If you’re a man who plans ahead, Valentine’s Day dinner has been on the calendar for weeks—maybe even plucked from my list of New York City’s most romantic restaurants. But not everyone moves like that. Some of us operate closer to the wire. Maybe it took you until now to muster the nerve to ask out that lovely lass. Now, February 14 is looming, and reservations are vanishing faster than Eric Adams’ text message threads with Turkish Airlines executives.
Take a breath. There’s still time to land a restaurant that will dazzle your Valentine—just get a wiggle on, Romeo.
Here are ten more superbly sexy restaurants across New York City.
Warren Street Bar and Restaurant
With ornate wallpaper, shelves of leather-bound books, and Persianate paintings, the Warren Street Bar & Restaurant feels like the study of a whimsical Victorian aristocrat and is offering a three-course Valentine’s Day menu ($155/pp). It starts with Champagne and caviar and offers indulgent choices like Oysters Rockefeller, Chicken Liver Mousse, Black Angus New York Strip Steak, Mushroom Tortellini, Pan-Seared Halibut, and a 7-Layer Chocolate Cake. They are also renowned for their Sunday roast—slices of rosy beef atop crisp potatoes and Yorkshire pudding—which is arguably Britain’s most venerable culinary export. The version at Warren Street Bar & Restaurant holds its own against the finest pubs in Mayfair or Kensington. For a romantic lunch, order the tea tower—a vertical procession of cucumber sandwiches, macarons, and fresh scones. The stoneware, designed by the owners, is as charming as the food itself.
Selune – Bed-Stuy
Jay-Z and Biggie, my favorite hip-hop artists growing up, rapped about Bed-Stuy—mythic, gritty, and faintly untouchable. In the last decade, that same stretch of Brooklyn is better known as a bastion of creative restaurants set among stately brownstones and Queen Anne façades.
Selune is a winsome wine bar that channels Parisian charm without a whiff of pretension. In a small, intimate dining room, guests enjoy bistro classics like croque monsieur bubbling under a golden crust, oysters with zippy mignonette, and thoughtful cheese and charcuterie boards. After a glass or two of orange wine, wander next door to Lunatico—a Bed-Stuy staple for live jazz and top-notch cocktails.
Bibliotheque – SoHo
I once matched with a woman who described herself as “sapiosexual” on her Hinge profile. I initially assumed it was a declaration of attraction strictly to homo sapiens (useful intel), until she offered clarification: the term—from the Latin sapere, “to know”—actually means attracted to intelligence. Armed with this knowledge, I invited her out to Bibliotheque, a restaurant inside a gorgeous library.
In the company of Plato, Shakespeare, and Voltaire, a man cannot help but sound scintillatingly witty and deeply learned. And after the third martini, quasi deo loquitur.
The fare nods to France and Spain, with a selection of conservas, gourmet sandwiches, and charcuterie. For something heartier, order the French Bourdain, mortadella on a rich brioche bun.
Maison Nur — Lower East Side
With velvet banquettes, moody lighting, and a wine list that could humble a Rothschild heir, Maison Nur is where to take a third or fourth date—the moment you’ve realized you like her enough to splurge in high Francophile style.
Chef Richard Farnabe does not skimp on luxury, sending out Petrossian caviar with herbed cheese, bream bathed in saffron-laced bouillabaisse jus, and Dover sole zhuzhed with shiso and fermented green peppercorns.
Start with a chilled bottle of Pierre Péters Blanc de Blancs or an esoteric grower Champagne. For a sweet finale, the Seven Herbs Cake, sponge cake infused with Green Chartreuse and botanicals, hits the spot.
Room 207 — Nolita
An homage to Jazz-Age Manhattan speakeasies, Room 207 hides behind an unmarked door on a busy Nolita block. With dim lighting, an intimate bar, and shadowy little nooks throughout, it’s my go-to spot for after-dinner nightcaps with Tinderella.
Launched by the family behind Junoon, a Michelin-starred Indian restaurant, Room 207 is equal parts classic and avant-garde. Veteran mixologist Hemant Pathak plumbs the hoary archives of American cocktails for his “Forgotten Classics” menu. It’s one of the finest locales in the city to nerd out on cocktail history, or channel your inner Humphrey Bogart with a vintage tipple like an Adonis or Diamondback.
Arvine — West Village
Arvine is a cozy sanctuary in the West Village showcasing modern American fare and the wine of Savoie, the Alpine region of France bordering Switzerland. If you’re peckish rather than ravenous, the menu features a smart selection of small plates. In the soft glow of candlelight on exposed brick walls, relish soulful delicacies like beef cheeks atop coffee-braised lentils, tangy fennel salad with bacon, and palate-cleansing horchata ice cream. On a long winter evening, it’s my favorite place in the city to unwind with a cocktail.
Tsukimi — East Village
Midtown’s flashy bromakase counters are the play when you’re riding a fat expense account or sake-bombing with your ne’er-do-well buddies. But for leaning in close and whispering sweet nothings, a serene kaiseki counter is far more fitting. Japan’s most ceremonial culinary art, kaiseki, emphasizes hyper-seasonality and local ingredients. Traditionally served in upscale ryokan, Japanese inns, it prizes mindfulness over spectacle, subtlety over swagger.
From the Japanese term for “moon-viewing,” Tsukimi is a twelve-seat jewel box in the East Village. Chef Takanori Akiyama and sommelier Karen Lin guide guests through an 11-course procession of plates, each as meticulously considered as the brush strokes of a Zen calligrapher. Sashimi as light as starlight. Charcoal-kissed wagyu flecked with snowy fat. And for dessert, wagashi—gem-like teacakes traditionally served with matcha.
Hello Hello — NoMad
Hello Hello is what happens when cocktail nerds’ nostalgia and whimsy. Imagine the boozy concoctions you guzzled in college dorm rooms—Red Bull-Vodka, the Incredible Hulk—but mixed with the prowess and palate of Olympian mixologists.
Elite cocktail bars can be intimidating, even downright pretentious. Hello Hello is the antidote. The ambiance is cozy and neighborhood-y, animated by a playlist of ’90s rap and grunge. The bartenders are clearly having fun behind the stick, and their devil-may-care exuberance seeps into the cocktails. No need to flex with esoteric amari or obscure alpine liqueurs. Just playful and perfectly executed artistry.
I can’t relive those hazy nights circa 2010—the era of Four Lokos, sweaty dance floors throbbing to a Flo Rida banger, and the sweet illusion that youth would last forever. But perched on a barstool at Hello Hello with a Red Bull–Vodka in hand, I feel an echo of the glory days.
Martiny’s – Gramercy
If any cocktail bar has ever touched perfection, it’s Martiny’s. It’s Michael Jordan in the ’98 Finals. It’s Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden in ’73. A level of mastery unfathomable to mere mortals. Set inside a 19th-century carriage house in Gramercy, Martiny’s is a perennial fixture on The World’s 50 Best Bars list.
Founder Takuma Watanabe cut his teeth at the legendary Angel’s Share, and Martiny’s feels both exquisitely New York and unmistakably Japanese. Every cocktail they serve has the potential to rewire your synapses. Hell, just point to something on the menu and let Phil and his Navy SEAL-like bartenders rip. If you’re feeling peckish, get the chicken karaage with caviar. The dish, almost too pretty to consume, will make Tinderella swoon faster than a Black Amex.
Boro Brine – Williamsburg
Boro Brine is the latest opening from Third Date Hospitality, which feels fitting—it’s the proper venue when chemistry’s bubbling, flirtation is effortless, and the real dessert comes after you’ve left the premises. With soft lighting, a not-too-noisy buzz, and a gorgeous open kitchen, the dining room is consummately seductive.
The plates blend finesse and mischief. There’s tuna carpaccio fortified with umami-rich pork belly; focaccia served with a tin of gourmet anchovies; and a fried fish sandwich covered with melted cheese and tucked into a potato bun. The most audacious dish comes at the end: velvety pudding garnished with candied anchovies. It’s sweet, saline, and wickedly delicious—like a pour of Islay Scotch paired with a chocolate truffle.
The Japanese whisky list is perhaps the most impressive I’ve encountered outside Tokyo or Kyoto. If you’re either as rich as Croesus or riding a manic wave of confidence, splurge on a pour of Yamazaki 18.
Now you are armed. Get to it. Don’t wait. Take your date somewhere special this Valentine’s Day.
