Tables are set for busy Valentine's Day
That's amore for you.
Sonoma Restaurant in Princeton has been booked for Valentine's Day for more than three weeks. Other popular restaurants in Central Massachusetts are already booked as well, or well on their way.
Think a bottle of bubbly, aphrodisiac-inspired appetizers, indulgent entrées and heart-shaped chocolate desserts.
Restaurant owners are.
The romantic holiday has become one of the most lucrative nights of the year for restaurants.
"Valentine's Day is probably our busiest day of the year," said Bill Brady, chef-owner of Sonoma and an instructor at Worcester Technical High School. "We're booked on Friday and almost booked on Saturday. We're even starting to fill up on Thursday."
Because Valentine's Day falls on a Friday night this year, romantics will have to act quickly to book a table for their rendezvous.
Most Valentine's Day reservations are made by men, according to restaurant owners.
"'Oh no, she's going to kill me,' " is what Mr. Brady expects to hear more than once this week. "'She told me to call two weeks ago.'"
Mr. Brady said dining out on Valentine's Day is really a special night out for people. He said the entire staff will definitely be working, "And their family members," he joked.
"It's kind of fun," Mr. Brady said. The restaurant has been in business since 1996, and has seen its share of wedding proposals on Valentine's Day. "We had a couple of proposals last year, and the whole room erupts in applause. We'll probably have a couple this year."
Sonoma expects to be so busy on Valentine's Day that Mr. Brady will assign a couple of people to polish glassware and silverware the entire night to keep up with the demand.
"We definitely bring out all of our crystal," he said.
Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve and Father's Day are the busiest days for restaurants and it doesn't matter what day of the week they fall on.
"It's not quite the Super Bowl of dining out, that's still Mother's Day," said Bob Luz, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.
Though Mother's Day may be busiest in customers, Valentine's Day is quite often the busiest in dollars.
"Valentine's Day, revenue-wise, is the busiest night of the year for us," said Tom Prince, owner of Tomasso Trattoria & Enoteca in Southboro. "The price is more than what the average person would spend on an average night."
This year Tomasso's will feature a romantic four courses, "First Kiss, Lovers Lane, Third Base and Decadence," for $69 per person.
"Mother's Day has more people, but over much longer hours," Mr. Prince said. "On Valentine's Day, people will spend money on the $69 menu plus money on wine or cocktails. The average check is probably a third less on Mother's Day."
Mr. Prince said more servers are scheduled on Valentine's night than on any other night of the year. He said servers will have smaller sections on Friday, and reservations will be staggered to accommodate the higher-than-usual number of parties of two.
"We reconfigure the whole restaurant to be all deuces," Mr. Prince said. He said reservations started coming in weeks ago.
"It's mostly the guys making the reservations on Valentine's Day," Mr. Prince said. Though more reservations are made on Valentine's Day than any other day, the most cancellations are also made on Valentine's Day, Mr. Prince said. With the relative ease of online booking, some people book reservations online early just to grab one or more and then have the flexibility to look around or change their minds.
Mr. Prince said restaurant owners really don't want Valentine's Day to fall on a Friday or Saturday night.
"From that perspective, you lose that normal Friday," Mr. Prince said. "The best possible night of the week for Valentine's Day to fall on for us is Sunday. We're not open Sundays, so it's like a bonus day. Our two busiest days we've ever had in a row was a couple of years ago when Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday."
In Leicester, James Nicas, owner of The Castle Restaurant, said he could fill three more restaurants on Valentine's Day if he had them. Preparations for the big holiday dining night were already in full swing.
"It is actually the busiest holiday by far," Mr. Nicas said. "Past Mother's Day, Valentine's Day is busier by a long shot."
Mr. Nicas said the holiday brings back staff who are in college now and culinary students from Rhode Island, "just to be part of the excitement."
Mr. Nicas predicts Valentine's Day this Friday will be a significant boon for restaurants.
"Everyone will be cabin-feverish," Mr. Nicas said, during the long winter. For Valentine's Day, he said, he intends to add specials to his regular menu, bake special desserts in-house and select wines with "flair and panache" to recommend to diners by the glass.
"I try to pick something romantic," Mr. Nicas said.
To counteract the holiday's being on a Friday, many restaurant owners intend to spread the love, and extend their holiday specials, menus and promotions over the weekend.
For example, Livia's Dish in Worcester will offer a Valentine's meal on Friday and Saturday. Northworks Bar & Grille in Worcester will have a Valentine's Day menu Thursday through Saturday.
"Valentine's is challenging," Mr. Prince said. There are a lot of people who go out for the holiday who do not necessarily dine out a lot during the year. "People have high expectations; they really want it to be perfect."
Contact Linda Bock at lbock@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindaBockTG