Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and many restaurants are offering the usual romantic dinners for two. But this year, even coffee cafes and smoothie bowl concepts are spreading the love with specials themed to the holiday.

Pat and Bret chat about the trend, and how restaurants are not just targeting couples anymore. An OpenTable survey found that groups and singles are increasingly dining out on or before Valentine’s Day. So candy-topped milkshakes, strawberry lattes and heart-shaped doughnuts make perfect sense.

Valentine’s Day and Super Bowl vie for attention every February, with heart-shaped pizzas and chicken wings competing on menus.

Speaking of wings, Bret came across a couple of new sauces recently. El Pollo Loco introduced its first new flavor in almost a decade—mango habanero. The sauce taps into the sweet-heat trend that we’ve been seeing a lot of lately. And WNBA star Angel Reese partnered with McDonald’s on a new smoky barbecue sauce. It’s flavoring a quarter-pounder rather than chicken, and this is the first time the burger giant is collaborating with a female athlete.

Our guest this week is Chris Smith, CEO of Zunzi’s and Zunzibar based in Savannah, Georgia. Zunzi’s started as a hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop and now has multiple locations in Georgia and South Carolina and is expanding to Florida. Zunzibar has a topnotch mixology program but manages to project a relaxed, tropical vibe—a formula that has proven to be a winning combination.

Listen as Smith talks about how he’s built a team culture that’s as unique as these two concepts.

The Super Bowl is approaching fast as the Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans on Feb. 9, and in the restaurant world the Big Game means big orders of chicken wings.

Promotions for wings aren’t rolling in quite the way they have in recent years, but Pat pointed to a couple of them, including new wing sauces such as Popeyes’ Louisiana Garlic, and the Sweet Chili Glaze from Wingstop that Pat and Bret discussed last week. Also, Cousins Subs has a new giant sub that’s certainly suitable for Super Bowl parties.

Bret, meanwhile, is freshly returned from Rimini, Italy, where he attended SIGEP World, a large annual foodservice expo. It was very Italian, with huge varieties of gelato, coffee, and pizza.

Bret noticed vegan options in gelato, including a peanut butter one, which seemed like a no-brainer since peanut butter is already delicious and naturally vegan. He also saw a lot of pinsa, the flatbread cousin of pizza from Rome. In terms of coffee, he was taken with some single-origin espresso beans from Ivory coast, and beans that had been co-fermented with peaches.

This week’s interview is with Tyler Haake, the executive chef of the Atlanta location of Indigo Road Hospitality’s Italian concept, Indaco. The chef shares strategies for making seasonal pizza, working with local producers and creating a positive work environment that encourages everyone to excel without succumbing to excessive stress. Give a listen.

Pizza toppings are going way beyond the usual these days.

Pat and Bret discussed that trend, leading off with all the appetizer-inspired pizzas we’ve seen lately. Jalapeño poppers, a nostalgic bar food, are back as pizza toppers at &pizza and Your Pie, plus Your Pie has another LTO pizza topped with spinach-artichoke dip.

Bret came across Chicken Tikka Pizzas at several Indian concepts in California during a recent trip. And this week, Via 313, a Detroit-style pizza chain, introduced tikka masala pizza, which has masala curry sauce, marinated chicken, cheese, onions and peppers.

Aside from pizza, beef, especially steak, is showing up in limited-time offers—and it usually performs very well. Noodles & Company brought back its Steak Stroganoff, a comforting dish with marinated steak in a mushroom sherry cream sauce served over egg noodles. It’s been the fast casual’s top selling LTO, and winter is a logical time to bring it back. Dig also introduced steak recently, a char-grilled sirloin featured in dinner plates and bowls.

To wrap up, we shared an interview with Chris Morgan, who along with his partners Reza Farahani and Iranian cookbook author Najmieh Batmanglij, operate Persian restaurant Joon in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Chef Morgan talks about how many popular Middle Eastern dishes trace their origins to Iran, and Joon’s menu includes specialties from other cuisines, including Levantine. The menu also reflects his experience working in California restaurants and is inspired by the ingredients Joon sources from an organic farm in Maryland. Give a listen.