THOSE who think Valentine’s Day is more stupid than Cupid are finding themselves in good company – as more and more restaurants, bars and Web sites offer an alternative to gooey coupledom.
At Dewey’s Flatiron bar (210 Fifth Ave., between 25th and 26th streets; [212] 685-7781), owner Ed Dobres is looking forward to his “anti-Valentine’s Day party” on Saturday. Couples are welcome as long as they don’t rub it in.
“I started it because all my friends were complaining that they had no one to spend the evening with and no one to take to dinner,” Dobres says. “So we thought, ‘Let’s just hang out with a bunch of single people.’ ”
Of course, whenever you bring a bunch of singletons together, there’s a strong probability some will hook up – a consequence Dobres encourages. And so, as you walk in the door, you’re given half a playing card. Find the person with the other half, and you’ll both get a free drink.
At One Little West 12th Street (at Ninth Avenue; [212] 255-9717), chef Kevin Roth has come up with an anti-Valentine’s Day menu: a Shot Through the Heart cocktail (Jaegermeister and champagne), followed by Bleeding Heart Beet Soup, a Broken Hearted Burger with a roast garlic clove in the middle or a Rip My Heart Out Sea Bass (cooked in heart-shaped parchment and torn in half.) End your lovelorn wallowing with a Wilted Rose Sorbet.
In TriBeCa, Dekk (134 Reade St., between Hudson and Greenwich streets; [212] 941-9401) is enticing single diners on Valentine’s night with a complimentary Bleeding Hearts cocktail, the contents of which have yet to be revealed. And Plate NYC (264 Elizabeth St., between Prince and Houston streets) is offering up a specially bitter concoction: the Sinical – green apple-infused sake with lime juice.
There’s even an antidote to those heart-shaped candies inscribed with sappy messages: BitterSweets, available from online retailer despair.com ($8.95 for 6 ounces).
“BitterSweets are made of flavored, chalky-tasting sugar and sport a message on their face,” the site reads. “But unlike other candy hearts, ours are stamped with bitter musings and mockeries perfectly suited to the dejected spirits of those who will spend the holiday alone, or wishing they were.”
Sample messages include “U C My Blog?” and “U+Me=Grief.”
For those who just want to hunker down, listening to their old Smiths albums, there are plenty of online meeting places for communal carping. If you can’t make it to the International Quirkyalone Parties in San Francisco, you can discuss your solitary state at quirkyalone.net with other contented singles.
Those less positively inclined can visit blackheartsparty.com and read “The Tree of Despondency,” a collection of essays on singledom, or buy a “Happy Freakin’ Valentines Day” card from Cafepress.com.
Hey, whatever gets you through the day.
