Rockford-area restaurants prepare for Valentine’s Day

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — “The day before the storm” is how many restaurants in the Rockford area refer to the day before Valentine’s Day, which falls on Friday this year.

Zizi Altamore, owner of Limamar Restaurant and Cocktail Bar, at 221 E State Street, said, “It’s our biggest holiday of the year. We, you know, as an evening dinner restaurant, people start to make reservations for Valentine’s Day with us, sometimes weeks and even a couple of months ahead of time.”

At Altamore’s other restaurant, SALT, 6860 Spring Creek Road, wait staff, kitchen team, and managers will be in “all hands on deck mode,” using a month of advance warning to put pieces of their plan in motion.

“We’ve got our executive chef, Michael Turley, who helps put together the menu and then working with my beverage director, Greg Callahan, to put together, like a fun drink for the Valentine’s menu,” Altamore continued. “And then on my end, I kind of try to help put all the pieces together.”

The menu for Valentine’s Day couples has been set ahead of time.

“My team is the whole week leading up to Valentine’s Day, putting together those dishes, preparing those sauces, prepping those desserts. So it takes quite a bit of time,” Altamore said.

Altamore warns that wherever lovebirds choose to dine out on Valentine’s Day, if a reservation isn’t made in advance they should be prepared to wait.