Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 12, 2011

GOOD FOOD & DRINK

7

 Mountain Views News Saturday, February 12, 2011 

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY


First of all let’s agree to agree, Valentine’s Day, should be Valentine’s week. A single day is not 
a long enough interval to express our love. How about an evening at home with a bottle of 
champagne and a candle lit dinner. You may wonder why a restaurant critic would dare such 
a blasphemy. It is an impossible night for restaurants. Service is not optimal and reservation 
often leads to an additonal wait. 

 

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved 
ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate 
this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in 
mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's 
Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. 
So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, 
the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentines, 
all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in 
Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those 
with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. 
Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to 
perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, 
Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

 

If the stay at home experience will not fly with your 
better half, let’s go dining

 

One of my favorite restaurants in Pasadena is The 
Central Park Café on S. Fair Oaks. The menu offers 
a variety of meats, poultry and seafood. I am a majot 
fan of their crab bisque soup. (626) 449-4499

 

Noir on North Mentor next to the Ice House? Chef 
Claud Beltran is one of the best in town, in fact Noir 
was just named best new restaurant in Los Angeles 
by Zagat.

(626) 795-7199

 

Avanti Café, The restaurant like the owner is small 
and very charming. Nice pizzas and pastas and you 
won’t go broke eating at Avanti. (626) 577-4688

 

How about Café Beaujolais in Eagle Rock, I dined 
there recently and was very pleased with the dishes, 
plus their prices are reasonable. The crème brulee will make the most stubborn woman 
swoon. 

(323) 255-5111

 

Join me every Sunday Afternoon at 4 PM for Dining with Dills on KABC TalkRadio 790 AM


TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dills


Come and Celebrate 
Valentine’s DayTwo Course Meal (For Two)
Fajitas Trio for TwoA Chicken, beef and shrimp mix with bell peppers, 
onions, tomatoes and flamed with white wine, 
accompanied with rice, beans and tortillas.
1 DessertChoose one of our delicious dessertsFresas con Crema, Crepas con cajeta,
Fried Ice Cream, Cheesecake,
Flan de la Casa or Vanilla Ice Cream$25.95From 11am to 9:00pm, Valentine’s DayNew Hours beginning 
February 14th, 2011Open at 8:00am for Breakfast 
7 Days a WeekIf you bring in or mention the paper,
you will get a surprise.
wARCADIA(626) 445-5327625 E. Live Oak Ave.
Arcadia 
California 
91006PASADENA(626) 795-0230655 N. Lake Ave.
Pasadena 
California 
91101DUARTE(626) 359-36141856 E. Huntington Dr.
Duarte 
California 
91010
I was the luckiest child alive for I had 
mastered love. The eligible suitors of my 
neighborhood dared little so I found myself 
the keeper of a kingdom. And my kingdom 
contained a youthful Princess with eyes that 
beckoned and a heart that appeared to live 
for me alone. There was more of an angel 
in her than anything that existed in this 
fleeting world. And I was twice blessed, as 
she happened to be the sister of my friend. 
Which meant that I enjoyed the daily reports 
of her actions. She was faultless in beauty, 
managing to cripple the possession of my 
speech with her appearance. I cannot say for 
certain but we may have even understood 
that we were the classic May/December 
romance. 

I courted her upon a maidens age of twelve, 
and I knew but ten. 

Her brother took it upon himself to become 
my first relationship counselor. As he 
suggested a flat rate of $5.00, and for that 
handsome sum, he told me that he would pen 
her poetry and place my affections upon her 
pillow and broker the mention of my name at 
the evening dinner table. Being a burgeoning 
romantic, I tendered the contract and waited 
for our love to fully blossom. My dear friend 
quickly expanded his baseball collection, 
but the days withered before me and in the 
end I was unable to steal even a solitary kiss 
from my angel. As so many things of life the 
timing was wrong. For she only carried eyes 
for a boy of thirteen. 

As I advance in years I encounter many of 
the difficulties that we all must hurdle. I 
have also discovered that we often make 
our own angels. For love is often composed 
of a mindset capable of even trumping and 
shaping the firm realities we encounter. Time 
has a way of sifting the innocence from our 
imagination, and with it, the many angels of 
our mind. 

In a poignant lesson from Chicken Soup for 
the Soul, a man offered this story of his wife. 
The two had purchased an ornate set of china 
and each time he asked his wife to display 
the china, she responded, we will use it when 
we have a very special occasion. Numerous 
events came and went through the years but 
she never considered one of them significant 
enough to draw the beautiful china from the 
cabinet. After she passed away her husband 
pondered with deep reflection the many 
times that they should have taken the china 
from the cabinet and shared it together. And 
he now realized that even the most common 
of days beside his wife were very special.

Our calendars designate a single day for love, 
Valentine’s Day, but we do better if we can 
mark the calendar with that breed of love 
the year through, and we discovered the best 
in ourselves and others if we can measure a 
lifetime in the habit of such a thought. The 
special occasions of life are firmly held in the 
hugs we receive, the hands we hold and the 
kisses we are privileged to own. 

Angels surround us, and it is up to you and I 
to give them wings.

by Craig Hakola CraigHakola@aol.com


The Secret 
of 

Valentine’s 
Day