Whether Cupid is shooting arrows at you or you are throwing bricks at Cupid, there are plenty of opportunities to either bask in love’s sunshiny glow or rip love’s casket open and drive a stake through its heart so it will never, ever trouble you again.
This is the sunshiny part.
There are a ton of restaurants doing special Valentine’s Day menus — far too many to mention here. But we can personally vouch for some of them.
Chifa, 707 Chestnut St., with its dimly lit ambiance, is offering a special $65 four-course tasting from its Latin-Asian-inspired menu. Equally romantic (for some) with its European café vibe is Garces Trading Company, 1111 Locust St., which is offering $55 and $75 tasting menus. Fork, 306 Market St., is sure to set the mood in fine fashion with a special $70 menu showcasing its New American cuisine. For something a little more modern and exotic, Sampan, 122 S. 13th St., is offering a special tasting from its Asian menu for $70. And Barbuzzo, 110 S. 13th St., is featuring a $55 tasting from its excellent Mediterranean menu.
If you need some live music to get you into the mood, there’s plenty of aural sexiness to be had in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day.
Cabaret singer Karen Gross will be working her mojo left and right as she serenades New Hope with an all-new show at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 11 at Bob Egan’s New Hope, Ramada Inn, 6426 Lower York Road. Then, as Valentine’s Day closes in, she moves her show into Philadelphia by hosting a “Broken Hearts Brunch,” about the ups and downs of the dating game, 1 p.m. Feb. 13 and a jazzier “Sexy Feast” at 8 p.m. Feb. 14, both at More Than Just Ice Cream, 1119 Locust St. For more information, visit www.karengross.com.
If you’re more in the mood for a throw-your-undies-on-the-stage type of music experience, singer Enrique Iglesias is sure to be someone’s hero at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa Event Center, 1 Borgata Way. For more information or tickets, call 609-317-1000.
If the serenity of the Pocono Mountains sings your heart’s song, you’re in luck. Cabaret duo Tom Wilson Weinberg and Melissa Kolczynski are holding down the fort Valentine’s Day weekend, Feb. 11-13, at Rainbow Mountain, 210 Mt. Nebo Road, East Stroudsburg. For more information, call 570-223-8484.
People in love might want to stop reading now. Haters, wake up!
If the sight of people in love on Valentine’s Day makes you want to puke into Cupid’s diaper and hurl a heart-shaped box of chocolates at total strangers, relax. You are not alone. Some like to drown the red silken sentiment of Valentine’s Day with booze and debauchery.
The venom starts flowing with “Cupid Ain’t @#$%!: An Anti-Valentine’s Day Poetry Movement,” which finds LGBT poets taking anyone who will listen on a guided tour through heartbreak, sex and other love-based catastrophes, 8-10 p.m. Feb. 11, followed by a similarly themed poetry slam at 8 p.m. Feb. 13 at Tritone, 1508 South St. For more information, call 215-545-0475.
Anti-Valentine’s poetry also spills over to World Cafe Live when it hosts “The Ex-Files: StorySlam” from 8:30-10:30 p.m. Feb. 14, 3025 Walnut St. Visit www.worldcafelive.com for more details.
Damn! Poetry and bitterness go together like cocaine and heroin.
Anyway …
Angry poetry at World Cafe Live might seem quaint in comparison to the spectacle of Peek-A-Boo Revue’s Valentine’s Shows. The neo-burlesque cabaret performs what is sure to be two breathtaking shows at the same venue at 5:15 and 9 p.m. Feb. 13, 3025 Walnut St. For more information, visit www.peekaboorevue.com.
Love and hate fight to the death when Azuka Lounge hosts “I Love You/I Hate You,” featuring Philadelphia actors Dito van Reigersberg, Keith Conallen, Mike Dees, Zura Johnson, Bi Jean Ngo, Steve Wright and more as they read from the “I Love You/I Hate You” column of a local publication whose name we’d rather not mention, from 5-8 p.m. Feb. 14 at Plays and Players Theater, 1714 Delancey St. For more information, visit www.azukatheatre.org.
Whichever way you spend Valentine’s Day, have fun and generously tip those who are bringing you food and drink.