Chocolate… lub-dub… music… lub-dub... love stories… lub-dub… romantic dinners… lub-dub… seductive dancers… lub-dub-lub-dub.
New Haven’s heart pumps to Saint Valentine’s beat this week.
Monday, February 9
Two Sundays ago, a couple of pop-up shops popped up to help people prep for Valentine’s Day. At Creative Arts Workshop (80 Audubon St, New Haven; 203-562-4927), “XOXO: A Sale of Valentines” has “handmade cards and boxes” courtesy of CAWers, available Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. At the Haven Collective (938 State St, New Haven), a “Valentine’s Pop-Up Shop” offers “a small, curated selection” of wares, including candles, “natural beauty goodies” and kitchen items, from local businesses. Hours of operation are Tuesday to Thursday 3 to 8 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5.
Tuesday, February 10
Just in time for the holiday, chocolatier Fritz Knipschildt, who owned High Street shop Chocopologie before closing its doors in 2013, is coming to R.J. Julia (768 Boston Post Rd, Madison; 203-245-3959) tonight to discuss Chocopologie, his new cookbook featuring recipes for “ultra-indulgent desserts, heavenly truffles
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Wednesday, February 11
Having twice delayed the opening reception for “Inner Reaches of Outer Space” by Daniel Eugene (pictured above), showing his psychotropic line drawings at Oak Haven Table and Bar (932 State St, New Haven; 203-915-9413), the weather tonight seems ready to cooperate. Same goes for Oak Haven, which is offering “complimentary small plate refreshments,” and Portland, Oregon-based Aviation Gin, which is sponsoring a special cocktail called “The Paradox” for the 5-to-7 p.m. event. Free to attend.
Thursday, February 12
Ophira Eisenberg is New York-y. She hosts an NPR program called Ask Me Another, posing clever game show-style questions to regular and irregular people, and she’s put out a book called Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, particularly topical-sounding given the holiday. Tonight she’ll be at The Outer Space (295 Treadwell St, Hamden; 203-288-6400) with local stand-up comics Dan Rice and Andrew Morgan for an 8:30 show. $15.
Friday, February 13
Whatever the trials and travails of your love life, the currents of feeling and lust churning through The Marriage of Figaro should make them look simple and manageable by comparison. This weekend at the Shubert (247 College St, New Haven; 203-562-5666), Yale Opera and its impossibly big voices are staging the famed Italian-language opera’s “sublime melodies, nonstop action, clever ruses, and unforgettable characters.” 8 p.m. today and tomorrow; 2 p.m. Sunday. $22.40-56.85.
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Saturday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day
Happy V-Day. Various restaurants have put together special menus, including a mixed-signals, “choco-centric” yet “anti-Valentine’s Day” one from Ordinary (990 Chapel St, New Haven; 203-907-0238). In the afternoon, the New Haven Free Public Library’s got free family activities: a 2 p.m. “Valentine’s Day Storytime and Crafts” event at the Mitchell Branch (37 Harrison St; 203-946-8117) and a 3 p.m. “Movie and Craft” session, featuring Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, at the Fair Haven Branch (182 Grand Ave; 203-946-8115). At 8 p.m., the Yale Symphony Orchestra puts on a special “Valentine’s Day Concert,” featuring various musical interpretations of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, including a selection from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, in Woolsey Hall (500 College St, New Haven; $10-15, with student discounts available).
Sunday, February 15
When Valentine’s Day falls on a weekend, jazz bar The 9th Note (56 Orange St, New Haven; 203-691-9918) has no trouble fitting the theme. Every Sunday night at 8, the club puts on its next installment of “Sunday Sizzle,” where Kitty Katastrophe (“The Elm City’s Nudie Cutie”) leads a lineup of sultry burlesque dancers. Helping them steam up the windows tonight is house band The 9th Note All Stars, set to provide “swanky live jazz.” $5.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Image depicts artist Daniel Eugene.
Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
