ACHIEVING CLAYMAX
You and your valentine aren't the only ones responding to themes of erotica this time of year. Santa Fe Clay and guest
***image1***
curator Sandy Bresser have assembled a naughty and whimsical range of works by well- and not-so-well-known artists in their new exhibit,
XXX
. With sculpture, etc., from over 20 artists, and a few shapes to make Cupid blush,
XXX
is sure to be the hottest thing outside yer personal boudoir.
Reception 5-7 pm, Friday, Feb. 11; through March 19.
Santa Fe Clay, 1615 Paseo de Peralta, 984-1122
BLUES-Y DOOZY
It sounds more like a recent album from an old dog of the Delta, but
Change of Heart
by Coad Miller is visual study in ceaseless variations on the "voluptuous shape of the valentine." Miller lets fly with pencils, pastels, oils, watercolors, photographs-anything he can get his love-starved art mitts on-in the service of his blues-style ode to love's ineffable grip on us wretched souls.
Reception 5-7 pm, Friday, Feb. 11.
Willee's Blues Bar, 409 S. Guadalupe St., 982-0117
THE FINE ART OF LOVE
If you want to get anywhere with your valentine, you'd better have something prettier to present than a measly flower and a Snicker's bar. Go handmade with a gift for your Special Someone and pluck something from the dizzying assortment at the Northern New Mexico Arts & Crafts Guild
Pre-Valentine's Day Show
.
4-8 pm Friday, Feb. 11, 10 am-6 pm Saturday, Feb. 12,
10 am-5 pm Sunday, Feb. 13. $5. Sweeney Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy St., 955-6217
FRENCH POSTCARDS
That café in Vienna, shreds of love notes sent par avion and memories of steamy Tuscan nights congeal to form the fragrant ambience of romance and passion in Lisa Linch's exhibition
Love Is in the Air
. Celebrating the joy of love and composed of found objects and a lively palette, this artist's mixed media show is just the thing to make your eyes all big and full of wonder, like Amelie.
Opening Reception 5-7 pm Friday, Feb. 11; through Feb. 21. Free. Deloney Newkirk Fine Art, 669 Canyon Road, 992-8240
THEORY OF RELAQUIVITY
Get a load 'o this: while wandering the streets of Seville, Cruz owner Richard Campiglio was approached by a Sephardic Jew brandishing a "relic of Saint Valentine." Call it an impulse buy, but Campiglio swears it's done wonders for his love life. St. Valentine's relic, as well as some remains of Santa Candida and Saint Ignatius of Loyola, are all on display at Cruz this Valentine's weekend. If shriveled saintly fingertips freak you out, stop by anyway for the chunky, Old World freestyle jewelry and super deluxe new coffee bar.
Reception 5-7 pm Friday, Feb. 11; through Feb. 14.
Cruz Jewelry, 616 Canyon Road, 986-0644
YA GOTTA HAVE HEART
The words "good heart" are traditionally a punchline to "you know you're ugly and uninteresting when…", but not so this Valentine's Day at the Gerald Peters Gallery. With a hot score of the nation's randiest artists exhibiting their paintings, works on paper, photography and sculpture in
Good Heart
, odds are good that you can finally develop that deep, physical appreciation for the arts that's been eluding you so long.
Reception 5-7 pm Friday, Feb. 11; through April 2.
Gerald Peters Gallery, 1011 Paseo de Peralta, 954-5700
YONIVERSE
Maybe your love life doesn't stir up images of "the pearl in the lotus of the jeweled gate," but maybe it should. Rich Morrow's show
Yoniverse: The Art of Sacred Sexuality
, is a feast of painting, jewelry, sculpture and poetry all swirling around the many meanings of Yoni, an ancient sanskrit word that means quite a few things, largely distilling into "the creative essence of all life." If that's not an incentive to drop your cynicism and over-priced martini, what is?
Reception 4:30-7:30 pm Friday, Feb. 11; through Feb. 27.
ION Galerie, 715 Canyon Road, 982-4744
A TRIP TO PARADISE
Just when you thought Elizabeth Taylor-Hilton-Wilding-Todd-Fisher-Burton-Burton-Warner-Fortensky had the market cornered on serial marriages, along comes Susan Rose-Zelda-Kastner-Dean-Slovinksy-Rubin-Paradise. Reading from her work-in-progress,
Boyfriends, Husbands and Other Mistakes
, Susan Paradise chronicles
***image2***
her life with examples of some of the most fascinating and the most excruciatingly dull men of the last century. Her conquests range from a used car salesman to a Jewish/South African marathon-runner to the manager of The Doors. Ultimately, of course, Paradise's is a tale of survival and perseverance, but stop by and listen for the juiciest gossip this side of
Days
.
5 pm Sunday, Feb. 13. Free. The Teahouse, 821 Canyon Road, 992-0972
VALENTINE'S DAY PARTNER YOGA
What better way to spend St. Valentine's day of love than with your loved one practicing the downward dog? Eldorado-based Sante Studios introduces a workshop showing the benefits of partner stretching.
5:30 pm Monday, Feb. 14. $30-$40. Sante Studio, 7 Avenida Vista Grande, Eldorado, 466-7674
WATERY RAFFLE
AQUA Therapy Center's Special Needs Program, dedicated to healing and treating people who cannot afford beneficial aquatic therapy, is having a raffle this Valentine's Day to raise a little love, funds and awareness. Get a chance to win prizes from Ten Thousand Waves, Santa Fe Bar and Grill, Canyon Flowers, and even some art lessons.
Drawing on Monday, Feb. 14. Raffle tickets $5 each/5 for $20. AQUA Therapy Center of Santa Fe, to purchase tickets call 989-7085
THE WAY YOU SIP YOUR TEA
Let Gershwin, Cole Porter and Harold Arlen swirl up as silty memories inspired by the Zia Singers, serenading you and your sweetheart at a Valentine's Day Romantic Concert and High Tea.
4 pm Saturday, Feb. 12. $20. Elk's Lodge, 1615 Old Pecos Trail, 983-8815
315
The bistro with the numerical nomenclature has gone all out, reworking its entire menu in a labor for love. Appetizers feature duck and mushroom soup, scallops and a litany of delectable salads. Entrées run the gamut from filet mignon and lobster tail to steak frites, crispy sweetbreads with truffle flan and watercress in crayfish sauce and all points in between. Cap the night with a selection from a dessert menu that features
crème brûlée
and flourless chocolate cake among others. Price depends on your selection with appetizers at $6-$15 and entrées running from $24-$32.
5:30 pm Friday-Monday, Feb. 11-14. 315 Old Santa Fe Trail, 986-9190
LA CASA SENA
For the romantic lovers of fine cuisine La Casa Sena has a plan. A dinner of five aptly named courses begins with "First Flirtations," (fresh Pacific oysters), and continues into the "Second Date" of a micro-greens salad. After an "Interlude" of guava-champagne raspado it's time to "Meet the Parents" over Chilean sea bass, Dungeness crab or quail and then off to "Sweet Dreams" land with a banana split or a passion fruit pound cake. And all for $69 per person, $85 with selected wine, including tax and tip.
5:30 pm Saturday-Monday, Feb. 12-14. 125 E. Palace Ave., 988-9232
THE COMPOUND
Step into the Compound and treat that special someone to four courses of fine dining. Begin with a lobster bisque, pass through a cypress grove cheese tart and into tuna Nicoise or veal with mushrooms and marsala sauce. For dessert: scintillating warm bittersweet chocolate soup and frozen strawberry ginger parfait. Bon appetit! $140 per couple, beverages, tax and tip not included.
5:30 pm Monday, Feb. 14. 653 Canyon Road, 982-4353
GERONIMO
One of Santa Fe's most recognized fine dining establishments welcomes lovers in from the cold. Geronimo will feature a three-course meal with special appetizer, entrée and dessert yet to be determined, for $80 per person.
6 pm Monday, Feb. 14. 724 Canyon Road, 982-1500
EL FAROL
El Farol has atmosphere in spades and a special three-course menu to boot. Nestle up to those bullet holes in the wall and perform a Valentine's massacre of your own on appetizers of ahi tuna, green chile shrimp bisque and hearts of butter lettuce salad and entrées of Chilean sea bass, grilled lamb chops and beef tenderloin. Once you've shown them who's boss, a dessert tapas sampler for two will put a cinnamon gelato cap on a fine evening. $150 per couple with a bottle of Segura Vidas, Brut Reserva from Spain, or $200 with Veuve Cliquot Champagne from France, not including tax or tip.
5 pm Friday, Saturday-Monday, Feb. 11-14. 808 Canyon Road, 983-9912
THE PALACE
With nearly 200 years of treating its patrons like royalty you can be sure the Palace will welcome you and your date in for a pleasant evening. Start your evening within its storied walls with quail or diver scallops and venture forth into the fires of roasted lobster tails or Italian style beef tenderloin. Complete your love affair by indulging in fresh berry cardamom shortcake or Valentine sorbets with passion fruit and champagne-just be careful not to make your date too jealous. Prices TBA.
6 pm Monday, Feb. 14. 142 W. Palace Ave., 982-9891
THE PINK ADOBE
Inside the quaint little villa-slash-cottage-slash-cozy restaurant that could is a nice place to cuddle up to your better half while enjoying some tasty holiday cuisine. Tournedos dunigan style and filet of beef on a puff pastry smothered in green chili and sautéed mushrooms is what the Pink Adobe brings to the table. Top it off with a banana Foster ice-cream cake and two glasses of champagne and do the night up right. Prices TBA.
5:30 pm Monday, Feb. 14. 406 Old Santa Fe Trail, 983-7712
RIO CHAMA
Rio Chama offers the space and comfort to indulge your exclusive and sinful Valentine's Day desires. The curtain opens on your choice of oysters florentine, or squash with red pepper tempura, goat cheese and a chipotle honey glaze. The plot thickens as arugula, basil, toasted pecans and wine-braised pears burst onto the scene in a raspberry vinaigrette. Then, the dramatic third act: beef tenderloin and blue crab with cilantro black bean pesto or poached lobster tail, red and golden beets and lemon pepper yogurt. Finally an epilogue brings down the house with a selection of truffles and fresh fruit. Sorry, no encores. Prices TBA.
5 pm Monday, Feb. 14. 414 Old Santa Fe Trail, 955-0765
SANTA CAFÉ
Walk into elegance personified as the warmth of the staff provides all the ambience necessary for an entrancing evening with your valentine. Distinguished palates will begin the romance with Santa Café's lovingly prepared menu by "Amus[ing their] Bouche[s]" with smoked salmon mousse gougere. Next, a first course selected from a mouth-watering array from calamari to shrimp and spinach dumplings followed by entrées of Peking duck, beet and goat cheese ravioli and pan-seared Angus filet mignon that will have you lusting after the kitchen staff. And then the coupe de grace, a choice from a sinful list of tiramisu, housemade sorbets, crème brulee, blood orange and Grand Marnier Napoleon will leave you thoroughly spent-assuming you can ever actually choose. Prices vary from $30–$55 per person, depending on entrée.
5:30 pm Monday, Feb. 14. 231 Washington Ave., 984-1788
