Photo by Beth Black. Styling by Darla Golin at Design 4000 Salon in Plantation. Flowers by Field of Flowers.

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by Joanie Cox

The National Retail Federation released a survey last month predicting “the average person will spend $116.21 on Valentine’s Day gifts.” Presents are great and all, but nothing is more romantic than sharing a delicious meal with your beloved. A number of local restaurants will place love on the menu this holiday, and we’ve compiled some of the best options. Unless otherwise noted, the specials on the following pages will be offered Monday only. Reservations are recommended for all.

ASIA DE CUBA AT MONDRIAN
1100 West Avenue, Miami Beach, 305-514-1500, Chinagrillmgt.com
The $75-per-person dinner at this Asian-Latin restaurant involves five courses that offer tunapica cucumber salad, Kobe-style beef dumplings, calamari salad, sweet soy wild salmon and Thai coconut sticky rice. Reservations are available from 7 p.m. to midnight Monday.

BERTONI BRICK OVEN PIZZA AND LOUNGE
15180 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. 305-354-4669, Bertonilounge.com
Your evening will kick off with complimentary raspberry mimosas. Then, for $35 per person, you will receive fried calamari, a heart-shaped pizza of your choice and creamy gelato with raspberries and sprinkles. For $39 a person, the meal will include a choice of appetizer such as eggplant and mozzarella or homemade cannelloni. For the main course, choose pork Milanese or blackened mahi mahi and a raspberry dessert. The $49 menu includes the same options as well as a smoked salmon bruschetta, lobster ravioli and a chocolate brownie doused in caramel and dulce de leche gelato. The offer will be available Saturday through Monday.

BIG CITY TAVERN
609 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954-727-0307, Bigcitylasolas.com
Chef Louis Bossi’s à la carte dinner begins with Sam Edwards American prosciutto with locally made Burrata mozzarella ($13). The main course offers handmade ricotta gnocchi with organic chicken breast; butter-basted, wild porcini mushrooms and Italian sausage ($24); and a 6-ounce filet with butter-crumb-topped lobster macaroni and cheese ($32). The meal will conclude with red velvet cake garnished with candy hearts ($6).

BLUE DOOR FISH AT DELANO
1685 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-674-6400, Delano-hotel.com
Lavish your lover with some art deco decadence. The Blue Door Fish’s $90-per-person special features a four-course meal created by Chef Claude Troisgros. The dinner consists of coho salmon with crusty maple-cured bacon, rustic Maui onion sauce and eight belon oysters on champagne jelly with caviar. Pan-seared black sea bass with baby spinach, hazelnut scented purée of cauliflower and Granny Smith relish also will be served. Dessert is a red-velvet molded lava cake with Grand Marnier white-chocolate sauce. Two complimentary glasses of champagne will add to the fun. Reservations are available from 7 to 11:30 p.m.

CHINA GRILL AT HILTON FORT LAUDERDALE MARINA
1881 S.E. 17th St. Causeway, Fort Lauderdale, 954-759-9950, Chinagrillmgt.com
The Fort Lauderdale China Grill will serve a $95-per-couple “surf and turf and dessert for two.” The deal includes a 10-ounce grilled filet mignon, 12-ounce Maine lobster tail with drawn butter and Szechuan sauce, chive mashed potatoes and a chocolate meringue cake with five spiced beignets and passion sauce anglaise.

CHINA GRILL MIAMI BEACH
404 Washington Ave., Miami Beach, 305-534-2211, Chinagrillmgt.com
This swanky Asian-fusion eatery has served Madonna, Oprah and Donald Trump. From Friday through Monday, the restaurant is offering a $69-per-person, five-course-tasting menu that includes spicy beef and scallion dumplings, lobster pancakes and tri-star salad, plus a choice of entrée and dessert. A $95-per-couple “surf and turf and dessert for two” also will be available.

LA COFRADIA
160 Andalusia Ave., Coral Gables, 305-914-1300, Lacofradia.com
Take your date on a virtual journey to South America with a three-course tribute to Peruvian cuisine featuring seviche eros, grilled baby octopus and lust chocolate torrone. The special costs $150 per couple, includes one bottle of wine by Montes and two glasses of port and is available Saturday through Monday.

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PINON GRILL
6000 Glades Road, Boca Raton, 561-391-7770, Pinongrill.com
This eatery, which is located next to Blue Martini in Boca Raton, will feature prime rib and lobster tails. The menu will deliver organic-based specialties such as the tender Chilean sea bass with pesto ($32) and 8-ounce filet with lobster Béarnaise sauce and Parmesan potatoes and green beans ($32). Complete the meal with some chocolate waffles or peanut butter pie.

PRIME
110 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach, 561-865-5845, Primedelray.com
If your date is obsessed with HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, take him or her to this 1940s-style supper club. The contents of executive chef Peter Masiello’s three-course, prix-fixe menu are being kept secret until Monday. If you’re looking for a more-exclusive experience, request a private dining room.

660 AT THE ANGLER’S
660 Washington Ave., Miami Beach, 786-594-5811, Theanglersresort.com
This $150-per-person meal includes hand-ripped artisan lettuce salad flowers and herbs drizzled in a champagne vinaigrette; risotto of wild mushrooms with black truffle and Parmigiano-Reggiano; and Chilean sea bass à la plancha, charred Brussels sprouts, hazelnuts and eggplant romesco. For dessert, have some fun with s’mores fondue or warm Nutella fondue. Reservations are available from 5 to 11 p.m.

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STEAK 954 AT W FORT LAUDERDALE
401 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954-414-8333, Steak954.com
Give your date a taste of the good life with a special à la carte menu at Steak 954. In addition to regular menu items, guests can indulge on oysters and caviar ($16), lobster and crab coconut seviche ($14), Nueske’s bacon and scallops ($16), Thai style lobster salad ($17) or local yellowfin tuna ($32). Featured bottles of champagne will include Moët and Chandon Imperial ($95) and Vueve Clicquot Rose ($165). If you really want to splurge, a $300 bottle of Dom Pérignon also will be for sale. Reservations are available from 5:30 to 11 p.m.

SUSHISAMBA DROMO
600 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, 305-673-5337, Sushisamba.com
If raw fish is the way to your Valentine’s heart, the $70-per-person menu at SushiSamba Dromo will demonstrate what a great catch you are. The dinner, which is available Saturday to Monday, will include big-eye tuna and avocado salad; a trio of gunkan sushi, yuzu kosho-poached langoustines, Wagyu beef ishiyaki; Santarém chocolate mousse; and a few other treats.

Contact Joanie Cox at jcox@citylinkmagazine.com.

With its Chicago-brick walls, tall, black booths and list of craft beers, ROK:BRGR brings a decidedly urban vibe to subtropical Fort Liquordale’s most-debaucherous party strip. The latest nightlife (and dining) establishment to arrive in Himmarshee is what’s called a gastropub, which means that while it is the kind of place where you can pull up a chair and down a few pints while recounting the high- and lowlights of your fascinating life to a patient stranger (“pub”), it is also the kind of place, according to managing partner Mark Mughabghab, that specializes in serving select entreés “to a gourmet caliber” (“gastro”).

Craft beer, meet Himmarshee Village. ROK:BRGR’s list includes more than 30 craft beers, such as Brooklyn Lager ($5), Seadog Raspberry Wheat ($5), Avery White Rascal ($5.50) and Dog Fish Head 90 Min IPA ($7). The gastropub’s signature cocktails, which cost from $7 to $12, include flavored martinis and mojitos as well as creative bourbon mixes, such as the Black Cherry, a union of cherry-infused bourbon, lemon juice, muddled mint and syrup. Adventurous drinkers may enjoy the ROK “Old Fashion,” which consists of bacon-infused Maker’s Mark, bitters, maple syrup and an orange slice garnish. Then again, they may not, but won’t it be amusing to watch them try it?

As its name suggests, ROK:BRGR’s kitchen staff showers its attention on the hamburger, giving it identities that transcend its all-American reputation. Take, for example, the royal trappings of the King burger ($20), a 10-ounce kobe burger topped with foie gras and red-wine reduction. Then, there’s the Mediterranean, a lamb burger with cucumber mint yogurt and Middle Eastern spices ($13.50). Other options include variations on chicken, ahi tuna and turkey burgers, but you can play it mainstream with the Classic ($9), a cheeseburger with standard fixings. You also can build your own burger, adding cheese, grilled pineapple, fried eggs, avocado, beets and, of course, foie gras, until the burger suits your taste.

ROK:BRGR offers a daily happy hour from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., when premium wells, wine and noncraft beers are half-price. The in-the-biz crowd receives 50 percent off premium wells, house wines and domestic and import beers all day Monday and every other day from 11 p.m. to close.

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m.-4 a.m. Friday and Saturday
Address: 208 S.W. Second Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 954-525-7656, Rokbrgr.com

Katie Lee

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by Joanie Cox

With a demeanor that can seem as wholesome as the free-range, farm-bred animals that show up in her dishes, chef Katie Lee has spent the past several years attempting to remain grounded in an industry riddled with supersize egos. This is no easy task, and certainly not for someone who married one of the world’s biggest pop stars, Billy Joel, a May-December union that is no more. But Lee has certainly made room for herself within the crowded celebrity-chef arena. Four years ago, she hosted the first season of Bravo’s Top Chef and has since appeared on Rachael Ray’s and Paula Deen’s television shows. Her latest cookbook, The Comfort Table: Recipes for Everyday Occasions, came out this past October.

Lee also pens the monthly column “Eat This Up” for Cosmopolitan and appears in a weekly cooking segment on CBS’ The Early Show. Despite her high profile, Lee maintains that she would rather serve red wine to friends in her living room than work it on a red carpet.

“I think it’s my upbringing — my mom, my grandparents. Everybody’s supergrounded. I feel like people are people no matter where you go,” the 28-year-old says, speaking with a slight Southern accent. “Sure, it’s fun to get dressed up and go out sometimes and get to go to a movie premiere or something. That’s really cool, but I really prefer to spend my time in sweat pants.”

From Feb. 25 to 28, Lee will be in Miami for her fifth appearance at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival. “I’m excited to be doing a Kiss My Grits brunch with Paula Deen,” Lee says of the soldout event. “I’m also going to be doing demonstrations on how to make retro cocktails and pack for a beach picnic. I’ve been looking forward to coming to Miami for this all winter.”

Lee grew up in Milton, W.Va., a town of about 2,000 residents. By the age of 4, she was in the kitchen observing her grandmother, Dora, cook vegetables from the family garden. After spending a semester studying in Florence, Italy, in 2003, Lee landed a job as a restaurant correspondent for the PBS show George Hirsch: Living It Up! She met Joel at a party at the Peninsula Hotel while visiting New York for the weekend. A year later, she married the singer at his Long Island, New York estate.

“Moving to New York was certainly a transition. It was a lot different than where I grew up, but I made it my home and I love it here,” Lee says. “I live in the Village now, which feels like a smaller community. There’s not a lot of huge buildings down here. I really like it and feel like I know my neighbors here. You get to know the guy who works in the coffee shop and it feels like your own small town within this big city.”

A journalism major at Miami University in Ohio, Lee blogs dining tips on her new Web site, Katieleehome.com. “It’s kind of like a cooking and lifestyle magazine online,” she explains. “I love doing online because it’s a direct link to people. And people can Twitter me, Facebook me or send me a message through my site. And it’s really a good way to connect.”

Unlike many authors and cooking show personalities who pawn off Facebook maintenance on an intern, Lee does her own social-networking. “I have Twitter on my iPhone. I love Twitter,” she says. “I love when people Tweet me, especially if they’re having trouble with cooking or recipes.”

Lee says that’s how she develops most of her cooking segments for The Early Show. “People write to me and tell me they don’t have time to cook dinner on weeknights,” she says. “I did a segment on how to reorganize your pantry so you’d always be able to cook dinner in 15 minutes and delete your takeout numbers.”

While Lee acknowledges the economic downturn has caused more people to dine at home, the self-described “homebody” has always preferred it. “I love entertaining at home and I love having my friends over. I think you get such a different experience having people in your house, because when you go to a restaurant, it’s a lot of interruptions, there’s distractions and you feel like you have to get up and give the table to the next group of people waiting,” Lee says. “When you’re home, dinner can last as long as you want. You can laugh as loud as you want, you can tell inappropriate stories and make it whatever you want it to be.”

It’s also obviously less expensive to dine at home — a factor that is still significant to Lee, who says she didn’t grow up with money. “I cooked dinner for a group of eight friends the other night and we had a really nice dinner with appetizers — chicken with mushrooms and garlic gravy and a bunch of side dishes,” Lee recalls. “It was $100 for eight people. What nice restaurant is that possible at? That night, I made chicken. But I bought chicken thighs instead of breasts, which are usually between $1.99 and $3.99 a pound vs. $8.99 a pound. There are always ways of cutting corners.”

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Although many TV cooks assume their viewers each have 23 mixing bowls and enough kitchen tools to accommodate an Iron Chef competition, Lee takes a more practical approach to mealmaking. In the cooking column she began writing for Cosmopolitan in January 2009, she whips up menu ideas for the Carrie Bradshaws of the world. “It’s fun writing those recipes, because I’m thinking about somebody who doesn’t have a lot of pots and pans and probably has a small kitchen,” she says, “maybe a girl in her first apartment or someone who’s never cooked.”

In the column, Lee offers readers double-date dinner suggestions and tips on how to shop for the foodie in your life. She also divulges secrets on how to impress a man with a meal. “A guy is going to be thrilled that you’re cooking for him — period. The most important thing to do is choose something really simple and really plan ahead,” Lee says. “Chop all your garlic and onions ahead of time. Prep the food or make something that can be completely done in advance, like a pot roast. That way, you can have a little time to have drinks on the couch and smooch first. And dinner’s still ready.”

Lee insists setting the mood for a meal is just as relevant as what you serve. “It’s not just about the food. It’s about the whole environment you create and the way you make people feel when they walk in the door of your house,” she says. “In each chapter of my new cookbook, I offer a menu with wine suggestions and a playlist of songs. If you walk into a silent house, it’s a downer.”

She also recommends turning on music 15 minutes before guests are expected to arrive just in case someone shows up early. “Have drinks and a little bite of something ready immediately,” Lee says. “And don’t bite off more than you can handle. If you feel like you can’t make appetizers, a main course and dessert, pick an appetizer you can assemble. Pick up some bread sticks, wrap them in a little prosciutto and set out some cheese and a bowl of olives. Put out a bottle of champagne, and it’s terrific.”

Outside the kitchen, Lee embodies the spirit of a seafarer. She recently went spearfishing and caught some waves in Mexico. “I really like to surf. I learned to surf this summer and got really into it. So that’s my new passion and hobby. I just spent three weeks in Mexico surfing,” she says.

With all her writing gigs and TV appearances, Lee is living in fast-forward. But keeping herself busy also has helped her adjust to single life. Tabloid readers will be disappointed to learn that she isn’t dating.

“I have a really good circle of friends and my mom. I spend a lot of time at home with them,” Lee adds. “I’ve been working a lot, staying focused on my cookbook and doing a book tour, so I’ve been pretty busy. I haven’t had much down time. I just don’t have time to date anyone right now.”

Lee will host a beach-picnic demo at 12:45 p.m., a cocktail hour at 3:15 p.m. and a book-signing at 4:15 p.m. Feb. 27 at Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village at 13th Street and Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. Tickets cost $212.50 at Sobefest.com and include access to the festival, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and feature appearances by Food Network stars such as Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, Paula Deen and Guy Fieri. Follow Lee at Twitter.com/katieleekitchen.

Contact Joanie Cox at jcox@citylinkmagazine.com.