Once upon a time, Valentine’s Day meant dropping your sweetheart a note. That was it. Today, expectations have spiraled out of the zone of reasonable budgets.
It all began for Enid Ostwater of Hyde Park when her Valentine began ordering the kinds of dishes you can’t pronounce at an elegant dining room, followed by a breathtaking helicopter ride over the city, then capped off in a hotel suite off Michigan Avenue.
“It was amazing, I will never forget it,” Ostwater says. “We blew an entire month’s entertainment budget on one evening; it was nuts. The darn helicopter made me airsick, so when I hit the pillow at the hotel suite, I was out like a ton of bricks.”
This year, Ostwater ordered her husband, Frank, to keep the Valentine’s Day celebration under $25. “At first, he said it was impossible. We’ll see.”
This story is devoted to Frank. Tribune readers, Chicago celebrities, Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel and Tribune film critic Michael Wilmington have lots of ideas for Valentine’s Day on the cheap. While some may exceed $25 by a few bucks, others are absolutely free.
“The best romance is cheap romance,” says Hall of Fame broadcaster, seasoned romantic and thrift artist Jack Brickhouse. “Coming up with a place to take your partner is half the fun; all you need for romance is one another. Romance comes at various stages. When you’re young, romance is necking and petting. When you’re newly married, romance is lots of sex. At my age, romance is a good memory.”
Outdoors
February weather notwithstanding, lots of tender moments can be shared bundled up. Alissa Johnson of Naperville is a sucker for ducks who beg for food along her town’s Riverwalk. “It’s so cold out, and those ducks are hungry. When I see Mommy and Daddy and their little ducky families, I get all mushy. It’s like going back to nature.”
A hike along the Riverwalk, the Chicago lakefront or any of the Cook County Forest Preserves is free. It doesn’t have to be a walking hike; when there’s enough snow, the forest preserves allow cross-country skiers.
Cis Frankel of the Near North Side has it all figured out. “It’s really cheap-but there’s one prerequisite; you have to own a van or a Suburban. Find a mattress or a bunch of pillows, a blanket and a Billie Holiday tape; never let him choose the music. Drive out to the woods, cross-country ski or just play in the snow with the dogs. Then surprise him with a picnic, add candles for romance and, by this time, for heat.”
For an invigorating walk and a real flower fix, there’s the Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake-Cook Rd., Glencoe. You can present your sweetheart with hundreds of flowers-just don’t take them home. Love is being celebrated at the garden through Feb. 19 in “Romantic Landscapes,” an art exhibit featuring the work of Didier Nolet. Admission is free; parking is $4.
Some people just want to horse around. “There’s something inherently romantic about horses,” says Jim Larson of Forest View Farm in Tinley Park. “Maybe it’s because that knight in shining armor is always riding a horse.”
Sleigh ride reservations may fill up at Forest View Farm, 167th and Lockwood Streets in Tinley Park or Willow Brook Acres Riding Club, 9501 Austin Ave. in Morton Grove. Another option is a horseback ride into the woods. And both locations offer trail rides, which cost $25 an hour at Willow Brook and $10 an hour plus a $2 license fee at Forest View. “We love romance around here,” says Betty Hansen, manager at Willow Brook. “The best way to propose is on horseback.”
For those who love horses but prefer street lights to trees and street vendors to hooting owls, carriage rides trot along North Michigan Avenue. “Sometimes those carriages rock and roll; that’s when we drivers learn never to look around to the back seat,” Barbara Bivona of Antique Coach and Carriage says. Carriage rides are $30 to $35 a half-hour.
Destinations for taking that romantic stroll can be as creative or as strange as you like. Alan Klein of Morton Grove thinks the pinnacle of a romantic jaunt ends at 2122 N. Clark St. in Lincoln Park, site of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. “If you like gangsters, it’s romantic,” he says.
Indoors
You can warm your heart, and your toes, by keeping the celebration indoors.
Indoors doesn’t have to be inside your home. Lincolnwood resident Victor Levine recalls preparing a romantic meal for his wife, Vivian, a couple of years ago. He toiled for hours making sure every detail was right. With his wife only 10 minutes away, he timed everything to the second, warming the guinea hen and chilling the wine in advance as he headed out the door to pick her up at work. But Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. It began to snow, and Victor’s 10-minute ride back home stretched into an hour.
While the hen got cold and the wine warmed, “It turned out that we had a great heart-to-heart sitting in the middle of a traffic disaster,” Vivian says. “In the most unlikely situation, we talked about our future and our life; it was so romantic.”
Try a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago, Michigan Avenue at Adams Street. Couples can look at beautiful Impressionist paintings and imagine themselves in those glorious French settings.
What’s more, reproductions of antique Valentine’s Day cards seen in the museum’s collection are on sale in the gift shop through Tuesday, $2.75 to $3.25. At no extra charge, a calligrapher will inscribe your sweetheart’s name. And Valentine’s Day falls on Tuesday, free-admission day at the Art Institute.
Gayle Gobis of Schaumburg says the most romantic picture can be seen on her TV set at home. “Renting a sappy movie is the ultimate,” she says. “I love snuggling up to a fire watching `Casablanca’ or `Sleepless in Seattle.’ It’s the test of real romance; if your husband or boyfriend doesn’t make rude and sarcastic comments, hit the fast-forward button or fall asleep, then he really loves you.”
The best first-run movie romance in town, according to film critic Michael Wilmington, is “Before Sunrise”-which gives us ravishing Julie Delpy, ardent Ethan Hawke, lots of charming banter and Vienna after dark.
Wilmington also recommends “It Could Happen to You,” with cop Nicolas Cage wooing waitress Bridget Fonda. Other fine, if less passion-drenched, films portray love from various angles in affectionate hues: “Nobody’s Fool” (older people), “Bullets Over Broadway” (actors), “Little Women” (families) and “Red” (the lonely). (One for anti-romantics: “The Last Seduction.”)
If you’re staying at home, Wilmington suggests renting these classic movies: “Seventh Heaven,” “Morocco,” “City Lights,” “It Happened One Night,” “Camille,” “Bringing Up Baby,” “Children of Paradise,” “Letter from an Unknown Woman,” “They Live By Night,” “Adam’s Rib” or “An American in Paris.”
Modern (sexier) choices include “Summer with Monika,” “The Apartment,” “Jules and Jim,” “Splendor in the Grass,” “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” “Doctor Zhivago,” “Ma Nuit Chez Maud,” “Minnie and Moskowitz,” “Manhattan,” “Atlantic City,” “Gregory’s Girl,” “A Room With a View” and “Mona Lisa.”
Dining
Howard Hoffman of Buffalo Grove is on the lookout for inexpensive Valentine’s Day meals. His favorite spots are Moody’s Pub, 5910 N. Broadway (“Their burgers are great to share, and sometimes they’re two for the price of one”) and Verdi & Puccini Opera Cafe, 1458 Sherman Ave., Evanston (“I love opera (performed) at your table-now that’s romance.”)
Indeed, finding an intimate nook to gaze into your partner’s eyes doesn’t have to cost a lot, restaurant critic Phil Vettel says. With care, dinner for two for about $50 is pretty manageable. His recommendations include:
– Cafe Borgia, 17923 Torrence Ave., Lansing, 708-474-5515. It’s a bit cramped, but cramped can be romantic. Good, authentic regional Italian food is the draw here, and prices are very low. The restaurant is BYOB, which stretches your budget even farther.
– Cafe du Midi, 2118 N. Damen Ave., 312-235-6434. This was a Bucktown mainstay before Bucktown was cool. Simple but tasteful decor, a good jukebox and very good bistro food. Look for the prix-fixe specials.
– Cafe Pyrenees, Illinois Highways 21 and 60, Vernon Hills, 708-918-8850. Tucked into a corner of Hawthorn Center is this French treasure. It’s tough to get a table because it’s very popular; one look at the charming decor and one taste of the modestly priced food will tell you why.
– Geja’s Cafe, 340 W. Armitage Ave., 312-281-9101. Geja’s regularly tops the lists of “most romantic” surveys. It’s very dark, there’s flamenco guitar music playing and the menu is all fondue, which strikes some folks as very romantic. A bit on the expensive side. One cheaper option: Arrive late just for dessert, sharing a chocolate fondue.
– The Village, 71 W. Monroe St., 312-332-7005. The upstairs restaurant in the Italian Village troika is for people who like their romance on the corny, even campy style. Twinkling Italian lights simulate a starlight night, and the whole dining room is arranged into little nooks and alcoves. Food is reasonably good and prices are very friendly.
– Bella Vista, 1001 W. Belmont Ave., 312-404-0111. This won’t do for your entire meal (or maybe it will), but this restaurant is featuring a Chocolate Madness menu from Valentine’s Day through Feb. 28. The desserts cost $5 to $6.50, and you can order all seven (!) for $32.50.
Celebrities
C’mon, this isn’t L.A. Our celebrities don’t require klieg lights and glittery black-tie gatherings for romance. Chicago celebs have their own heart-warming, tender-and yes-cheap ideas for Valentine’s Day.
– Bob Sirott, host of “Fox Thing in the Morning,” WFLD-TV Ch. 32: “You go to the Lincoln Park Conservatory, which right there cuts down on your flower bill. Then hit Superdawg (6363 N. Milwaukee Ave.) for the best and cheapest Valentine’s Day meal around for $2.95. And best of all, it includes fries. The box the Superdawg comes in says, `From the bottom of my pure beef heart thanks for giving me a chance to serve you.’ Just cross out the words `pure beef,’ then give the box to your sweetheart for a cherished romantic valentine.”
– Jack Brickhouse, Hall of Fame broadcaster and self-proclaimed expert on cheap romance: “The best deal out there is dinner-theater. Think of it, you get a good show and a good meal at one fair price-and best all, the parking is free. There’s nothing in the world as good as free parking. Now, what girl wouldn’t be impressed by that?”
– Caryn Bark, comedian starring in “Diary of a Skokie Girl” at Center East Theatre, Skokie: “A valentine’s idea for the girl who has no domestic skills-either borrow your own mom or rent a mom, then have her prepare dinner. Tell your significant other, `I slaved over this meal.’ And, of course, let Mom pay for it. It’s sneaky, but it works.”
– Jackie Bange, anchor/reporter WGN-TV, Ch. 9. “Picnic with a bowl of hot chili just northwest of the Adler Planetarium (off Solidarity Drive at the lakefront). If you love Chicago, the view will make you fall in love. It’s very romantic right along the water.”
