There's not long to go till we see off the cold days of winter with pagan festivities of fertility and wild abandon -- no, not Mardi Gras and the Rio Carnival but the ritual observances of St. Valentine's Day. Some people like to send out cards; others mark the occasion through the selfless receiving of chocolate. The Food File, however, is a firm believer in the Western tradition, in which romance is inseparably linked with the pleasures of the table.

In our book, it is not absence (and certainly never abstinence) that makes the heart grow fonder, but the magic, aphrodisiac, synergistic properties of food, alcoholic lubrication and a setting that is suitably atmospheric -- though not necessarily in that order. You could do a lot worse than to kick-start your romantic intentions for the evening with some light bites and a few drinks in the cocooning luxury of an exclusive high-rise bar.

Until recently, our options have been limited -- where else was there to go than the unrivaled (but hard to reserve) New York Bar, at the very pinnacle of the Park Hyatt Hotel in Nishi-Shinjuku? Thankfully, we have a better range of choices now, especially with the arrival of the Tower's Bar Bellovisto, which opened last year on the 40th floor of the Cerulean Tower.