Romance is on the menu

Alison Arnett returns next week.

You're in trouble. Six days before Valentine's Day without a game plan is the relationship equivalent of forgetting to reserve your boss's important overseas flight. You screwed up: The seats are booked, and the other person is wondering why they keep you around. The homerun spots -- sweet, intimate, delightful, such as Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain or Carmen in the North End -- have been full for weeks, unless you want to eat at 5:30 in the afternoon.

Like New Year's Eve and Mother's Day, Valentine's Day is a huge night for the restaurant business, especially when it falls on a Wednesday. "We have reservations stretching over the course of the week," says Mary-Catherine Deibel, co-owner of UpStairs on the Square, noting that many couples prefer to avoid the crowded night altogether and celebrate over the weekend instead.

To that end, some restaurants have devised multicourse, prix-fixe Valentine's menus intended to run all week long, starting Saturday. Among these spots is Dante (40 Edwin H. Land Blvd., Cambridge. 617-497-4200), where chef Dante deMagistris's four-course, $75 prix-fixe menu is "designed as a sexual encounter from start to finish," he says. Food, lust, and romance are connected in items like menage a foie gras -- the luxurious liver, prepared three ways; honey bunny ravioli -- heart-shaped pasta filled with braised rabbit in a sage and brown butter sauce -- and a "bubble bath" of Prosecco with strawberry nectar. "We want people to relax and have fun with the food," says deMagistris, whose Valentine's menu is offered Feb. 10-17.

But for those who want to celebrate on the evening of the 14th, all is not lost. Start by giving up the hope of scoring an 8 p.m. reservation at any of the high-end tables in town. You could luck out at the last minute, when the folks who make multiple reservations finally decide where to go. But just in case, make a plan B: How about dining late on Wednesday and going into work late the next day?

L'Espalier (30 Gloucester St., Boston. 617-262-3023) takes reservations for its eight-course Valentine's tasting menu ($170; add $55 for Vintner's Tasting and $75 for Grand Vintner's Tasting) until 10 p.m. You'll want to stay until the end, when the Lovers' Grand Tasting for Two is presented. It might be past midnight by this time, but pastry chef Ben Knack's offerings will jolt you to attention. "The dessert we put together is pretty awesome," he says. A flourless chocolate cake is served with hazelnut praline, fresh raspberries, and orange-blossom ice cream, alongside a deconstructed strawberry shortcake with wild French strawberry sorbet, pound cake, and creme fraiche with dried strawberries. Knack says that his latest desserts are a lighter, more refined departure from L'Espalier's traditional pastry offerings. "It's still L'Espalier, it's still 'wow,' but it's a different 'wow,'" he says.

Late reservations are also welcome at Craigie Street Bistrot (5 Craigie Circle, Cambridge. 617-497-5511), where chef-owner Tony Maws's four-course prix fixe is reduced by $20 after 10 p.m. For $110, the menu includes warmed Wellfleet oysters with oyster and oyster mushroom veloute, and maple-glazed pork belly with apple confit and caramelized endive-foie gras sauce. Wine flights are available for $50, or choose a bottle from Maws's Frenchy-French wine list.

If nighttime dining and morning hooky are out of the question, a long lunch on Wednesday might be the right solution. In addition to a five-course dinner tasting ($125) in the pretty pink Soiree Room that night, UpStairs on the Square (91 Winthrop St., Cambridge. 617-864-1933) offers a three-course lunch downstairs ($45) that starts with a glass of Champagne and a choice of oysters or sweetheart red pepper soup and ends with milk chocolate panna cotta and a shot of homemade sparkling rose soda. And while No. 9 Park (9 Park St., Boston. 617-742-9991) doesn't offer a Valentine's lunch menu, the everyday menu is sexy enough to do the trick.

But back to the evening. If you're not into commitment (to a fixed menu or one restaurant, that is), go oyster-bar hopping. Great Bay (500 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. 617-532-5300) is among the sexiest spaces in town to slurp a couple dozen aphrodisiacs on the half shell, while Neptune Oyster (63 Salem St., Boston. 617-742-3474) has a cool, cozy neighborhood vibe. Go early! Jasper White's Summer Shack (50 Dalton St., Boston. 617-867-9955; 149 Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge. 617-520-9500) might be too sporty and bright for some couples, but the raw bar's Tower of Power ($60), with oysters, clams, and lobster claws, paired with a bottle of bubbly Prosecco, could make for a low-key, lighthearted night.

And for some, low-key is just right. After your oysters, duck out of Neptune and amble through the North End to Pizzeria Regina (11 Thatcher St., Boston. 617-227-0765) for a pie and a straw-covered bottle of Chianti. If you're in the South End, stop by Brix Wine Shop (1284 Washington St., Boston. 617-542-2749) from 6-8 p.m. for a Valentine's tasting of wine, liqueurs, and cupcakes from nearby South End Buttery.

While you're there, splurge on a bottle of Laurent Perrier Cuvee Rose Brut ($80), a sparkling pinot noir that's a perfect match for the Peking duck ($32) at King Fung Garden (74 Kneeland St., Boston. 617-357-5262. Call a day in advance for the duck), the last place you might think to bring a Valentine's date. The Chinatown spot is poorly lit and drafty, with only a handful of creaky tables, but owner Erwin Mei's three-course Peking duck dish -- with sliced duck and homemade scallion pancakes, stir-fried duck chow mein, and deeply flavored duck soup -- is delightful. Valentine's at King Fung is a do-it-yourself kind of date: bring your own bubbles and flutes, bring your own sense of romance, and snuggle together for a Valentine's date that avoids high prices and high expectations -- without sacrificing good food and good fun.