Valerie Vanderpool

From vow renewals to a Lucille Ball homage, a smooth R&B concert to a Twist-and-shout “Valentine’s Day Is Stupid” Dance Party, here’s a quartet of V-Day options to get your heart beating one way or another.

Scott Wise, Lindy Brown, Valerie Vanderpool, Carrie Abbott, and more weigh in on their preferences and favorites.

“I have a hard time corralling myself, because I get excited,” she says. That boundless enthusiasm will come in handy as she debuts her cocktail-bar project, Twist Lounge, this month. “It’ll be Zest’s sexy sister next door.”

Inspired by the success of upscale watering holes like Ball & Biscuit, Libertine, and Bluebeard, Valerie Vanderpool, chef and co-founder of Zest! Exciting Food Creations (1134 E. 54th St., 317-466-1853) is getting in on the cocktail craze. In April, Vanderpool plans to open Twist Lounge in the former N. Rue spot next door to her SoBro restaurant. The lounge will have a “sparkly, Paris boudoir look,” according to Vanderpool, who plans to apply Zest’s philosophy about food (“make it fresh, use quality ingredients, add a little whimsy”) to drinks such as the Cuzmopolitan and the SoBro Long Island Tea. “It’s going to be a total extension of what we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years,” Vanderpool says.