Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!
I have to admit, Valentine's isn't my favorite holiday. It isn't, however, my least favorite holiday either. (My least favorite holiday is New Year's Eve.)
Briefcase is out of town on business today, so we celebrated over the weekend.
First, on Saturday afternoon we checked into the Fairmont hotel in Newport Beach. I had bought a Groupon for a discounted rate at the Fairmont and given it to Briefcase as a gift at Christmas time. In turn, he saved it and booked the room for Valentine's weekend.
We enjoyed dinner at my favorite restaurant, Mastros. Mastros is very (!!) expensive, so we usually only visit once in a great while for special occasions. (And no, we don't normally consider Valentine's Day Mastros-worthy.) By expensive, I mean it is easy to drop $300 on dinner for two ... without even purchasing a bottle of wine.
In fact, Mastros has a $7,400 bottle of wine on their menu if you feel like splurging.
Many locals consider Mastros the best restaurant in Orange County. In fact, there are actually two Mastros here (one is a steakhouse and the other is an "ocean club"). And oh, how I love to people-watch every time we make a visit to either one of them!
We began our meal with martinis and a Seafood Tower. By the way, the martinis at Mastros will set you back about $18 a pop, but they bring a martini shaker to your table for refills and "one" drink ends up generously providing you with, at least, TWO martinis.
Being a total lightweight with alcohol, I was more than a little tipsy.
(The above photo was taken with my iPhone.)
I love the presentation of the Seafood Tower.
You pick what you'd like in the tower, and it's served to you on ice and dry ice which creates an amazing, dramatic, effect. Our tower was small because there were only two of us to share it. It was made up of a half dozen oysters, two large prawns and two crab claws. It was a perfect appetizer. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, we will probably return at some point and make a "dinner" out of cocktails and a slightly larger tower. Really, it would be plenty of food to make a meal of just that.
Dinner consisted of a salad - which we shared, a bone in filet, and sauteed spinach. Portions are large at Mastros so we always share sides and salads. Briefcase ordered a much bigger steak than I did, but we both agreed Mastros serves the most delicious steaks we've ever enjoyed. Service, as always, was impeccable. As we were delighting in our dinner, live music was playing. It made for a very nice evening.
For dessert, we decided to indulge in Mastros famous Butter Cake which is to die for. We shared the dessert and didn't come close to finishing it. Yes, I felt guilty for splurging on a carb-laden dessert, but have I mentioned we rarely get a night at Mastros? If there's ever a time to fall off your diet, it's when you're there.
After dinner, we watched Burlesque which we both enjoyed. I had been wanting to see it and was worried it would bore Briefcase to death. However, the movie is filled with scantily clad women shaking their stuff. He was anything but bored. I think riveted might be a better word.
On Sunday morning, we left the hotel and enjoyed a fairly quick breakfast.
At that point, it seemed like a good time to enjoy the beautiful day. We were close to Little Corona, so we stopped in for some beach time.
I'll have more pictures of Little Corona in future posts, but suffice it to say it was a spectacular, warm, sunshine-y day. We walked and hiked for a long time. What a wonderful way to end the weekend.
© Twenty Four At Heart
Mastros...I'm literally drooling thinking about their steaks and warm butter cake. The last time we went was in June for our 10th anniversary, haven't been back since and I'm dying to go. Love the beach photo, gorgeous as always!
Posted by: Kristen | February 14, 2011 at 12:28 AM
Sounds like an absolutely great way to spend some quality time with Briefcase :)
happy valentine's day to you too!
Posted by: Deidre | February 14, 2011 at 01:31 AM
I'm not sappy about this holiday either, but I do try to make an effort :-) Great getaway and food!! - oh, to be in your warm climate for a few days right now....
Posted by: karen | February 14, 2011 at 04:08 AM
Looks beautiful. And warm. Why do I live in Michigan, again?
Posted by: unmitigated me | February 14, 2011 at 04:46 AM
The flower photo just oooozes sweetness. Happy Valentine's Day, Suzanne! Glad you had a super week-end with your sweetie pie.
DI
Posted by: Di | February 14, 2011 at 05:30 AM
Mastros is the BEST restarunt ever been to. So jealous of you and their butter cake! nom nom nom!
Posted by: Tami | February 14, 2011 at 06:51 AM
How about the pretzel bread? That's also worth going off the diet for! Love Mastro's.
Posted by: Missy | February 14, 2011 at 08:00 AM
I followed your tweets over the weekend. Hope you had a wonderful time:).
Posted by: LPC | February 14, 2011 at 05:14 PM
I applaud Briefcase. That's the way a husband should think!
Posted by: Anne Gibert | February 14, 2011 at 07:11 PM
Thank you very much for your mention on our Hotel. We are delighted to hear you enjoy your stay and had a chance to experience Orange County! We hope to welcome you again soon.
Rei Strand
Public Relations & Marketing Manager
Fairmont Newport Beach
Posted by: Rei Strand | February 16, 2011 at 11:03 AM