Full house beats a pair on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day can be a tricky time for restaurants: a room full of nervous couples is no waiter's dream and tables of two tend to be less profitable for restaurateurs.

However, some Melbourne eateries are subverting the lovey-dovey connotations of February 14 and changing up the occasion for 2022.

At Windsor's Bar Villanelle, owner James Ness will reunite with chef Gitai Ifergan; last year the pair ran Jethro, a Mediterranean pop-up in nearby Prahran. They were all geared up for Valentine's Day 2021 when a snap lockdown ruined the romance.

"We were fully booked, counting on a profitable day, then we had to try and sell everything as takeaway at the last minute," says Ness.

This year, Bar Villanelle is offering a relaxed $69 set menu featuring three-cheese pita, cured salmon and runner beans with green tahini.

"We'll have slight references to the day with luxurious things like oysters, scampi and cassata for dessert but we're not trying to make it a fake Hallmark holiday," says Ness.

"Most people will be there for the food and wine and DJ. It's more about community this year."

Ness does not have fond memories of Valentine's Days past.

"It's the night where people have the most expectations and you're ensuring everything is perfect," he says. "You feel the gaze of whoever is paying."

Chef Harry Mangat didn't even check Cupid's calendar when he planned his February 14 menu with guest chef Tom Sarafian at Avani Winery in Red Hill.

"We were talking about a collaboration for a while and finally decided on the day then thought 'oh my god, it's Valentine's Day, does it matter?' "

They decided it didn't. Monday will see a few more tables of two than usual but the biggest love might be the bromance of the food, which melds Mangat's Indian heritage with Sarafian's Middle Eastern flavours.

One dish combines the sweet Indian dumplings gulab jamun with layered Arabic pastry baklava. "It's just fun times and good food," says Mangat.

He hasn't relished cooking on Valentine's Day in the past. "People don't want to have too much garlic, they don't want anything too spicy," he says.

"You end up thinking, 'I know you guys want to kiss later on but maybe you came to the wrong restaurant'."

At Rice Paper Scissors in the city and Fitzroy, the operators are suggesting people ditch dinner for two and catch up with mates instead.

"You might have been spending a lot of time with your other half for two years," says events manager Laura Dauphin. "You really don't need a date.

"We think it's a good occasion to go out with friends, because a lot of people wouldn't have seen all their mates post-lockdown yet."

The realities of business recovery play a part too. The Fitzroy venue has high-top tables that seat eight. Reserving those for duos makes no commercial sense.

"It's about getting in larger groups, having the atmosphere of gathering rather than having lots of twos," says Dauphin. "It was the vibe we wanted."