By DineHuntington.com/Foodie@longislandernews.com

SHAPING UP: Two newcomers shaping up promise to add ethnic touches to the local restaurant scene. La Piazza (512 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, 631-425-0500 www.lapiazzaonline.com) is getting close enough to have a telephone number, though the recorded message tells us simply to watch for the grand opening coming soon. Built from the ground up on a site just south of the Walt Whitman Mall on Route 110, the Melville restaurant will be the third location, joining perennially busy La Piazza locations in Merrick and Plainview. The Zagat-rated La Piazza promises family-friendly, authentic Italian cuisine that’s easy on the wallet. Meanwhile, fare a tad more exotic is promised in Huntington village where the soon-to-open Ravagh Persian Grill (355 Main St., Huntington 631-923-2050) will bring Middle Eastern specialties to town in the space recently vacated by Blond restaurant. Ravagh caters to the Persian community as well as foodies in search of adventurous eating with two locations in New York City and another in Roslyn Heights. If the other restaurants’ menus are any indication, look for a menu of specialty dishes, salads and kabobs, including their signature Cornish game hen kabobs.

SWEETS FOR THE SWEET: Men may forget birthdays and anniversaries, but they can’t forget Valentine’s Day. The folks at Hallmark and Schraft’s won’t let ’em! By mid-January, those red satin hearts begin appearing on drugstore shelves, and advertising for everything from restaurants to luxury automobiles seems to take on a red hue. But why wait for Valentine’s Day when you can be nibbling on so many sweet things right now? Some of our favorites among things heart-shaped… heart-shaped shortbread cookies from A Rise Above Bake Shop (333 Main St., Huntington, 631-351-9811) – rich, buttery and sprinkled with red sugar crystals, they’re perfect for dunking in your morning coffee. ($13.45/pound). From Reinwald’s Bakery, mini Sweetheart cakes are a delicious way to say I love you. Their individual-serving cakes of European sponge covered with rolled fondant or butter cream icing are modeled after those Sweetheart’s candies, right down to the corny sayings. Pick yourself up a “Be Mine,” or the more contemporary “Txt Me.” $3.95 each. Just remember, Valentine’s Day is on Feb. 14 – a Monday this year – and many bakeries will be closed that day.

CONVERSATION HEARTS: If you were born and raised on this planet, those chalky, pastel colored hearts stamped with messages like “Too Hot,” “Kiss Me” and “Lover Boy” are a part of your childhood memories of Valentine’s Day. They’ve been around since the 1860s and are so popular, the manufacturer, New England Confectionery Company (aka NECCO), begins production in late February and churns out 100,000 pounds a day of the things through mid-January of the following year when they hit the stores for Valentine’s Day. The entire production sells out in just six weeks.

THEY’RE ALL HEART: Couples will dance to the romantic sounds of The Drifters and enjoy a four-course dinner at Stuart Thomas Manor (2143 Boundary Ave., Farmingdale 516-845-1151 www.stuartthomasmanor.com) all for $65 a person on Valentine’s night. A portion of ticket sales will benefit American Heart Association.

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