For just a few hours, it was like the recession never happened. Skyscrapers were still being envisioned and erected apace. Realtors and developers were bulletproof and even amateur investors were making a bundle flipping houses. No one was facing foreclosure. Everyone's 401(k) was fat and happy.

That's what it felt like to be in the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead for dinner on Valentine's Day. The storied restaurant, for decades the site of celebratory or expense-account meals and super discreet star sightings, fell victim to the economy and closed in 2009. Since then the elegant room on the second floor has been used for special events like smallish wedding receptions or bigish birthday parties.

But with Valentine's Day approaching new executive chef Franck Steigerwald opened his heart - and his kitchen - to Atlanta. For three nights only the Dining Room would bustle again. Feb. 14 reservations were gone in a flash but limited seating remains available for tonight and Saturday night. The price is $99 per person for the four-course meal and an additional $65 per person for paired wines with each course. Call 404-240-7035 for reservations.

The menu starts with an amuse bouche. First course selections include a warm Maine lobster salad with fresh basil, verjus and raspberry vinaigrette and beurre blanc; marbré of foie gras and asparagus with port wine jelly, black pepper and poached apple; bélon oyster with cauliflower cream and caviar; or beef tartar with black truffle, quail egg, aged parmesan and baby mache. Second course selections include tagliatelle with west coast sea urchin and piment d’espelette; hand-rolled potato and ricotta gnocchi and squab breast with lavender Sauce and confit turnips; and  wild mushroom risotto with robiola cheese and white truffle oil.

Entree selections include turbot with crushed fingerling potato in Sicilian olive oil, pearl onions and port wine sauce; crispy Mediterranean sea bass with tomato Compote with fresh herbs and preserved lemon sauce; Beef Rossini with potato mousseline and madeira sauce; and seared veal loin with brown butter and osso bucco ravioli, fennel-dusted sweet bread and sauternes sauce.

Then comes a pre-dessert, then a dessert course, and then the famous rolling dessert tray.

My Valentine and I went for dinner last night and then stayed for the night so we could stagger upstairs instead of back to Marietta afterward. (I should note here that A. The AJC did not spring for this and B. You can use Marriott Rewards points at Ritz-Carltons.)

The evening could not have been more perfect. Maître d' Brian Willoughby presided with understated grace, sommelier Linda Torres Alarcon visited each table to explain wine pairings, pastry chef Dallas Marstelle ended the evening on a high note and Chef Franck ruled the kitchen with calm execution. The wait staff operated with precision befitting professional ice skaters or Secret Service personnel.

There such joy and energy in the room, the complete opposite of the melancholy aura that permeated the Dining Room in 2009 when I went to write about the closing of Atlanta's only five-star restaurant. Ritz-Carlton staff members generally will staple their tongues before divulging the presence of famous guests, but departing waiter Richard Flint shared a few memorable tales on his way out the door.

There was the time Rod Stewart came in seeking privacy but instead drew attention by wearing sunglasses in the windowless restaurant. Paul Newman once dropped in with his wife Joanne Woodward and her mother, then decided to split and go get a hot dog somewhere. Comedy actor John Cleese once yanked a pork chop bone off another diner's plate and pretended to gnaw on it, but Bonnie Raitt had been a gracious guest. Mick Jagger seemed more like an accountant than a rock star in his subdued business suit the night he dined there and Lauren Bacall turned heads.

We contacted the hotel on Friday to ask whether the Dining Room might be coming back for good. Answer: not for certain, but we'll see. We're also informed that two couples who dined on Valentine's are returning this weekend. (Not us. We're having soup and saltines for the forseeable future). 

For now we're glad to have stepped back in time, just for a few hours.