Valentine Gifts For Food Lovers

Chocolates for Your Better Half

February is the month to spoil the special someone in your life with chocolates and other sweet things.

La Maison du Chocolat's new four, nine and fifteen piece chocolate boxes set the stage for a trip to Paris with their "Parisian Dream"  in a variety of fragrances and flavors including caramel and toffee, passionfruit and dark ganache, almonds and hazelnuts and vanilla marshmallow and milk chocolate, $14 to $54, available at www.lamaisonduchocolat.us.

Choose from See's candies offerings of traditional heart shaped boxes filled with chocolates or their Scotchmallow® Hearts with buttery caramel and honey marshmallow, coated in rich dark chocolate; Dark Chocolate Raspberry Heart with raspberry buttercream and decadent dark chocolate and Milk Chocolate Bordeaux™ Heart with a brown sugar soft center. Prices vary, available at local See's candies and online at www.sees.com.

Dean & Deluca's delivered Knipschildt Caramel and Truffle Set of two boxes of six heart shaped milk chocolate salted caramels and passion fruit chili truffles ($45) or their extravagant modern Compartes Chocolate Truffle Gift Box of 35 multi-flavored truffles in pink, red and purple Valentine's Day motifs ($150), or their simple and elegant pink and white cookies ($40), are all perfect presents for your love, all at www.deananddeluca.com.

1800Flowers has a variety of sweet choices from their Fruit Bouquets including luscious chocolate covered strawberries (Berrylicious Chocolate Covered Strawberries, $29.99 to $49.99) or one of their many Simply Chocolate gift baskets of truffles, chocolates and sweets or an elegant Simply Chocolate premier chocolate box of artisan chocolates including sea salt peanut butter, mocha cream, caramel coconut and other flavors ($34.99), and Chocopologie has a wide variety of gift boxes that would make any chocoholic happy, including one with raspberry truffles, a Burnt Caramel Hawaiian Sea Salt bar and signature chocolates, all at www.1800flowers.com.

Vegas's Ethel M Chocolates mails bars, gift baskets and sets straight to any Valentine's door, prices vary, available to order at www.ethelm.com.

Ferrero Rocher's hearts and assorted boxes of hazelnut chocolates include Chocolates Heart ($5.29), a Valentine's Day Golden Hollow Heart ($5.99), a Grand Ferrero Rocher ($2.50) and boxes of assorted chocolates ($10.29), all at www.ferrerorocher.com/en/us.

Lady M Bakery is offering a variety of decadent Valentine's Day inspired cakes including a Gateau au Chocolat Red Velvet, Strawberry Shortcake and Framboise au Chocolat in heart shaped sizes. Prices vary, visit their shop on 3rd street or order online at https://www.ladym.com.

Eataly has dozens of gift baskets for foodies on Valentines Day including the Italia del Cioccolato ($107.91) with chocolate spread, hot cocoa, chocolate bars and a chocolate cigar, available at www.eatlay.com.

Lovely Libations

Looking for the perfect pair for your Valentine's Day dinner?  Here are some nice choices, Zonin1821's Principi di Butera Insolia ($19.99)  and Tenuta Ca'Bolani Sauvignon Superior ($25.89) pair well with pasta, seafood and chicken and their Altemura Fiano ($25.89) goes well with linguini and clams and other pasta dishes, try their Oltrenero Cruasé  ($18.39) sparkling with a cheese plate and their Renaissance Rose ($16.99), with a bright blush color, strawberry fragrance and  crisp finish goes well with charcuterie and seafood, all available at www.zoninusa.com.

Ketel One is the perfect ingredient for an extra dirty vodka martini, and other tasty Valentine's Day libations, have the 1.75 bottle on hand for all night drinks, $27.99 at www.totalwine.com.

Owen's Craft Mixers, available in Mint + Cucumber + Lime, Tonic Water + Lime, Grapefruit + Lime and Ginger + Lime can create a wide variety of pre, during and post Valentine's Day dinner cocktails, all available at $7.99 for a four pack, https://www.owensmixers.com.

Chambord brings black raspberry taste and a deep red color to any Valentine's Day cocktail, $17.99 at www.chambordchannel.com.

Nespresso's new limited edition Coffee Houses Coffees including Café Istanbul and Caffe Venezia will transport you to Turkey and Italy this Valentine's Day. Café Istanbul is an Arabian Mocha blend combining Indonesian and Indian beans; Caffe Venezia mixes Indian Arabica to create a rich cup of potent complex coffee. Two sleeve pack, $18 at https://www.nespresso.com.

Tealeaves tea gift sets, including Happily Ever After and their Cherry Blossom Sakura Experience , as well as individual bags including their Eros tea and tins such as Shanghai Rose make gift shopping a breeze. Various prices, available at www.tealeaves.com.

Davids Tea's  On My mind color changing Nordic cup ($25)  paired with their raspberry cream pie tea ($8.98) will delight any tea tottler,  www.davidstea.com.

Tea Forte's Herbal Retreat Presentation Box, featuring 20 infuser bags with a wide variety of herbal teas brings peace and comfort this Valentine's Day, $30 at www.teaforte.com.

1000 Stories Gold Rush Red, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel grapes has a beautiful purple color with flavors of cherry, cassis and spices, is a perfect pair for any Valentine's Day steakhouse dinner, $18.99, at www.1000storieswines.com.

Aberfeldy Scotch Single malt 12 Year brings malted milk, cocoa and dark caramel flavors to a perfect after Valentine's Day dinner drink, $59.99 at www.thewhiskyexchange.com.

Bearu Joie Brut Rosé is a  pinot noir and chardonnay blend and makes a great pairing for Valentine's Day dinners. The copper casing adds an elegant touch, with notes of watermelon, strawberry and citrus, $99.99 at www.wine.com.

Snacks for Your Sweetheart

My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream has decadent poppable frozen ice cream snacks now in new triple layer innovations including in vanilla blueberry, dulce de leche, chocolate sundae and s'mores flavors, available nationwide at https://www.mymomochi.com/where-to-buy/

Harry & David are offering an assortment of a dozen beautiful pears in a box with love message stickers for $29.99 as well as a variety of chocolate and fruit baskets at www.harryanddavid.com.

For Valentine's Day fresh breath, Tic Tic is offering a Be Mine Mix ($1) of strawberry and cherry tic tacs with Valentine's Day messages, available at https://www.tictacusa.com.

Caviar Russe produces all kinds of tasty caviar, their Pacific White Sturgeon caviar is perfect for a pre-dinner appetizer with a mild flavor and clean finish, 1 ounce $65 at www.caviarrusse.com.