Valentine's Day 2023

crab cake, baked oyster Atchafalaya or baby spinach salad to start; filet medallions, Chilean sea bass, or chicken with herb jus for your entree; and then chocolate mousse cake or mini French pastries for dessert. Dinner is $65 per person and includes live music 6pm-8pm. Call for reservations.

tive event, The Sweet Spot Fort Worth (8321 Indian Bluff Trl, 817-372-1581) is bringing sugar cookies for you and your sweetheart to decorate, plus Board & Brush will help you craft a one-of-a-kind painting to take home. Tickets are $100 at BoardandBrush.com/ FortWorth.

1.) Hosting your own event for a big date or the big game? Fort Worth caterer Queso + Carne (@QuesoCarneBoxDelivery, 903326-3229) can help you get ready for Valentine’s Day and the Super Bowl with a variety of charcuterie options. Regular offerings at QuesoCarneBoxDelivery.com include the Pequino Box for $25 on up to the popular El Magnús platter for $220. For updates on heart- or football-shaped options and more,

follow

Facebook.com/QuesoCarneBoxDelivery.

2.) From 5pm to 10pm on Fri-Sat, Feb 10-11, and Tue, Feb 14, head to Ventana Grille on the grounds of Tierra Verde Golf Club (7005 Golf Club Dr, Arlington, 817-548-5047) for Valentine’s Date Nights. Adorably named “First Date,” “Second Date,” and the “Long Kiss Goodnight,” the three courses include

3.) Inspired by an episode of Parks & Rec, The Bearded Lady (300 S Main St, 817-3499832) is hosting its second annual Galentine’s Day Brunch 11am Sun, Feb 12. What is Galentine’s Day? Leslie Knope says, “It’s only the best day of the year. My lady friends and I leave our husbands and boyfriends at home and kick it breakfast-style, ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus, frittatas.” A special cocktail and food menu are planned — including some surprise items for the guys — and Wandering Roots Markets (@WanderingRootsMarkets) will host a themed pop-up shop.

4.) Arts and crafts meet eats and drinks at the Couples Cookies & Crafts three-hour workshop at Board & Brush Fort Worth (4620 Bryant Irvin Rd, Ste 524, 817-9530933) at 2pm Sun, Feb 12. At this collabora-

5.) If cocktails are more your speed than cookies and you’re at least 21, head to Whiskey Ranch (4250 Mitchell Blvd, 817-8409140) at 2:30pm Sat, Feb 11, for TX Whiskey Cocktail Class: Valentine Edition. Led by mixologist Jason Shelly, you will learn to make three handcrafted drinks that you’ll be able to enjoy. Tickets are $49.99 per person at FRDistilling.com and include admission to TX Sippin’ Saturdays. Doors open at noon.

6.) Every Saturday at noon, Patrick Mikyles presents Drag-with-Me Brunch, featuring a full bar, food menu, and an award-winning drag show at Red Goose Saloon (306 Houston St, 817-332-4343). On Feb 11, the event will be a special Valentine’s brunch. Tickets are $30 at PatrickMikylesPresents.com.

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Galentine’s Day at Bearded Lady is like Lilith Fair … minus the angst … plus frittatas.

Courtesy NBC

Get ready for the big day or the big game with Queso + Carne.

Courtesy Facebook

ATE DAY8 a Week

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7.) On Sat, Feb 11, there will be two seatings

— 6pm and 8pm — at Rancho Loma Vineyards (411 S Main St, Ste 104, 817-349-9030) for their Valentine’s dinner: a four-course meal by Chef Ryan Fussel, each paired with an RLV wine, for $90 per person. Dinner begins with a ricotta and yolk gnudi followed by smoky gnocchi and Brussels sprouts, then lamb belly ravioli with a radicchio and pea puree. For dessert, enjoy an espresso and pistachio panna cotta. For tickets, visit RLV. wine/events.

8.) For Valentine’s evening, Clay Pigeon

Food & Drink (2731 White Settlement Rd, 817-882-8065) hosts its Valentine’s Day prix-fixe event at 5pm Tue, Feb 14. At $100 per person, this four-course meal includes a Sparkling Hour wine offer of 50% off before 6pm. First course options include prime beef tartare, Osetra caviar, or salmon crudo. Enjoy a Caesar salad or parmesan and roasted garlic soup for the second course. Entree choices include white Bolognese pasta, panseared salmon, beef tenderloin, or grilled duck breast. Then for dessert, you choose a chocolate coffee pot de crème or pavlova and strawberries. For details and reservations, visit RESY.com.

By Jennifer Bovee

Take a cocktail class next Saturday at Whiskey Ranch.

Courtesy Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co.

NIGHT&DAY

In last week’s ATE DAY8 column and this week in Eats & Drinks, you’ll find lots of dining options for Valentine’s/Galentine’s Day. All week long, there’s plenty to do for the non-foodies too. Here are the best things I’ve found so far.

When I first saw the event post about Shakey Graves Day XII, I had to do some research. The folks at Garden & Gun wrote a piece called “Graves-y Train” explaining that every February since 2012, Austin singer-songwriter Alejandro “Shakey Graves” Rose-Garcia opens up his song catalog for fans to download at whatever price they choose for 72 hours. That year, the mayor of Austin proclaimed Feb 9 to be Shakey Graves Day, so now you know. There is typically a concert in Austin. This year, Fort Worth is where it’s at. At 7pm, Shakey Graves plays Tulips FTW (112 St. Louis Av, 817-367-9798) with Rattlesnake Milk and Texino. Tickets are $39.50 on Prekindle.com.

Have you ever done glass blowing? Me neither! Vetro Glass Blowing (701 S Main St, Ste 103, Grapevine, 817251-1668) will help you make a handmade flower from the hot molten glass at various times Fri-Sat, Mon-Tue, and future dates. Known as Help Create Events, these sessions come with bleacher-style seating available afterward so you can stay and watch more glassblowing before you leave. The gallery also has gift items for sale. Tickets are $55 per person at VetroArtGlass.TickeSpice.com/2023-flowers-help-create.

TexasShoppersMarket. com was started during the pandemic to give small businesses and crafters an online platform to reach holiday shoppers. In our post-pandemic world, the concept has also grown to include seasonal in-person events. From 10am to 4pm Sat-Sun, join Texas Shoppers in the parking lot next to Olive Garden at Tanger Outlets Fort Worth

(15853 N Fwy, 817-464-5400). This market will feature handmade accessories, desserts and snacks, home accents, jewelry, and more from North Texas vendors. For more information, visit TexasShoppersMarket.com/ DallasVDayMarket.

For more local vendor shopping opportunities, remember the Galentine’s Day festivities at The Bearded Lady (300 S Main St, 817-349-9832). Brunch is at 11am, and Wandering Roots Markets (@WanderingRootsMarkets) will be on hand to host a themed pop-up shop.

Ladies, if you and your gal-pals work from home, Union Worx (500 E Front St, Ste 160, Arlington, 817864-18148) invites you to co-work together for the day for free. Enjoy area restaurants for lunch — like my new favorite place, Amore Mio Italian Trattoria (101 E Abram St, Arlington, 817-538-5553) — and once you’re back at “the office,” Union Worx has Galentine’s Day treats for you.

Arlington has even more to offer come Tuesday. Then again, so does Denton. At 7:30pm, head to Create Ar-

lington Studios (306 W Main St, 682-2488424) for the Soul Vibrations Valentine’s Event: An Intimate Evening of Love & Romance, featuring art, food, music, poetry, and wine. Tickets are $17 per person or $30 per couple at the door. Across town, Lucky Lou’s (1207 W Hickory St, Denton, 940-484-5550) hosts Garbage Couple Paint Night with help from neighboring Painting with a Twist (208 W Oak St, Denton, 940484-5550). “Grab your favorite trash baby and come out for the perfect Denton date night.” (Note: This off-site painting experience is not BYOB, but you can purchase beverages from the bar.)

This week is truly magical, with Mardi Gras (Tue, Feb 21) and National Margarita Day (Wed, Feb 22) getting all cozy on the calendar. Being the go-getters that we are, the Fort Worth Weekly is doing a special Mardi Gras & Margaritas section in next week’s issue. Business owners, if you’re hosting gatherings, parties, shenanigans, and the like, we want to know about them ASAP. Please submit your event to Marketing@FWWeekly.com. And if you say “laissez les bons temps rouler” or any version thereof, you owe us a dollar.

By Jennifer Bovee

If I make it to Denton on Tuesday, this “Garbage Couple” will be on my walls soon!

Shakey Graves brings his soulful tuneage

EATS & drinks

Have a Heart

Celebrate the cobbledtogether traditions of Valentine’s Day (or Galentine’s, if you prefer), Fort Worth-style.

BY LAURIE JAMES

The history of Valentine’s Day is a little murky. There are three early Christians named Valentine or Valentius credited with love-y miracles –– the kind for which a regular person can be sainted by the Catholic church. But my money’s on the fine early Christian tradition of co-opting pagan festivals and relating these to the church or a saint. In this case, it’s allegedly Lupercalia, a pre-Jesus fertility festival commemorating Rome’s founders, Romulus and Remus. Lupercalia fell mid-February, and it’s not a stretch to think that the newly dominant Christians overrode the pagan holiday, combining it with stories about priests marry-

ing lovers in secret. The tradition of giving flowers is a 17th-century addition, while the delivery of chocolates was a shameless capitalist ploy courtesy of British confectioner Cadbury in the 1800s. Galentine’s Day is an even more modern nod to the power of female friendships.

Instead of going old school and sacrificing a goat for Valentine’s Day, consider drinks with beasts, a blingy Galentine’s tea, a supper club with one of our town’s best chefs, a loving fundraiser, a poetry slam, or an evening of adult beverages, pizza, and your favorite childhood arcade games.

On Thursday, you can have a wild time at the Galentine’s Party at the Fort Worth

Zoo (1989 Colonial Pkwy, 817-758-7555).

In addition to enjoying the zoo’s visiting animals, you’ll dine on passed appetizers, a heavy hors d’oeuvres buffet, macarons, mini-cheesecakes, and an open bar with a bespoke vodka-based cocktail called the Raspberry Kiss. The $85-per-person event benefits the zoo’s conservation efforts. We’re not saying you can run with the wolves like they did in Lupercalian times –– the red wolves in the Zoo’s habitat are close to extinct in the wild –– but this will get you close.

The Ruche Collective (1612 Park Place Av, 682-256-1381) offers a three-course afternoon Galentine’s Tea on Friday. For $45 per

person, celebrate with your besties and enjoy a proper tea, those dainty tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, desserts, and the chance to add a little bling to your life with some permanent jewelry (additional fee for the ornaments).

The folks at Magdalena’s Supper Club (502 Grand Av, 817-740-8085) have been creating lovely foodie memories for couples and friends since 2015. The Valentine’s menu that Chef Juan Rodriguez and staff have cooked up looks to be a luscious offering of surf (scallops, salmon) and turf (braised beef short ribs), along with a yuzu white chocolate ricotta cheesecake. The Satcontinued on page 18

You’ll drink and be merry with or without a Valentine at Cidercade’s Stoplight Party on Tue, Feb 14. Courtesy

I'LL BE YOUR MIRROR ART AND THE DIGITAL SCREEN

February 12–April 30

Examining the screen’s vast impact on art from 1969 to the present, this exhibition includes the work of fifty artists in a broad range of media including paintings, sculpture, video games, digital art, augmented reality, and video. These artists demonstrate the screen as a powerful and valuable artistic and social tool.

Eats & Drinks

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urday event is sold out, but at press time, the event on Friday still has seats available. The $95-per-person admission gets you valet parking and a complimentary themed cocktail starter before the main event at 7pm.

If your heart is interested in helping other people, Taste the Love is the annual fundraiser for the Taste Project (1200 S Main St, 817-759-9045), Fort Worth’s first pay-what-you-can restaurant. If you’ve ever dined there, you know Taste Project doesn’t skimp on the groceries: The evening’s menu includes scallop ceviche, ribeye mole, and chocolate flan. The fundraiser on Saturday benefits the restaurant’s mission to provide

food for anyone who’s hungry. Tickets are $300 per couple, with reservations available between 6-6:30pm, and it’s BYOB.

At The Dock Bookshop (6637 Meadowbrook Dr, 817-457-4700), Tuesdays are for spoken word in addition to the written word. The Black women-owned bookstore celebrates 15 years in 2023, and sisters Donna and Donya Craddock upped the game this year: The Tuesday Power of Love Valentine edition is a feast for the senses with poetry and a DJ along with a candlelight dinner. The event runs $30 per couple or $15 for an individual ticket.

Actively anti-Valentine’s Day? The Post at River East (2925 Race St, info@thepostfw. com) will serve up a little anti-Valentine sentiment on Tue, Feb 14. Cheating Songs with Raised Right Men is an evening of PBRs, snacks, and, well, exactly that kind of music for $10.

Finally, Cidercade (1813 W Bowie St, Ste 101, 817-264-2835) just finds the expensive flowers, fancy dinners, and traditional trappings of Valentine’s Day, in a word, gross. Their Fourth Annual Stoplight Party on Tue, Feb 14, is open to couples, Galentine’s, and anyone and everyone in between. Your $10 wristband (green for singles, red for couples, yellow for “it’s complicated”) offers entrances into the arcade for games, a dozen kinds of cider, and a definitively unusual time. Try

a cider flight, with five 5-ounce pours –– the M-M-My Paloma is a grapefruit-y treat with a delicate kick, and I really enjoyed the luscious Apricot Cream cider the last time I was there throwing my shoulder out on Skee-Ball. Whatever you choose –– wolves, bling and tea with the ladies, fine dining, or music –– give a wink and a nod to the mishmash of food, commercial, and festival traditions that bring us here — whether you celebrate or hate them. l

You won’t run with the wolves at the Fort Worth Zoo’s Galentine’s event on Thursday, but you’ll help preserve the nearly endangered species.

Courtesy Instagram

The Ruche Collective does Galentine’s up right with a Saturday tea.

Courtesy Instagram