There are two things that smell like romance and one of them’s romance.

You know the story, right? Psyche is a preposterously attractive mortal. Venus gets jealous and, in a huff, sends her funny son, Cupid, to shoot Psyche with his love bow and send her teetering towards some ugly fool. But, oops, he shoots himself instead! Doh! He carries Psyche off somewhere heavenly, never showing her his face. Probably a smart idea because, well, he’s just a boy after all. She eventually gets homesick and then, once home, realizes how much she liked her new mysterious lover and sets out to find him. It’s kind of Cinderella in reverse, isn’t it? Like most of those stories of the gods, it ends badly but we all forget how. A lovers spat, maybe. Divine intervention. The ruination of couples or the glorification of couples. Who can say?

Yes, we have a flurry of couples joining us for the sumptuous menu that John-Michael has prepared with tenderloin and duckbreast. Tell me even those words would not titillate both Cupid AND Psyche if they were to read them on a menu. Sure, on Valentines Day there will be some amount of hand-holding and sharing of forks over brown butter raspberry tarts. Some deep gazes across our pine tables.

But some of us are single and we deserve every morsel of luxury that’s offered to the besotted army of Amoré. Freedom is never given, it’s always taken. And so, dear Popolo, we encourage you to stand up for your rights and march to our door, one by one if necessary, to claim your own La Tur, Spinach and Pomagranate, and vegetarian Roots Anna! THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER [offered at $2.50 each with a tantalizing mignonette.]

Yes, romance is not just for couples! Romance is for anyone who wants to revel in the unbounded power of the sublime whether or not you share it with anyone else. And that, dear people, is something we encourage from our redoubt in Bellows Falls. It’s not old fashioned but romance is timeless, and it smells like wonder.

And you lovers, we love you equally.