Late-breaking sweet thoughts

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- If you haven’t booked a romantic sunset gondola cruise

on the bay to delight your valentine, don’t panic.

There may still be reasons to remain hopeful.

Good old red roses, those trusty little candy squares and restaurants

that don’t take reservations -- one of those could be your lifesaver on

V-day.

And what’s better? Everybody this year is going for the traditional

stuff, says Barbara Kohan, who owns Flower Warehouse in Costa Mesa.

“I don’t know what it is, but people are going back to the old way of

doing things,” she said. “The flowers most in demand this year are either

a dozen or two dozen red roses.”

Kohan said she had observed the desire for tradition among recent

brides as well.

“The traditional design is like a comfort design to people,” she said.

“In these hard and stressful times, it probably does put them at ease.”

Sales this year have increased compared with last year, Kohan said.

Candy sales are also exceptional, said Carolyn Goubert, manager of

Helen Grace Chocolates in Newport Beach. Last-minute customers at candy

shops make for a hectic evening on Valentine’s Day, she said.

“We’re going to have our store open for an extra hour [tonight],”

Goubert said. “You can’t go home without candy.”

Valentine’s Day is also the busiest day of the year for Cheesecake

Factory in Fashion Island. That’s because they don’t take reservations --

once again a good bet for those last-minute outings.

But manager Kristen Rogers warns the lines will be long.

“It’s usually a two-hour wait to get in on Valentine’s Day,” she said.

“It gets pretty crowded. But we’re open till 11 p.m., and people can just

walk in.”

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .