A perfectly simple Valentine's Dinner

Hog Island Happy Hour: $50

Dessert from Boulette's: $15

White Star Champagne at Home: $30

Avoiding another exploited holiday: Priceless

I hate Valentine's Day. I think it's even worse-exploited than Christmas. And when I see people selling reservations, restaurants charging outrageous sums for underwhelming and rushed 6-course meals, and obscene traffic stemming from everyone piling onto the bridge and into the city... well, I just want to go home and watch TV.

Fortunately, C is not as much of a scrooge, so we planned a very un-Valentine Valentine's Day.

First stop was Hog Island at Ferry Plaza 'cos, dontcha know, it was Monday and Happy Hour is a good thing. We ordered two dozen oysters, a pilsner, an ale and a bowl of oyster stew to share. Our server was awful and wouldn't make eye contact, and ignored all his tables, so we waited a while.  But, when you're listening to reggae, watching a shucker rip through dozens of oysters as the rain flows outside... who cares?

The $1 oysters were juicy, creamy, plump - much bigger than the other oysters I've had at Hog Island Happy Hour. Oyster stew was freaking great - thanks to Pim for turning me on to this last Friday.

Our plan (spoiled by our crappy waiter) was to pick up chocolate for fondue. Unfortunately, by the time we left Hog Island, most other vendors were closed, so we walked to Boulette's find out what was on offer.

We picked up some French Brandied Cherries with Coeur de la creme (chevre & creme fraiche with orange peel, pressed into a heart shape, $15), and a cup of chocolat and headed home.

Once there, we opened a bottle of White Star to enjoy with our dessert. The champagne had an immediately recognizable scent of hazelnuts... it was probably a bit more dry than I like, and the bubbles seemed... "less than fine". But, it had a beautiful amber tone, and we had no problem polishing it off.

The cheese and cherries were delicious, though probably better suited to an hors d'oeuvres than dessert. On the other hand, I can not WAIT to get home tonight and make a manhattan with a couple of those cherries...