15 Michelin Chefs Cook Valentine's Day: Best Recipes for Date Night

Our Michelin Chefs Cook series always brings you the best videos of top chefs working their craft. Here we take you on a star-studded video recipe roundup of love-inducing starters, mains and of course, desserts to finish strong for the all important occasion for lovers: Valentine’s Day.

Unless your Valentine’s Day dinner reservation is at one of these top chefs' restaurants, we’d say skip it, go for a home cooked meal instead. For lover’s night, we go straight for the aphrodisiacs. We’re talking oysters, lobster, asparagus, strawberries, truffles and of course chocolate, from award-winning chefs such as Alain Passard, Angela Hartnett, Gordon Ramsay and Raymond Blanc. 

Get cooking and feel the love with these recipes by our favourite Michelin star chefs. 

STARTERS

1. Tickets’ head chef Fran Agudo's Asparagus in Salt 

Chef Fran Agudo creates an exquisite asparagus dish from the popular Tickets restaurant in Barcelona. White asparagus is cooked inside a salty meringue in the oven, then topped with a vinaigrette of laurencia, and sea grapes.  

2. Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Egg with Caviar 

Something as simple as scrambled eggs gets the Michelin star treatment. Chef Vongerichten shows you how to make his signature dish of scrambled egg in the shell topped with vodka-infused whipped cream and caviar. So simple to make, but so impressive. 

3. Alexis Gauthier’s Vegan Faux Gras

Here’s a recipe for your vegan Valentine: a vegan foie gras that uses lentils, walnuts, fresh vegetables and a variety of herbs which result in a rich, spreadable pâté, sure to surprise even carnivores, from chef Alexis Gauthier of Gauthier Soho. 

4. Inaki Aizpitarte’s Macédoine

French chef Inaki Aizpitarte of Le Chateaubriand, puts his twist to a homely classic. His macédoine is a simple, light, vegetable starter dressed with a herby no-egg mayonnaise. Use the best seasonal vegetables that you can find.  

Extra Tip: ChefSteps - How to Shuck Oysters Tutorial

The king of aphrodisiacs, you can’t beat oysters when you want you want to get the love vibes going. Get your hands on a tray of fresh oysters from the market and shuck them in front of your date. So simple, and it never fails to impress. Having the right tools is a must - find out more in this video tutorial by ChefSteps.  

MAINS

1. Adam Bennett’s Braised Irish Beef Cheek

If you are looking to cook beef cheek, you won’t get better than chef Adam Bennett’s recipe - he won the award for best meat dish with his Irish beef at Bocuse d’Or 2013. Check out his tips for the best beef cheeks, served here with mash, picked walnuts and anchovies. 

2. Alain Passard’s Brittany Lobster

Ludo Lefebvre and Alain Passard get nostalgic over lobster and cook this tender shellfish together. A gentle boil is followed by the soft crackling of the fire to smoke the flesh - these two chefs almost make it look like an act of love. 

3. Nuno Mendes’ Charred Rainbow Trout with Potato Noodles

Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes makes noodles look fancy. Watch how he plates poached rainbow trout with potato noodles and garnishes such as horseradish, watercress, dill, radish, watercress puree and trout roe. You’re probably going to need a sous vide for this, we recommend the ChefSteps Joules sous vide.  

4. Michael Caine’s Scallops with Caramelised Cauliflower Puree and Raisin, Truffle Dressing

Scored some white truffles? Chef Michael Caine, formerly of the UK’s two Michelin star Gidleigh Park restaurant goes all out on them in this dish of scallops, cauliflower and raisins, dressing it with white truffle oil as well as fresh white truffles. 

5. Angela Hartnett’s Slow-Cooked Beef Cheeks with Creamy Polenta

Chef Hartnett promises minimal effort in preparing soul-warming braised beef cheeks. Indeed, this recipe takes just a few steps and the pan does most of the work here. No fancy ingredients, just good old, succulent beef that will leave you free to entertain your special guest.  

6. Theo Randall’s Creamy Asparagus Tagliatelle

Chef Randall recreates his famous dish. Make this for the Italophile in your life. 

7. Josiah Citrin’s Duck a l’Orange

Score, season, sear and bake a duck fillet to medium rare perfection with LA-based Michelin star chef Josiah Citrin. Follow on with oranges prepared two ways, and both raw and cooked turnips that create a mix of textures in this classic dish.

8. Raymond Blanc’s gilt-head sea bream

Chef Blanc of two star Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons cooks gilt-head sea bream, roasting it with a selection of aniseed-heavy ingredients.

DESSERTS

1. Yauatcha’s Gluten free Black Forest Dessert

Yauatcha is a Michelin starred Chinese restaurant specialising in dim sim. Follow their step by step, detailed recipe for the restaurant’s famous black forest chocolate cherry sphere.  

2. Heston Blumenthal’s Strawberry Panna Cotta Trifles

A make-ahead dessert so you can dedicate more time for the main act. 

3. Andy McFadden’s Rhubarb with Stem Ginger Ice Cream

Valentine’s Day on a plate probably looks like this. Poached rhubarbs and rhubarb sorbet are doused in rhubarb consommé and speckled with pistachios and fried ginger. 

4. Gordon Ramsay’s Raspberry Millefeuille

The shortcut here is store-bought puff pastry. Ramsay’s recipe for raspberry millefeuille is easy enough for beginners to follow and is the perfect sweet ending to a Valentine’s Day dinner.