We now come to that delicate subject of aphrodisiacs. It will soon be Valentine`s Day and many restaurateurs are working on special menus filled with foods that are supposed to enhance the spirit of love.
Admittedly, restaurants are commercial ventures and many are intent on luring us their way with various gimmicks. Several pizza parlors are shaping their pizzas into hearts and one of them suggests in their publicity that
”sweethearts can drool over a spinach supreme.”
Medically, aphrodisiacs appear to have little proven efficacy, sorry to say. But that does not stop some restaurants from promoting them on this day with as much enthusiasm as they can muster.
Sage`s, 1255 N. State Pkwy., for example, has a special menu for Friday and Saturday that uses shellfish, asparagus, salmon roe, artichokes and other things that have either mythic or quasi-medical associations with love or sex or both. Between 4:30 and 7 p.m. Friday, a special appetizer table will be provided for drinkers there and at other Sage`s restaurants.
People who love shellfish seem to make the most persistent claims about its powers to inspire love. Different reasons are cited. But Nancy Sage, of Sage`s, says, ”It is probably because seafood is associated with Venus,” who is the goddess of love in Roman mythology. Venus also is associated with the sea, as in ”Venus on the Half Shell,” the Botticelli masterpiece. This is a circuitous but durable bit of logic.
Still, some plausible claims are made by people with a scientific interest in love. Ben Belden, director of the Sex Dysfunction Clinic of the Chicago Center for Behavior Modification, says, plausibly, ”Food that makes people feel better will naturally make them more prone to sexual conduct.”
Belden finds that oysters are often thought of in this regard, not only because they are generally good for you but also because they have an abundance of zinc, an element that may improve male virility.
Food writer M.F.K. Fisher, who wrote ”Consider the Oyster,” gives some credence to the whole thing by relating the claims of ”countless chaps whose powers have been increased nigh unto billy goat`s, simply from eating raw cold oysters.” As the oyster`s reputation has extended also to women, she duly notes she knows of a man from Biloxi, Miss., who says he tamed seven frigid virgins by feeding them oysters.
Another food writer, the late Roy Andries de Groot, once wrote that some sexual overtones may be derived from oysters since ”diners immediately absorb an abundance of minerals and vitamins free from any heavy load.” This is a satisfying answer. But de Groot also notes that an oyster is ”sensual: plump, quivering, round, soft to the touch.”
A number of places specialize in oysters–raw, cold, fresh and sensual. On a given day, Poor Phil`s Oyster Bar, 139 S. Marion St., Oak Park, will have malpeques from Prince Edward Island, wellfleets from Massachusetts and quilcenes from Washington, among many others that are elegantly served at about $1.25 apiece.
Other restaurants are also getting into the oyster act, which admittedly is more a function of the restaurant ”grazing” movement than the sexual revolution. For example, Martha`s Vineyard, 1160 N. Dearborn St., has recently brought in Martha`s Vineyard oysters, a rather obscure type that has the strong salty taste of other New England varieties. They are 65 cents apiece. And the Lobster Pound, 516 N. Clark St., is serving a ”double baker`s dozen” (26 of them) on a flying saucer-size plate for $15.95.
In the absence of potions that push biological buttons, some restaurateurs are more practical. Many hope you will do something that you may have been tempted to do before: Buy an order for two. Walter`s Restaurant, 28 Main St., Park Ridge, is serving a shared seafood platter with lobster, shrimp, mussels, clams, scallops and fresh fish. The market price is $30 to $35 for two.
Alouette, 440 Green Bay Rd., Highwood, has a classical menu for Friday and Saturday, with beef Wellington or baby rack of lamb for two. Full dinners are served for $25. Alouette also has a shared dessert, called heart of Aphrodite, made with a shell of dark bitter chocolate filled with grand marnier mousse.
”The spirit of Valentine`s Day is shown by sharing your dessert with your Valentine, of course,” says Alouette owner Christian Zeiger.
Valentine`s Day is also a time for a bit of clever cuisine. David Jarvis, owner-chef of Melange, 155 Sheridan Rd., is ”marrying” different dishes for the evening–salmon and swordfish with fresh herbs ($15.50), and quail and duck with orange and fresh bay leaf sauce ($14.95).
Coordinated colors will be used to promote the desired effect on Saturday at some of the area`s most civilized restaurants. At the Dining Room of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 160 E. Pearson St., chef Fernand Gutierrez has devised a menu of ”predominantly pink foods.” These include Scottish smoked salmon, tomato fettucini with lobster meat, pink grapefruit sorbet and medallions of veal with sabayon of red pimento. The fixed price is $35.
Good humor will also be featured on one restaurant`s menu. Halsted Street Fish Market features ”kissing fish,” which include shrimp with plum sauce and steamed Maine lobster. It also features ”fighting fish,” smothered alligator or Jamaican shark, among others.
If none of these Valentine`s Day measures sounds promising, it might be appropriate to have dinner at Toulouse, a dining room that has been selected as ”one of America`s most romantic restaurants” by Esquire magazine for its intimate booths and satiny finishes. Owner Bob Djahanguiri is providing roses for the ladies and chocolates for the gents. And if all else fails, there is piano man extraordinaire Dave Green in the bar until 4 a.m.
Obviously there is more art than science in the quest for romantic dining. But don`t discount all belief in aphrodisiacs. Chocolate, for example, is said to be very good at inspiring thoughts of love. Belden says that caffeine and sugar combine to stimulate certain glands that make you alert, if not altogether amorous.
So the tradition of giving chocolate to lovers is not entirely hollow sentimentality. With that in mind, many restaurants are featuring chocolate desserts. At Bar Harbour, 203 N. LaSalle St., the first annual Chocolate Festival will be Saturday. Dinner guests will receive a free chocolate dessert, the list of which includes ”killer” chocolate cake, seven-layer chocolate cake and chocolate peanut butter fudge cake.
Through all this, it is best to keep in mind that with aphrodisiacs, moderation is the best policy. This is true of each course along the way, and especially, of the wine. ”One glass of champagne can certainly lower your inhibition response,” says sex psychologist Regina Balutis, of Sexual Enrichment Counseling Services. ”But after more than two or three it becomes anesthetizing.”
SIDE DISHES
— La Tour, 800 N. Michigan Ave., offers an Austrian gourmet festival Monday to Feb. 21, featuring a $38.50 prix fixe menu and a $17.50 prix fixe lunch. Appetizers in this cuisine include pike dumplings in dill sauce and a vegetable strudel. Entrees include Esterhazy rostbraten, a braised cutlet of beef with vegetables; wiener schnitzel; and medallions of venison. Selections come from the menu of the White Horse Inn, in the resort town of St. Wolfgang; the executive chef and pastry chef from that restaurant will be on hand at La Tour to supervise.
