La Crepe! is celebrating Mardi Gras all day tomorrow, Tuesday, February 12. They'll be serving a crawfish etoufee crepe, a Louisiana classic! Crawfish tails are smothered in a buttery blend of onions, peppers, celery and garlic and then folded inside a delicious savory crêpe. The etoufee in being flown in fresh from Deanie's Seafood, in business in New Orleans for 50 years and rated "Best Seafood Restaurant" by the Times Picayune.  

Valentine's Day is just three days away...the perfect amount of time to stow away a sweet treat for your Valentine! Hearts, hearts and more hearts are wrapped and ready at Anette's Chocolates. Petite hearts, wine, fudge, mint hearts...stop by for a taste and pick out a sweet gift for that special someone. 

If you're looking for something special for your sweetheart this Valentine's Day, stop in Poor House for lots of great gift ideas. Check out the beautiful Simon Pearce hand-blown petite glass heart vases, plus lots of additional glass vases in assorted sizes. Or toast your Valentine with Simon Pearce champagne flutes. It's the perfect way to say "I love you." 

This week, in celebration of Valentine's Day, Three Twins Ice Cream is featuring a special flavor, chocolate lavender ice cream. Get it while you can!

Let Ca' Momi set the mood with a perfect Valentine's special. The special includes a bottle of their sparkling rosé wine, arancini appetizer, any of their wood-fired oven pizzas, and a heart-shaped ciambellina for dessert, all for only $48. Love is a wonderful thing. L'amore è una cosa meravigliosa. Come celebrate it with Ca' Momi!

Kumamotos are the sweethearts of the oyster world. Sweet, buttery flavors (cucumber and honeydew), firm, full meat and deeply cupped, fluted shells of aubergine, sea green and smoky greys. For your heart's pleasure, Hog Island is featuring California Kumamotos on the menu throughout February -- drop in and fall in love.   

This Valentine's Day, treat yourself and your sweetie to a romantic caviar sampler platter from Kanaloa Seafood Market. Sized just for two and as colorful as a bouquet of flowers, Kanaloa's 5 oz caviar sampler features red, black, orange, green and yellow Tobiko accompanied with delicious cocktail bilinis and sour cream. And of course it wouldn't be Valentine's Day without Chef Martin's handmade, heart-shaped crab cakes or oysters Rockefeller. Pre-orders accepted through tomorrow, Tuesday, February 12. Call 244-FISH and place your Valentine's Day order. 

C CASA will have two tasty specials available for Valentine's Day. Enjoy two grilled lamb chops with a veggie chile relleno and pineapple mint salsa for $25, or for vegetarians, the seasonal crab salad with field greens, avocado and raspberries is $15.25. 

To help you prepare the perfect dinner on Valentine's Day, Five Dot Ranch will have the meat case full of your favorite cuts. They will be featuring filet mignon for $26.99/lb., bavette for $9.99/lb. and bone-in New York for $19.99/lb. Five Dot will also be featuring the beef lover's favorite: dry-aged ribeye, two for $40. For recipe ideas, cooking instructions and side suggestions please feel free to ask the guys behind the counter. 

February is passion month at Pica Pica. Whether your true love lies with Oscar Night or your sweetheart on Valentine's Day, love them all with Pica Pica's passion fruit sangria or frescas!

February specials are passion fruit sangria for $5 and passion fruit fresca (fruit juice drink) for $2.

Before winter is over take advantage of the cold days by making a hearty soup spiced with Whole Spice herbs. Whole Spice has a wide selection of winter spices, herbs and blends they recommend for creating delicious tasting broth for soups and stews: turmeric, cumin, celery powder, ginger, ground mustard, granulated onion and garlic, paprika and parsley. Add  your favorite organic veggies and egg or rice noodles and you have a healthy and satisfying meal. A family favorite is chicken noodle soup -- click here for the recipe.

Chinese New Year is marked with lots of fireworks, so what better way to celebrate than with gunpowder green tea (Zhu Cha). Called the Green Pearl in China because of the pearl-like shape of the tea leaf, gunpowder received its English name from British soldiers who thought it resembled the gunpowder pellets they would grind for use in their firearms. Tillerman Tea's Zhu Cha is known as "pinhead," which is the highest quality; look for the downy white parts of the leaves as your assurance of quality. Pinhead Gunpowder is picked during the spring harvest, and the tender tea shoots are rolled, then basket-fired, imparting the distinctive smoky aromatic balanced with the bright fresh herbaceous flavors. Available this week for $16.15 / 100g, a 10% saving (regularly $17.95).