The Daily Dish: February 16, 2016

Today's first course?

Treat Yo' Self: Almost Half of All Singles Enjoy Going Out for Valentine's Day, OpenTable Claims

If you dined alone Sunday night – you're not alone. According to recent uplifting data from OpenTable, singles aren't as desperate or depressed as we thought – a novel idea, really! A survey of OpenTable users found that 42 percent of singles planned to dine out on Valentine's Day. Whether singles planned to celebrate  Palentine's Day with friends instead, taking out a Tinder date, or simply treating themselves, we can bet almost half of unattached diners posted their meals on social media.

Ferran Adrià's Younger Brother Opens Highly Anticipated London Pop-Up

Catalonian chef Albert Adria, who began his career as a pastry chef in his older brother Ferran's restaurant El Bulli, is taking his culinary skills to London for a highly anticipated 50-day pop-up at the Café Royal Hotel. Adrià, who runs five highly regarded restaurants in Barcelona, will dip his toes into the experimental world of modern gastronomy, rewarding dinner guests with something new every night from February 12 through April 9. Guests will begin their meal at the hotel's Oscar Wilde Bar for absinthe-based cocktails and snacks, before moving on to The Domino restaurant upstairs for the actual dinner. After the 50 days are over, Adrià has no plans to extend the pop-up, and instead will focus on the "adult theme park" pitched by him and his brother to open in Ibiza in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. 

Slovenian Town Known for Growing Hops Is Building Its Own Beer Fountain

Zalec, a small town in central Slovenia known for growing hops, has plans to build a functional beer fountain that officials hope will increase tourism to the region. The fountain will cost the town an estimated about  $397,000 U.S. Dollars to build, with half the funds coming from the local council, and the rest from public donations and commercial partners. Upon completion, the fountain will serve a variety of local Slovenian beers in commemorative mugs for six euros, or about seven U.S. Dollars. Although some of Zalec's voting council objected to the fountain, suggesting that the funds could be put to better use, two thirds of the council voted in favor of its construction. The fountain is meant to highlight Zalec's main industry, hop plantations, which is reflected on the town's official crest, a green and yellow outline of a hop plant. 

That's today's Daily Dish, thanks for watching. Stop by tomorrow for another helping.