A VALENTINE’S DAY TO REMEMBER

Six restaurants where you can spoil your loved one this 14th of February

Toffs By Rob Palmer

Located in an intimate venue on Solihull’s Drury Lane, this fine-dining restaurant is headed up by local chef Rob Palmer - who previously led Hampton Manor to its first Michelin star!

This Valentine’s Day, Toffs By Rob Palmer is offering a £135 per head seven-course menu, including two glasses of Nyetimber per person.

Turbot, lobster, beef, oyster, chocolate and rhubarb all feature on the menu.

We gave Droitwich’s Entouraj a five-star rating when we reviewed it, so it goes without saying we’re recommending it for Valentine’s Day! Award-winning head chef Sudha Saha is recognised by the Michelin and Hardens guides and fuses traditional cooking methods with innovative techniques to create a menu that will leave a lasting impression... Celebrating ‘the finest Indian flavours’, house specials include Bengal fish curry and king prawn with green mango.

Looking for something a bit different this Valentine’s Day? Then why not celebrate at West Midland Safari Park?

Treat your loved one to a romantic evening in seriously impressive surroundings (Safari Lodges are also available to book separately). Priced at £150 per couple, the deal includes a cocktail on arrival, a six-course dinner, and live music from vocalist Dan Greenaway. Menu items include crispy cod cheek, beef fillet and chocolate & clementine torte.

Located on the high street of Warwickshire market town Henley-in-Arden, The Mount offers a specially created menu by Glynn Purnell of Michelin-starred Birmingham restaurant Purnell’s, giving customers the opportunity to enjoy simple, innovative dishes (using local produce) served in chic, artisan surroundings.

The Mount’s four-course Valentine’s Day offering costs £75 per person and features beetroot, salmon, beef and chocolate.

Bijou neighbourhood restaurant Black & Green (located in Barnt Green and run by the team behind Birmingham’s Craft and 8) made the Michelin Guide after being open for just 12 weeks. Led by Andrew Sheridan (a contestant on Great British Menu), the venue offers seasonal tasting menus priced at £65 per person for seven courses and featuring imaginative dishes using prime ingredients. Beef short rib, sea trout and bass have all been known to feature on the menu.

With Grace & Savour having just been named the UK’s best restaurant in the SquareMeal Awards 2023, we absolutely had to include it in our recommendations.

Located at Hampton Manor, a country estate designed for food lovers, the eatery has won numerous awards - including four AA Rosettes - since opening last year.

Celebrating a sustainable revolution in farming, its 15-course menu costs £135 per person. Rooms are available at an extra cost.

Classical music from across the region...

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Wed 15 February

Since its formation in 1946, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has operated under the directorship of some of the world’s most respected conductors, Rudolf Kempe and Andre Previn among them.

Based in the beautiful surroundings of Chelsea’s Cadogan Hall, the orchestra is no stranger to the recording studio, regularly laying down soundtracks for films and

Doric String Quartet

Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa, Thurs 17 February enjoying a long partnership with many of the major commercial record companies. The RPO is here making a welcome return to Coventry having twice featured in Warwick Arts Centre’s 2021/22 orchestral series. The programme features Joseph Haydn’s 10th opera - L’isola disabitataMozart’s ever-popular 1791 Clarinet Concerto, and Beethoven’s third symphony.

Highly rated by the influential Gramophone magazine, the Doric are this year celebrating their 25th anniversary. The quartet tour extensively, collaborating with some of classical music’s finest performers, and have received plenty of plaudits for their recordings across the years.

Comprising Alex Redington and Ying Xue (violins), Hélène Clément (viola) and John Mysercough (cello), the ensemble are performing as part of the Leamington Music line-up for a fifth time, on this occasion presenting a programme that features compositions by Beethoven, Berg and Smetana.

The Armenian State Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Thurs 23 February

“I view myself as being a vessel for the composer’s intentions,” explains former BBC Young Musician winner Jennifer Pike (pictured) - who claimed the coveted title at the tender age of 12. “It isn’t the performer who everyone should be coming to enjoy, it’s the composer’s music.”

Jennifer is bringing her violin to town to accompany the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. Possibly Europe’s youngest national orchestra, the ASSO is here performing under the baton of founder & Artistic Director Sergey Smbatyan. The programme features RimskyKorsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto, and Tchaikovsky’s masterful fourth symphony.

The Gesualdo Six

St Mary’s Church, Warwick, Tues 28 February

“I felt something click when we came together to rehearse for the first time,” says director Owain Park in talking about award-winning vocal ensemble the Gesualdo Six, “and I don’t think we’ve looked back since then! The special feeling of hyper-engaged musicmaking, coupled with a good deal of enjoyment in each other’s company, has meant that this group has stuck together and embarked on an exciting journey.”

The ensemble are here making their fourth appearance in Warwick.

Armonico Consort: Big Byrd!

Malvern Theatres, Sat 4 February

The always impressive Armonico Consort are joined in Malvern by the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of one of Britain’s greatest composers: William Byrd.

Offering the audience a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in Byrd’s musical world, the concert explores not only the composer’s work but also the output of musicmakers by whom he was inspired and upon whom he himself had an influence.

Michael Christian Durrant & Jonathan Radford

Routh Hall, Bromsgrove School, Fri 17 February

Guitar and saxophone come together in perfect harmony for this latest concert at Bromsgrove School.

Michael Christian Durrant has been hailed a forerunner in the new generation of classical guitarists, while Jonathan Radford’s impressive reputation as a saxophonist has seen him performing internationally as both a soloist and chamber musician.