Staying at home for Valentine’s Day looks like it may be the only option for couples this year—requiring an extra layer of creativity (and stress) for those looking to make the day special. Takeout feels like a default at this point, and homemade meals have lost their luster, but bringing your tried-and-true restaurant favorites into your kitchen isn’t as hard as you think. Goldbelly—a Danny Meyer-backed online food marketplace—specializes in regional restaurant delicacies. Which means you can get a gourmet Valentine’s Day meal from a romantic, high-end restaurant delivered right to your door.
The company has a whole section of specially curated Valentine’s Day meals from top chefs around the country—from Daniel Boulud’s red-wine-braised short ribs to Wolfgang Puck’s truffle mac and cheese to fresh Maine lobster tails and scallops to Stephanie Izard’s Dinner and Drinks for Two kit of pot stickers, noodles, and a specialty cocktail. You can even celebrate February 14th with JFK and Jackie O’s raspberry wedding cake from Montilio’s bakery.
Fast Company deputy editor David Lidsky ordered pizza from Lou Malnati’s in Chicago and two rounds of barbecue over the holidays, and was impressed with the portions, ease of prep, and overall novelty of enjoying restaurant favorites at home. “Obviously the food couldn’t replace being with our family,” he said. “But having Goldbelly to procure these regional specialties for celebrations—especially this past year—has meant a lot.” Items arrive fresh or frozen and, depending on whether you buy a kit or a prepared meal, require some minimal kitchen time. The sales directly support the local restaurants, after the platform has taken its cut.
Thanks to the homesick (and hungry), Goldbelly founder and CEO Joe Ariel has seen spikes in demand for chef meal kits, which supply the ingredients to re-create Blue Ribbon’s fried chicken or Momofuku’s bo ssäm and pork buns at home. If you’re looking for some romantic regional delights to cook up for your sweetheart (or better yet, have cooked up for you), you’ll find plenty to choose from. These are some of our favorites.
Bring the taste of the Garden District to your kitchen with a signature New Orleans feast from Commander’s Palace. Start with garlic bread and spicy seafood gumbo, followed by wild shrimp and cognac with creole cream cheese grits, and finish off with a whole pecan pie (enough to have for midnight snack leftovers well after Valentine’s Day).
Momofuku Ko’s exceptionally indulgent and complex duck pie—made with foie gras, Vermont cheese, and a savory, rich black bean-butter sauce—is instantly and easily replicated from the comfort of your kitchen. With buttery, flaky layers of pastry and a rich, fatty duck filling, this pie feels perfectly indulgent for a Valentine’s Day spent curled up on the couch (and believe us, after eating this, you won’t want to move). Level up and add the restaurant’sdelectable pecan pie for $50 more.
Satisfy a homesick New Englander with this iconic two-course meal from Maine’s McLoons Lobster Shack. Plentiful lobster knuckle, tail, and claw is served “half-and-half,” that is, half with butter and half with mayo—because relationships are all about compromise—on a perfectly baked top roll. The blueberry pudding combines local blueberries, bread, white chocolate chips, and a vanilla custard for a sweet treat that will bring you right to the romantic, breezy coast of Maine. Because if you can’t go in person, you might as well take your palate on a romantic getaway.
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