{"id":18234,"date":"2010-01-29T13:57:57","date_gmt":"2010-01-29T13:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bonvivantliving.wordpress.com\/?p=160"},"modified":"2023-03-31T11:59:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T11:59:54","slug":"a-romantic-restaurant-the-vital-ingredients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/a-romantic-restaurant-the-vital-ingredients\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Restaurant Romantic?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is often said that any restaurant is romantic as long as you\u2019re with the right person – utter nonsense, I\u2019m afraid! There are few things less romantic than a room full of red roses with \u2018That\u2019s Amore\u2019 wailing in the background. On repeat. All evening. And I speak from experience.<\/p>\n

To conjure up the essence of romance, a restaurant needs just the right amount of each ingredient; but never too much of any. And therein lies the eternal problem that few successfully conquer.<\/p>\n

The restaurant should be intimate, but with sufficient space between tables; lively enough for an atmosphere, but not so loud that you can\u2019t hear your partner speak; and with lighting that\u2019s sufficiently muted to set the scene, but not so dark or so full of candles that you\u2019re inches away from being engulfed by flames.<\/p>\n

It is a precarious line between romantic and clich\u00e9d, and every restaurant should try to avoid the contrived and unnatural state of being full of only couples \u2013 every restaurant, even on Valentine\u2019s Day, should have a healthy mix of couples, singles and groups.<\/p>\n

I often find that lighting is paramount in creating the right atmosphere in a restaurant, but perhaps the most important lighting on Valentine\u2019s Day is the twinkle in the eye of your date.<\/p>\n

On the specific topic of Valentine\u2019s Day, be sure to check the menu and associated costs before dining, to ensure that the after dinner taste is not a bitter one. Bon Vivant\u2019s top picks for Valentine\u2019s Day can be found here on our list of London\u2019s most romantic restaurants<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read some of our restaurant guides like the best restaurants in Shoreditch<\/a> or the best Italian restaurants in London<\/a>.<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is often said that any restaurant is romantic as long as you\u2019re with the right person – utter nonsense, I\u2019m afraid! There are few things less romantic than a … <\/i>Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[16,17,30],"class_list":["post-18234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-restaurants","tag-articles","tag-restaurants","tag-valentines-day"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Makes a Restaurant Romantic? - The Bon Vivant Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our guide to romantic restaurants in London.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/a-romantic-restaurant-the-vital-ingredients\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Makes a Restaurant Romantic? 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