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Favorite spots for romantic dining
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Compiling a list of favorite romantic spots to recommend for Valentine’s Day is by far the hardest thing I do most years. Why? Because l’amour is so subjective. Some find a slice of pizza and a beer far sexier than candlelight and a well-rounded list of bubblies. Still, I try. … Vote for your favorite spot for Valentine’s Day by logging on to accessAtlanta’s Best of the Big A.
LOUIE FAVORITE/lfavorite@ajc.com
This special tuna dish will be on the menu for Valentine’s Day at Repast, says chef-owner Joseph Truex. The restaurant’s ambience includes candlelight and a subdued mood.
PARISH FOODS & GOODS 
240 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta. 404-681-4434, www.parishatl.com
One of the sexiest things to do with your honey is enjoy a dessert downstairs in Parish’s market, where an oversized communal table strewn with the day’s newspapers and a grapevine basket filled with lemons and oranges is inviting. What’s more romantic than cozying up with a bit of reading and a great cup of coffee along with one of the market’s excellent desserts and pastries, from buttery, house-made croissants filled with almond and chocolate to espresso tarts and brownies? Ask for a coffee, have a seat in one of the worn leather armchairs and enjoy a slice of lemon coconut cake or the creamy, milk chocolate French silk pie from the dining room’s menu.
WATERSHED 
406 W. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur. 404-378-4900, www.watershedrestaurant.com
The din at this Decatur destination for updated Southern classics makes it hard to get cozy. So remove yourselves from the fray and dine at the bar, where you can sip a grand cocktail or one of their excellent choices of wine by the glass, and eat from a menu that continues to make mouths water 10 years later — the butter bean hummus, the pimento cheese, the vegetable plate, the very good chocolate cake. Share them all.
KROG BAR
112 Krog St., Atlanta. 404-524-1618, www.krogbar.com
It’s amazing what can be cooked up with a toaster and a sandwich press. This tiny Inman Park gem may have limited seating, but that just means the two of you can sit closer. Indulge in true tapas plates of cheese nibbles and Italian olives, plus garlic shrimp sauteed in olive oil with lemon and pimenton peppers. The wine list is a beauty, and having a sip of Reinares with a bite of sweet chevre spread over toast with Kirsch-laden cherries is a definite mood enhancer.
REPAST
620 Glen Iris Drive, Atlanta. 404-870-8707, www.repastrestaurant.com
Repast’s ambience is synonymous with classic candlelight and a subdued mood with a slightly more modern slant, and the menu from the chef-owners, husband and wife Joseph Truex and Mihoko Obunai, is well-crafted. Settle in for an evening of good wine, good food and romance .
TIERRA
1425 Piedmont Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-874-5951, www.tierrarestaurant.com
Husband-wife teams should be at the center of Valentine’s Day dining, and Dan and Ticha Krinsky seem as married to their pan-Latin wonder on Piedmont as they are each other. The food and wine here — spanning most of South America — stimulate conversation and set the mood just right. And no date can resist Ticha’s tres leches.
