There’s a lot of pressure on Valentine’s Day to snag a coveted spot at a romantic restaurant (with romantic prices). While we love the menus that local chefs cook up for this holiday, there’s an intimate alternative that isn’t wallet-busting and won’t cause you to spend hours stalking opentable.com: Pick a favorite bakery and bring home a decadent treat to share with the object of your affection. My recommendation, though perhaps not as beautiful as others, is Bakery Nouveau’s Kringler. Sure, it looks like a pretzel, but there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye. Beautifully flaky brioche dough pulls apart softly in your hands and releases a sweet interior of blackberry jam and almond butter. Since those elements are woven into the dough, you won’t see gobs of purple, but that fruity flavor is subtly but surely there. It’s finished with a glaze and sprinkled with almonds. Supple, sweet, and eaten with your fingers, it’s got love written all over it. 
nsprinkle@seattleweekly.com