHill when booking.
9 Princess Road, NW1 8JN
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YORK AND ALBANY
And here we have something for the Valentine’s hater. If this is you, I’m very sorry for your misery but the York and Albany is here to help. And I’m just going to let them tell it as it is, in full, because the concept is so glorious:
“Escape the horror of Valentine’s Day at the Bloody Valentine Cabin.
If you’ve recently been scorned or simply can’t stand the sight of canoodling couples and the sickly-sweet sentiment of Cupid’s arrow, York & Albany, part of Gordon Ramsay Group, has the perfect place to escape the inescapable this Valentine’s Day with the Bloody Valentine Cabin.
Open from 11th – 14th February, book a happily hellish escape and avoid suffering through another solitary Valentine’s Day at York & Albany’s cabin, where the most unromantic, anti-Valentine’s atmosphere possible will be created. Gather your pals and step inside the blood-splattered room to enjoy a host of delightfully passion-less snacks and cocktails, whilst buckling down for all the thrills and chills of cult horror classics playing out on the large projector screen (The Lost Boys, Audition, Prom Night, The Prowler, The Hunger, etc).
Cocktails on offer will include Blood, Sweat and Fears (Aperol, Antica Formula, Martini Rosso and blood orange jelly), an updated take on a Negroni which adds a particular hint of bitterness to the day of love; and Valentine Bluffs (Monkey Shoulder, Talisker, lemon, ginger and chamomile syrup), which tastes much like a first date would – sweet and floral at first, soon turning smoky and sharp with just a hint of sourness. Sound familiar?
Canapés run the gamut from savoury (devilled duck hearts; raw Cumbrian beef in Bloody Mary dressing) to sweet (red velvet cake; ‘broken hearts’; and blood orange panna cotta), available from £30 per person, including two of the anti-Valentine’s cocktails.
Available for exclusive bookings for groups of between six and eight people, grab a group of friends and staunchly celebrate singledom by foregoing all the fluff of yet another greeting card holiday.”
127 – 129 Parkway, London NW1 7PS T: 020 7387 5700
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And there you have it. Classic or cool, lover or sufferer, there’s something for everyone in Primrose Hill for Valentines.
Brought to you with love and affection by iLovePrimroseHill.
© 2016 iLovePrimroseHill, all rights reserved.