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Apparently, cupid strikes most at winery restaurants.
The list of the 100 most romantic restaurants in Canada has two Kelowna entries -- Home Block at CedarCreek Winery and Old Vines at Quails' Gate Winery.
OpenTable, the online platform for restaurant reservations and reviews, compiles and releases the list a couple of weeks before Valentine's Day to give diners and lovers inspiration.
With Valentine's Day -- Feb. 14 -- falling on a Friday, restaurants expect to be extra busy with lovers taking advantage of the weekend timing to dine and splurge and not have to go into work the next morning.
The action is also expected to spill over to Saturday night.
"Nearly half of Canadians plan to dine out this Valentine's Day," states Matt Davis, director for OpenTable Canada.
"And as one of the biggest dining days in Canada in 2024, it shows that the way to Canadians' hearts are through their stomachs."
The number of Valentine's Day reservations on OpenTable in 2024 was 23% more than 2023.
And this year's Valentine's Day dining is expected to be even bigger than 2024.
OpenTable raked through 900,000 diner reviews and ratings to find out which restaurants were tagged the most with 'romantic' to come up with its Valentine's list.
Reservation demand is also part of the equation.
That's why OpenTable recommends booking your favoured restaurant 12 days out to get the time and table you want.
Other tidbits OpenTable came up with surrounding Valentine's is that 52% of bookings for the day will be at one of the restaurants on the top 100 list, 78% will opt for someplace new, 63% want a unique experience like a special menu or wine pairings and most couples are willing to pay 13% more for a Valentine's meal over a regular meal.
That's a good thing, because dining at a fine restaurant for Valentine's can be pricey.
For instance, Home Block at CedarCreek Winery has special 'A Taste of Romance' lunches and dinners on Feb. 14 and Feb. 15.
The three-course lunch with wine pairings is $95 per person, the five-course wine-paired dinner $195 per person.
But, Valentine's dining doesn't have to be expensive.
You can eat with your loved one at an affordable restaurant or cook an exceptional dinner at home.
Valentine's Day isn't just for couples.
The OpenTable data also shows 44% are considering double dates on Valentine's and Galentine's has huge momentum.
Galentine's -- women friends, usually single, getting together for Valentine's Day -- is a real trend with parties of six or more women making reservations up 87% in 2024 compared to 2023.
OpenTable's list included one other Okanagan restaurant -- Peak at Sparkling HIll Resort near Vernon.
The list doesn't rank the most romantic from 1 to 100, but by province and in alphabetical order.
Canada's most populous province, Ontario, has the most restaurants with 60.
BC was next with 16 and most of those in the province's most populous city, Vancouver.
Here's the BC list:
- ATLAS Steak+Fish, Langley
- Boom+Batten, Victoria
- Finn's, Victoria
- Glo, Victoria
- Hart House, Burnaby
- Home Block at CedarCreek, Kelowna
- Hy's Steakhouse, Vancouver
- Joe Fortes, Vancouver,
- Lupo, Vancouver
- Miku, Vancouver
- Old Vines at Quails' Gate, West Kelowna
- Peak at Sparkling Hill Resort, near Vernon
- Rimrock, Whistler
- Top of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant
- Vista 18, Victoria
- Wild Blue, Whistler