Valentine's Day desserts: These Palm Beach restaurants offer sweet treats on day of love

M.M. Cloutier
·6 min read

Of all the ways to indulge on Valentine’s Day, devouring a gooey, creamy, crunchy and beautiful-looking dessert with an amour should be one of them.

After all, as children, sweets — candy hearts — were a gesture of love.

As adults, we can enjoy irresistible Valentine’s Day desserts at Palm Beach restaurants that have been carefully conceived to express “the complexity of love,” as Renato’s executive pastry chef Vesna Capric put it.

Buckle up for chocolate, because it’s often significantly featured.

Palm Beach restaurants aren’t the only venues with luscious Valentine’s desserts. How about a Feb. 14 five-scoop gelato special at Piccolo Gelato?

Here are places to find great Valentine’s Day desserts in Palm Beach:

Pizza al Fresco, 14 Via Mizner

Pizza al Fresco’s Nutella pizza comes topped with Nutella, strawberries, raspberries and a house-made raspberry sauce drizzle.
Pizza al Fresco’s Nutella pizza comes topped with Nutella, strawberries, raspberries and a house-made raspberry sauce drizzle.

The time to have pizza here on Valentine’s Day is for dessert.

Yes, the 15-plus savory thin-crust pizza pies Pizza al Fresco offers are each tempting, but order pasta or the chicken piccata, say — and then order the chocolate-hazelnut pizza for dessert.

Why? It’s fun.

Topped with Nutella, strawberries, raspberries and a house-made raspberry sauce drizzle, “it’s usually six or eight people at a table who will order it for dessert and then everyone has a piece, but for couples on Valentine’s Day? Yes. Why not? Whatever you don’t finish, you can take home.”

Pizza al Fresco’s Nutella pizza is $24.

Phone: 561-832-0032

Meat Market, 191 Bradley Place

Meat Market's dessert sampler, complete with cookies, cheesecake, a cinnamon roll and a torched honey marshmallow, has been called a `love at first sight’ experience.
Meat Market's dessert sampler, complete with cookies, cheesecake, a cinnamon roll and a torched honey marshmallow, has been called a `love at first sight’ experience.

On Feb. 14, go for Meat Market’s greatest-hits dessert sampler.

Along with the restaurant’s popular gooey chocolate-chip cookies and ice cream, a special Valentine’s sampler ($38) also includes strawberry shortcake choux; citrus cheesecake; torched-honey marshmallow with coffee ice cream and chocolate-peanut sauce; and a warm cinnamon roll with cream-cheese icing, rum-caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream and candied pecans.

“Our signature dessert platter is glorified as `love at first sight’ among our patrons and is a love affair we fully embrace,” operations manager Sebastien Tribout told the Daily News. “Featuring only the best of our dessert selections, this is an infallible way to impress your Valentine.”

Phone: 561-354-9800

Le Bilboquet, 245 Worth Ave.

Le Bilboquet's Valentine's Day dessert pairs the sweetness of cherry with the tartness of lychee, served with white chocolate mousse and a pistachio biscuit.
Le Bilboquet's Valentine's Day dessert pairs the sweetness of cherry with the tartness of lychee, served with white chocolate mousse and a pistachio biscuit.

Leave it to Le Bilboquet, which regularly features a rich dark-chocolate mousse and macarons galore, to prepare an irresistible Valentine’s Day dessert.

This year, the French bistro’s Feb. 14 special dessert is called Cherries & Lychee. White-chocolate mousse, a pistachio biscuit and cherry jam are served with a house-made lychee sorbet.

The dessert is part of a $150 three-course menu.

“Our chefs have been preparing for a while for Valentine’s Day, which is special at Le Bilboquet,” Dobie Trendafilova, general manager, told the Daily News. “You will savor the sweet embrace of lychee and cherry — where the sweetness of cherry meets the tartness of lychee.”

Phone: 561-812-2363

Café Boulud, 301 Australian Ave.

Cafe Boulud's Valentine's Day dessert is called Chocolat & Framboise, featuring velvety chocolate, tart raspberries and caramel.
Cafe Boulud's Valentine's Day dessert is called Chocolat & Framboise, featuring velvety chocolate, tart raspberries and caramel.

 Anyone dining at Café Boulud can always count on a dessert that looks like a piece of art.

The creativity, precision and work ethic of executive pastry chef Julie Franceschini is well-known by patrons of the French-American restaurant.

Her special dessert for Valentine’s Day? Chocolat & Framboise (chocolate and raspberries), which is part of a three-course menu for $224 a person.

“This raspberry-chocolate dessert with salted caramel is a harmonious blend of rich flavors and textures,” Franceschini told the Daily News. “I think the luscious combination of velvety chocolate, tart raspberries and caramel creates a romantic experience, perfect for … crafting a memorable celebration on Valentine's Day.”

Phone: 561-655-6060

Renato's, 87 Via Mizner

The Valentine's Day dessert at Renato's, an almond-chocolate decadent delight ($18), features a raspberry-accented triple-chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache. 'It combines so many flavors and textures symbolizing the complexity of love,' pastry chef Vesna Capric says.
The Valentine's Day dessert at Renato's, an almond-chocolate decadent delight ($18), features a raspberry-accented triple-chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache. 'It combines so many flavors and textures symbolizing the complexity of love,' pastry chef Vesna Capric says.

Picture-perfect desserts aren’t just about pastry-chef precision. Renato’s pastry chef Vesna Capric said she brought her own heart as she worked on Valentine’s desserts that “would express love.”

That’s what’s behind her Almond-Chocolate Decadent Delight ($18), centered by a raspberry-accented triple-chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache.”

“It combines so many flavors and textures symbolizing the complexity of love,” Capric said. “Its indulgent nature makes it the perfect treat for expressing affection on Valentine’s Day.”

Phone: 561-655-9752

Café L'Europe, 331 S. County Road

Cafe L'Europe's Valentine's Day dessert is 'an elevated take on a box of chocolates with so many fun things to sample,' executive chef Alain Krauss says, featuring a souffle, strawberries and more.
Cafe L'Europe's Valentine's Day dessert is 'an elevated take on a box of chocolates with so many fun things to sample,' executive chef Alain Krauss says, featuring a souffle, strawberries and more.

When it comes to desserts to share between two people for Valentine’s Day, Café L’Europe may have the ultimate: a sampler for two ($40) with a chocolate souffle, chocolate-covered strawberries, hot chocolate with whipped cream, chocolate crinkle cookies and chocolate petit fours.

“Chocolate is the way to someone’s heart,” executive chef Alain Krauss told the Daily News. “This is like an elevated take on a box of chocolates with so many fun things to sample. For a couple, this is a similar idea of trying different flavors and sharing it all together.”

Phone: 561-655-6060

LoLa 41, 290 Sunset Ave.

LoLa 41's pretzel parfait for Valentine's Day is made with dulce de leche, mascarpone whipped cream and a pretzel-cookie crumble.
LoLa 41's pretzel parfait for Valentine's Day is made with dulce de leche, mascarpone whipped cream and a pretzel-cookie crumble.

With both sweet and salty layers, LoLa 41’s pretzel parfait ($15) is a departure from a sweet-on-sweet ending. It features dulce de leche, mascarpone whipped cream and a pretzel-cookie crumble made of pretzels, brownies and more.

On top: More whipped cream and pretzel pieces.

The allure of LoLa 41’s pretzel parfait “is its simplicity” and “sweet symphony,” Anthony Budd, general manager, told the Daily News. “When the dessert is shared,” he added, “couples always seem to find joy.”

Phone: 561-599-5652

Piccolo Gelato, 66 Via Mizner

The Valentine's Day special at Piccolo Gelato for two to share is five scoops decked out with dark-chocolate sticks, waffle hearts and red-and-pink chocolate-cookie crumble.
The Valentine's Day special at Piccolo Gelato for two to share is five scoops decked out with dark-chocolate sticks, waffle hearts and red-and-pink chocolate-cookie crumble.

Since Piccolo Gelato opened in Via Mizner in 2017, it has been a Worth Avenue destination for cold and creamy treats — from gelato to sorbetto and everything in between (including sugar-free varieties and gelato cakes).'

For couples who crave such melt-in-your-mouth sweetness, the shop is featuring a Valentine’s Day special for two to share for $10: five scoops decked out with dark-chocolate sticks, waffle hearts and red-and-pink chocolate-cookie crumble.

There’s no sharing rule with this five-scooper, so ordering it on your own is fine.

Phone: 561-814-5966

Sant Ambroeus, 340 Royal Poinciana Way

The princess cake, lemon sponge cake layered with vanilla cream and whipped cream and topped with almond marzipan, is a Valentine's Day favorite at Sant Ambroeus.
The princess cake, lemon sponge cake layered with vanilla cream and whipped cream and topped with almond marzipan, is a Valentine's Day favorite at Sant Ambroeus.

One glance at the displayed Italian cornetti, gelato, cakes and cookies made daily at Sant Ambroeus and a seed is planted: You will have dessert at this place rooted in a history that started when two pastry chefs in Milan, Italy, opened a confectionary in 1936.

Here’s where Valentine’s Day celebrants can skip chocolate and still be eminently satisfied. None too few couples will likely opt for the restaurant’s famed Princess Cake: lemon sponge cake layered with vanilla cream and whipped cream and topped with almond marzipan.

A slice is $17.

Phone: 561-285-2990

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Valentine's Day desserts: Nine Palm Beach spots for sweet treats