slides: How to Dine Out Like a Pro on Valentine’s Day

Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Beau Burtnick, GoLocalPDX Guest Contributor

Beau Burtnick, bar director at Acadia New Orleans Bistro in Portland.

We can smell it on you. We can see you coming and we know your secret. You haven’t been to a restaurant in months. It’s as obvious as the confused look on your face when presented with a deep wine list, when you fumble for the reading glasses that you almost certainly left in your car, or your fruitless attempts to casually and comfortably recline in a dining room chair.

See Slides Below: 5 Tips for Dining Out Like a Pro on Valentine's Day

You are the occasional diner, and your people descend upon the restaurants of America in overwhelming numbers on the evening of St. Valentine’s.

This is “Amateur Night.”

We restaurant professionals are conditioned to keep a sharp eye for your species on nights like this, as droves of under-experienced diners emerge from the suburbs to patronize our establishments in search of a special evening. Let me be clear, even though you and your kind may as well arrive with a paper napkin already tucked into your shirt collar, we are happy to have you in our house!

These nights are ripe with opportunity. If we do our jobs properly, we will deliver an experience special enough to warrant a return visit, which, frankly, is the entire basis of our industry. We would love to cultivate a relationship with you in the hopes that you don’t remain an amateur forever.

Here are a couple drink specials I’ll be slinging on Valentine’s Day at Acadia, New Orleans Bistro:

Serial Monogamer

Champagne, Aperol, rock candy syrup, lemon, and cinnamon red-hot hearts.

The Dimmer Switch

Bourbon, lime, maraschino, chocolate bitters and ginger beer; garnished with conversation hearts.

Here are a few tips in the slides below to help you act like a pro and make this Valentine’s your best ever.

Beau Burtnick has been mixing liquids together for about as long as he can remember. After refining his skills, jokes, and wardrobe at restaurants in New York and Nashville, he came to Acadia as Bar Director in 2012 and quickly began renovations on a long-neglected bar program. His staunch respect for tradition is the basis of his work and his adoption of culinary techniques is palpable in his drinks. Burtnick’s bar offerings are dynamic and complex, featuring spot-on New Orleans classics, cheeky innovations, daring epicurean drinks, and a meticulously-curated absinthe selection that often requires a second (and third) visit. In 2013, he added “Restaurant Manager” to his rap sheet, and he continues to run operations at Portland’s most beloved New Orleans bistro.

Related Slideshow: 5 Tips for Dining Out Like a Pro on Valentine’s Day

Here are a few tips to help you act like a pro and make this Valentine’s your best ever.

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Reserve a Table

This seems obvious, but every year I have to reluctantly turn away several eager couples who neglected to call for a rez. It’s always surprising to me that the overall dining culture in Portland hasn’t accepted the dinner reservation as a practice. Most places that are open for a V-Day Dinner will accept your reservation, so make them!

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Eat During Off Hours

In the restaurant on a busy night, we are under an inordinate amount of pressure to turn tables. And Valentine’s Day? Well that’s the queen mother of busy nights. Here’s a secret: the final seating of the night inevitably gets the best experience. The anxiety level of your service will be at the lowest point of the night, because there won’t be a clock ticking for the next two-top to be seated at your table. The only gamble is that by the end of a busy night, the kitchen may have run out of an item or two, so it’s important to have a contingency plan for ordering (More about that in #3). Another tip? When the big day falls close to a weekend, as this year's Valentine's does, restaurants will often offer their special menus all weekend long.

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Scout the Menu

Know what you’re getting into! Many restaurants will post their special menus online beforehand, and some due diligence benefits everyone. Is it a price fixed dinner? Does your date have dietary restrictions? What does the wine list look like?

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Sit at the Bar

I know, I know; plopping down at a bar top and rubbing shoulders with your special someone doesn’t jive with the “gazing across the candle-lit table and clasping hands while digging into a shared lobster tail” mental picture that most of us conjure when we think of going out for Valentine’s dinner, but let’s face it, that cliche feels a little stuffy. It’s widely known in our industry that the best seat in the house for two is ALWAYS at the bar, and preferably close to where your friendly barkeep is working his magic. Any restaurant worth visiting employs a bartender worth talking to, and he/she is often the most charming member of the staff (*ahem*). If you choose a place with an innovate cocktail menu, you’ll be treated to dinner AND a show, as you watch a craftsman/woman artfully assemble beautiful and delicious elixirs all evening. The service may be slightly more casual than out on the dining room floor, but if you acknowledge this going in, have a drink and a few laughs, you’ll be thrilled with the result.

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Think Outside the Heart

Go somewhere completely unusual to avoid the V-Day melee. Take a cab to your favorite Mexican place and bring a bottle of champagne. Post up at one of the city’s outstanding Tiki bars and get lei’d. Think of somewhere decidedly unromantic, bring your squeeze and a pocket full of dollars, and the Instagram moments will flow. I can pretty much guarantee it’ll be the most memorable Valentine’s you’ve had in a while.