Dinner For Two

Dim lights? Check. Flickering candlesticks? Check. Endlessly intriguing dining companion on the other side of the table? You bet. You're almost all set for your cozy dinner for two — now you just need some cool, classy tunes, and that's where we come in . . . but you don't need Valentine's Day to nourish your dining companion with the timeless, slow-burn romantic croon of Chet Baker's "My Funny Valentine." Norah Jones made her name as a new-millennium superstar, but she sure sinks a sweet tooth into Hoagy Carmichael's sultry '30s classic "The Nearness of You." But be warned — if you gaze into the hungry eyes of your dinner partner while Tony Bennett croons the love-struck standard "The Way You Look Tonight," you may be forced to hurry through your meal to pursue even cozier circumstances. Dig into some dazzling dishes, from Brazilian spice to All-American flavours in Next Steps.

Just as the perfect romantic dinner depends on the ideal combination of mood, meal, and moonstruck dining partners, the ultimate soundtrack for that intimate encounter requires striking just the right sonic balance. So try a dash of original bossa nova queen Astrud Gilberto's slinky, silk-bedecked, Brazil-beat version of "Fly Me to the Moon." Then throw in a pinch of neo-soul crooner D'Angelo covering Smokey Robinson's tasty slow-jam smash "Cruisin'." Now mix it all together with a soupçon of the soulful ache that permeates contemporary R&B hero Luther Vandross's tastefully romantic take on "A House Is Not a Home." Seconds, anyone? Turn up the romance as the joint gets jazzier in Deep Cuts.

Your dinner for two is almost through. Now's the time for making heavy-duty goo-goo eyes at each other and sharing the same fork for those last few morsels of the meal. Start by slipping into a breezy mood with the easygoing ambient pop of Air's lighter-than . . . well, air, "You Make It Easy." Then bring things down to a gentle, intimate smooch with k.d. lang, as she makes dreamy eyes in the direction of the bedroom on "Maybe" from 1995's All You Can Eat. Finally, double down with something hot and heavy, as Nancy Wilson's voice melts all over the steamy blues that burn slow but steady through "In the Heat of the Night."

You wouldn't show up to a cozy dinner for two with no shoes on, would you? And you'd never try sopping up your soup without a spoon, right? Well, setting the mood with the perfect soundtrack should be just as much of a given when you make your meal plan. From the surprisingly tranquil tones of Bruce Springsteen's "Secret Garden" to the classic-jazz romance of Anita O'Day's "You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me," and from Diana Krall's sultry cover of "The Look of Love" to Michael Bublé's exceptionally smooth "You Don't Know Me," we've cooked up a musical menu so mouth-watering that it won't even matter much if there's any food on the table or not. Come to think of it, with these tunes in the air and that beguiling creature occupying the other chair, who needs dinner? Well, maybe just a bite . . .