Romance

Best first date restaurant

You want to impress, not overwhelm, break the ice, but not get too romantic. Go to Dino's for dinner and you'll both relax in the warm, southern Italian atmosphere. Sit up on the balcony in the shade of a tree decked with twinkling white lights. Be suave -- order a bottle of pinot grigio or vintage Chianti to sip while you trade life histories over a plate of crostini -- thick slices of grilled Italian bread topped with caramelized onions, sliced eggplant, fresh tomato slices, and mozzarella cheese. Share an order of veal Tuscany with leeks, sun dried tomatoes, and roasted garlic; your forks may meet while spearing the penne. By the time the waitress brings the dessert tray, you'll be in love with the food if not with each other.

Dino's Ristorante Italiano, 13 Lord Street, Worcester, 753-9978

Best place to talk about sex

Ideally, that place is in the comfort of your bed. But if you have a question no one lying nearby can answer, dial Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts's counseling and referral hotline, a free sex-information service open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The 35 trained volunteers who man the phones field thousands of calls from across the state, answering everything from "Where can I get tested for HIV in Worcester?" to "If I think I'm pregnant, what are my options?" or "If my girlfriend keeps pressuring me to have sex, how should I respond?" Staff say any question on reproductive health or sex education is valid -- and if they can't answer it, they'll refer you to someone who can.

Planned Parenthood counseling hotline, (800) 682-9218

Best place to nibble grapes

For those who would rather spend their lunch hours in the open air, nibbling grapes, or even your partner's ears, check out Institute Park on Salisbury Street, between Humbolt and Park avenues. This inner-city park is close enough to downtown offices so working couples can steal away for a romantic, mid-day picnic; it's also large enough so they can forget the city. We recommend a nestled spot at the base of the park's only hill, underneath a canopy of maples, pines, and oaks, overlooking the cattails and the pond. Here, you'll hear birds singing, not engines roaring -- unless, of course, your heart's beating louder.

Institute Park, Salisbury Street, Worcester

Best person to call when you want to marry your cousin

Good thing Karen Pynnonen loves her job. As the City of Worcester's marriage clerk -- and the information source for all who get hitched -- Pynnonen deals with more blushing brides and gushing grooms in a year than many do in a lifetime (latest count this year: 982 couples). Most of them arrive at the City Clerk's office nervous, giddy, and merely interested in paying the $15 marriage-registration fee for a license. But those who care to know the finer details of matrimony may consider Pynnonen a godsend. Want to marry your second cousin? She says it's okay -- just no immediate relatives. What if the love of your life is behind bars? Not to fret, she says, you can say vows in jail. Pynnonen's sure to answer all your registration concerns -- or try, anyway.

City of Worcester's marriage clerk, City Hall, 455 Main Street, Worcester, 799-1127

Best person to call when facing irreconcilable differences

Mention the words "divorce attorney" and it's hard not to think about Arnold Becker -- that self-absorbed, money-grubbing, rat-fink of a lawyer from the quintessential '80s TV show, LA Law. Good ol' Arnie may be the stereotype, yet Worcester, fortunately, has not one but two divorce attorneys who put him to shame. Veterans Shirley Doyle and Russell Schwartz are known as "the top-notch" both in Worcester Family and Probate Court and in the community-at-large -- partly because of their professionalism and expertise, and partly because of their sensitivity and fairness. Doyle and Schwartz tend to do things like file paperwork on time, call the right professionals as witnesses, even instruct rookies on the ins and outs of courtroom procedure. But they're not just effective; they understand sensitivity's significance. As one colleague explains, "Good divorce lawyers know not to be too sensitive to clients' tribulations, but if they're insensitive, they risk alienating clients altogether." Doyle and Schwartz are reputed to be so skilled at practicing divorce law that peers who are hesitant to go to trial will instead refer clients to them. Indeed, the two get clients by word-of-mouth, which, perhaps, is the biggest indication of their success. Unlike the Arnies of the legal world, Doyle's and Schwartz's faces will never be plastered on billboards.

Shirley Doyle, 41 Elm Street, Worcester, 757-7737 Russell Schwartz, 44 Front Street, Worcester, 752-0112

Best place to sit and squabble and eat and drink and make up

Perhaps it's the elegant yet quaint decor at Harrington Farm Country Inn & Restaurant in Princeton. You know the type -- floral prints, doilies, and sturdy, wooden furniture. The atmosphere here seems so comfortable that typical, dinner-table banter often fills the air: a family bickers about hiking trails at Wachusett Mountain (The restaurant is in a 1763 farmhouse set near the mountain.); a couple quarrels over the perfect color for their remodeled living room. One thing patrons are certain not to squabble about is the scrumptious food; Harrington Farm offers a seasonal menu featuring key ingredients like rack of lamb, squab, and halibut. The food is so divine, in fact, diners probably won't fight about cost. (Entrees range from $18 to $27.) And the view of rolling fields and forest is captivating enough to inspire warm hugs, even proclamations of love by evening's end.

Harrington Farm Country Inn & Restaurant, 178 Westminster Road, Princeton, (978) 464-5600

Best way to slip into the mood

What better way to arouse your sexual appetite than by sharing a plate of the tastiest oysters around -- found, of course, at the city's seafood institution, the Sole Proprietor. Sit at the bar, which is aptly decorated in Cape Cod pastels, and ask for the popular oysters-on-the-half-shell, all served raw, chilled, as well as with customary horseradish, cocktail sauce, and lemon. You're bound to notice a few highly suggestive details -- the oyster's slippery texture, the opalescent shell's likeness, the slurping eating noises -- and these, undeniably, lend to the age-old myth that oysters are aphrodisiacs. Indulge in a dozen ($16.99) and you're sure to go home to a steamy, love shack.

Sole Proprietor, 118 Highland Street, Worcester, 798-3474

Best place to cheat and not get caught

If you're going to be unfaithful, at least arrange the illicit rendezvous in a discreet location where you're guaranteed not to run into your neighbor's cousin's brother's wife. (You get the picture.) It's tough to find a more secretive spot in Worcester than at the Aku-Aku Restaurant's "beachcomber lounge" -- a perpetually dark, cavernous bar decorated in sultry blues and lusty reds. In line with its Polynesian motif, the lounge offers a sunken booth about the size of a mini-canoe that would serve you well if you wanted to shut out the rest of the world. Besides, as soon as you swig a fierce, specialty cocktail, served up with names like Aku-Aku Passion, Pineapple Passion, and Daiquiri Delight, you probably won't be the slightest bit bothered by your infidel ways.

Aku-Aku Restaurant, 11 East Central Street, Worcester, 792-1124

Best sweets for your sweetie

We can give you the standard reasons for choosing Hebert's Candies in Shrewsbury as the chocolate maker to turn to when you want to satisfy your sweetheart's candy obsession. For one, Hebert's makes its chocolate from scratch, using pure cocoa, diary butter, cream, fruit, and fresh-roasted nuts. Two, Hebert's staff labors over chocolates every weekday from 6 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the company's roadside operation, which is aptly called Candy Mansion, whipping up everything from fudge to wintergreen patties to chocolate-covered cranberries to gold-wrapped, three-pound boxes of "fancy chocolates," all of which are stuffed with cream and caramel, then marked with delicate swirls and floral patterns. Three, chocolate has been the Hebert family's business for four generations, dating back to 1917, when Frederick Hebert spent $11 on a knife, thermometer, copper kettle, and a marble stove, then sold his candied goods at his corner stores in Worcester. Four, Jewish rabbis routinely bless the chocolate because it's kosher. But these are typical reasons for selecting Hebert's. And the true basis is something more modest: as soon as your sweetie puts a Hebert "Geneva drop" in his mouth, his face melts into a smile as smooth as this chocolate dissolves.

Hebert's Candies, 575 Hartford Turnpike (Route 20), Shrewsbury, 845-8051

Best place to whisper sweet (sultry) nothings in your lover's ear

There's a level above Harlequin romance and, believe it or not, you don't need to order by mail to find it. Roland and Janice Beauregard, who own Annie's Bookstop in Auburn, have managed to amass a collection of 25,000 romance novels over the past 15 years. The quaint, used bookstore now boasts every sub-genre imaginable -- the swashbuckling pirates typical of historical romances, the shining knights of regency romances, the dark strangers of gothic romances -- all arranged in nook-like stacks so couples can tuck themselves into a corner and read excerpts in hushed voices. Annie's also offers contemporary titles like Sandra Brown's Tomorrow's Promise and Barbara Delinsky's Shades of Grace. Even nostalgic types will be pleased with the expansive Harlequin selection here; to warm the winter nights, we suggest snuggling up with a book from Harlequin's "Desire," "Intrigue," or "Temptation" series.

Annie's Bookstop, 55 Auburn Street, Auburn, 832-6797

Best place to meet your personal-ad date

A personal-ad date can easily become a nightmare of hideous proportions, a time when you discover that the two of you have nothing in common, and that this complete stranger happened to embellish his or her attributes. Luckily, there's a perfect place for such precarious, first-time encounters -- the Worcester Art Museum Cafe, which is at once classy and impersonal. Here you can partake in the latest blind-date etiquette by meeting for afternoon espresso and chocolate-layer cake. Or munch on sandwiches named after WAM's prized collections, such as the Homer BLT and the Sargent Combo. Of course, if you both make it through the culinary exchange unscathed and eager for more, the museum's 36 galleries offer many diversions. We recommend a trip to a highly romantic exhibit known as the Chapter House, a reconstructed room from a 12th century French cloister. Gazing at the rounded arches and rib-vaulted ceiling may even inspire talk of a second date.

Worcester Art Museum Cafe, 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester,799-4406, ext. 3068

Best way to get over an ex

Exorcise your ex for good with a little home voodoo that doubles as a therapeutic ritual. Just drive down to the corner store and buy a potato. Then head over to Michaels, the arts and crafts emporium, in Shrewsbury, and pick the makings of your once-beloved's image: a bundle of blond yarn for the hair ($1.77); a pack of tiny, blue beads for the eyes ($1.49); a few tubes of acrylic paint for the nose, ears, and lips ($2.69). There are felt paper (10 cents) and ribbon (29 cents) so you can make your ex's favorite clothes -- which, naturally, you used to think of as cute but now consider them bad taste. There's pretty much anything you'd ever need here. As soon as you've gathered all the essentials, retreat to a place where you won't be interrupted. Transform the potato into the likeness of your ex, then light a candle, play music (loud, so as not to be overheard), and gather sharp objects like thumbtacks, pins, a paring knife. (For a truly cathartic experience, try a potato peeler.) Let your imagination dictate the rest. We swear, after a few dirty jabs, your failed relationship will haunt you no more.

Michaels, 100 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury, 755-2900

Best place to pamper yourself before the wedding day

We're talking about the rest of your life here. So while the happy couple-to-be may take great care to look superb on their big day, we suggest something as equally indulgent and singular as the ceremony itself: total rejuvenation. It's a notion, in fact, the Paul Conzo Day Spa and Hair Salon delivers so often that proprietors Paul and Pat Conzo have named a spa package after it. For seven hours, you luxuriate in a steam shower, then receive an aromatherapy facial, salt "glo," full-body massage, manicure and pedicure, stress-relieving scalp treatment, shampoo and blow-dry, a makeover, and, as if all this weren't enough, lunch. If you're less inclined to spend an entire workday being rubbed, bathed, and pampered, you'll still find a host of services, ranging from standard facials and massages to seaweed wraps and mud baths to paraffin and aromatherapy treatments. Adventurous couples might try the spa's exotic full-body massage with herbal wrap; you'll be brushed with Chinese herbs, oils, and aromatic waters, wrapped in a thermal blanket, placed under heat lamps, and finally, massaged. (Look for the new brochure offering an Indian mind-relaxation treatment called Shiro Dhara, too.) You can even partake in the experience together by requesting a "couples massage."

Paul Conzo Day Spa and Hair Salon, 490 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, 754-5418

Best place to buy lacy underwear

No doubt about it. The Lingerie Shoppe boasts the softest lace in town -- in the sexiest shapes, too. The 17-year-old store has racks of glitzy and glamorous crotchless panties, thongs, garter belts, corsets, body stockings, brassieres, even fingerless gloves. All, of course, offered in a rainbow of colors. If lace isn't your thing, you can also find silk, satin, spandex, as well as one of the city's only collections of vinyl and leather. (This just in: vinyl and leather cat suits, chamber-maid outfits, and five-inch-high stilettos.) Men and women who shop here obviously care about how they look under their clothes, but they don't have to worry about size or girth. With inventory like bras fit for DDD cups and undies for 3X, the store allows any customer who wishes to feel sexy to walk away satisfied.

The Lingerie Shoppe, 228 Chandler Street, Worcester, 791-9522

Best snugly, romantic spot to watch the sunset

It may not be the first place you think of when searching for a cuddly vista point, but Green Hill Park has all the amenities -- a lush, grassy hillside in a silent park -- for supreme viewing of the magic-hour's purple, pink, and orange sky. Walk up the steep slope where Green Hill Parkway meets Channing Street and face the Lincoln Square area. Here you can spread out a blanket and snuggle up to watch twilight descend on the city. And, considering the clear sight of downtown off to the left, you might even test your knowledge of who owns Worcester's tallest buildings. (Really now, which bank currently operates out of the "glass tower" across from City Hall?) Perhaps the only time this location won't suit your needs is during the Fourth of July weekend, when the entire hill's covered with muscle cars, hot rodders, and classic autos for the annual Summer Nationals. But hey, it's only four days -- hardly an inconvenience.

Green Hill Park, Green Hill Avenue, Worcester

Best discreet place to enjoy the morning after

Do you want to relish a Saturday morning with your new significant other but flinch at the thought of bumping into family -- or worse, your former partner -- who have yet to be told of the latest affair? Well, try taking a scenic drive through Holden on Route 31 into Princeton, then stopping at a little-known spot, Coffee on the Common. Here you can feast on hearty breakfast combinations, like eggs, beans and bacon, or pancakes, homefries and sausage, in a pleasant environment with a spectacular vista. (The restaurant's located near Wachusett Mountain.) Test the homemade cinnamon-raisin and oatmeal French toast. Or the fresh-baked pastries and muffins, both of which come in a bunch of flavors. Most important, sip your morning coffee with your new sweet thing in complete relaxation -- because maybe next weekend, you'll make those nerve-wracking introductions.

Coffee on the Common, 2 Mountain Road, Princeton, (978) 464-5211

Best place to park and pet

We understand that years ago, crowds would flock to the Worcester Regional Airport at night to watch the planes go by. But now, Americans travel more by airplane than by train, and so the novelty and excitement of such activity has worn thin. Today, in fact, it takes a presidential landing to lure people (including passengers) to the airport. This kind of inaction, however, is a big bonus for carnal couples seeking the perfect make-out point. If you drive over to Mulberry Street in Leicester, which runs along the back of the airport, there's a sizable spot where you can look out onto a rolling meadow and, beyond that, the landing strip. It's a prime location and offers couples the intimate seclusion they need for some heavy petting in the Buick's back seat. Stick around for a while and you may see that awe-inspiring jet soar into the sky.

Best old-school sex shop

Sure, it's an everyday video store for many, but Gallo Video is also the closest thing Worcester has to a good old-fashioned sex shop -- and proprietors Angelo and Lucille Gallo are damn proud of their mammoth adult-entertainment division (as they should be). This is absolutely the place to go for all your below-the-belt needs. In the mood for something cute yet naughty? Try the store's wind-up Willies or edible underwear or body paints and butters or even its penis-shaped pasta. Yearning for something more substantial and self-satisfying? Gallo boasts a selection of blow-up dolls, portable pussies, cock rings, butt plugs -- and, yes, a 16-inch vibrator with adjustable parts and remote control. If you're into traditional voyeurism, have no fear. Gallo keeps a collection of 20,000 adult videos, as well as racks of magazines. The beauty of Gallo, for sure, is the fact that it's unobtrusive -- walk out of here, and no one will ever know you're carrying a bag full of tricks (or treats?).

Gallo Video, 1275 Grafton Street, Worcester, 756-8875

Best way to commemorate your love

For a few dollars you can honor your love with an engraved bracelet, a personalized license plate, or with those tiny photographs you get at an instan-a-matic booth. But if you're going to pay tribute to the one thing that makes you feel special and blessed every single day, why bother with something so ordinary, so conventional? We suggest commemorating your love in a totally unforgettable and altering manner: body piercing, especially the erogenous zones. We understand a number of Worcester couples have already caught on to this idea, and have appeared before the professional, full-body piercers at both Miraculous Creations and Piercing Emporium to request mutual tongue piercings (good for oral pleasure), nipple, and, yes, as painful as it may sound, genitalia piercings (both enhance sex). Those tamer ones have managed to surprise their lovers by getting a navel ring as an anniversary gift -- which, by the way, is an effective turn-on. Piercing, it seems, is exactly the type of anxiety-provoking activity that brings couples together. As Mark Williams of Piercing Emporium says, "Couples come in all the time because piercing is a bonding thing." Miraculous Creations and Piercing Emporium are the only full-body, piercing specialists in town -- and they both do quality work.

Miraculous Creations at 310 Park Avenue, Worcester, 755-1379 Piercing Emporium at 335A Plantation Street, Worcester, 754-0564

Best piece of the rock

If diamonds are a girl's best friend, then jewelers like Charles and Neal Rosenblum are her guardian angels. The brothers, who own and operate Neal Rosenblum Goldsmiths/Designers, take great pains to give customers premium, "gem quality" stones purchased, primarily, from New York's more prestigious cutters. The store's diamonds are then sent to Gemalogic Institute of America, an independent group of gemalogists that grades stones on what's known in the industry as the "Four Cs" -- cut, clarity, color, and carat-weight. Take note now, you won't be dazzled by the biggest diamonds in the world here, but you will get the most rare: the colorless, flawless ones. (Customers have paid as much as $30,000 for a one-carat diamond.) Besides that, you'll discover a huge array of unique, hand-crafted items in which to set your precious stones. Like the store's latest addition: Los Angeles artist Steven Kretchmer's "tension ring," a highly technical ring that holds the stone in place itself, rather than with a prong, channel, or bezel setting. Since the store has a casting shop where Neal creates his items, it also offers customers variety -- designs that are classic and simple or contemporary and free-form. Only your imagination and purse dictate how your diamond looks when you leave.

Neal Rosenblum Goldsmiths/ Designers, 261 Park Avenue, Worcester, 755-4244

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