Need to fan the flames this Valentine’s Day? We have 25 spots that serve as great romantic restaurants or places for a first date, to pop the question and plant a kiss.

Also in Weekend:

We round up the best events going on this weekend, including area theater companies getting together to create, rehearse and act a play in a day, a festival for wine and food lovers, and an event for all you audiophiles out there.

If you’re looking for somewhere to rail against Valentine’s Day, or perhaps spend the day wallowing with friends and nursing your broken heart, anti-Valentine’s Day options this year include options for both.

In Sunday’s Washington Post Magazine, Tom Sietsema takes a long look at the latest addition to restaurateur Jeff Tunks’s portfolio: District Commons, a new American tavern on Washington Circle. While Tom wasn’t blown away by the restaurant’s culinary ambitions, he did find it a reliable place for comfort and quality at a reasonable price. Take a look inside the space with Matt McClain’s photos:

Academy Award purists — those who insist on actually watching all of the nominees, even in the obscure categories, before submitting their ballots — should check out these programs of Oscar-nominated short films opening Friday. Among the roster of mini-movies are ones likely to make you laugh and others likely to make you cry. But either way, they’re also likely to increase your odds of winning the office pool. All programs are unrated.

We have quite the eclectic mix of new DVD releases this week, from a chimp-focused documentary to another round of Edward and Bella’s vampire adventures.

Out this week

Anonymous

Downton Abbey: Season 2

Snagging a cellphone number is a nice way to end a night of conversation with a romantic interest, but when it comes to a Valentine’s Day date, you probably have a place in that person’s contacts list.

In this week’s new movies, Ryan Reynolds attempts to establish himself as a serious actor in “Safe House” and Madonna creates a “beautiful mess” in “W.E.” Here’s what the Post critics had to say:

“Safe House” (R) “As fun as the movie is, it can’t make its own drama convincing, much less give [Ryan] Reynolds the nudge he needs toward Matt Damon-ville.” — John DeFore

To say this week’s Got Plans? chat had heart is an understatement. There were reservation-less couples frantically in search of somewhere to sup on Feb. 14, singles wanting to anti-celebrate the whole affair and

In Wednesday’s Ask Tom chat, Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema covered a number of topics, including the emergence of a new space at the Caucus Room offering small plates and sandwiches, a discussion about untouched plates and how restaurants should handle them, where to splurge on oysters and a list of must-try places in Miami. But the discussion eventually became dominated by a question from a local server: Why do his boorish customers insist on drinking so much water?

We know you’ve got Tuesday, Feb. 14, circled on your calendar, but there’s a lot to do before Valentine’s Day, including many ways to celebrate this weekend. See our ideas for the best events this weekend, including dual exhibits featuring two Founding Fathers, plays put together in a day and the International Wine and Food Festival.

Valentine’s Day isn’t the only time of year that you need a great idea for a date, or a recommendation for the city’s most romantic restaurant.

So, this week, we’re unveiling best-of lists you can use all year, with where to find the city’s best desserts, the bars and restaurants to hit for a fail-proof first date, and because we like a good kiss as much as anyone, the best places to lock lips.

John Shields and Karen Urie Shields, the husband-and-wife chefs who put tiny Chilhowie, Va., on the food map four years ago with their daring cooking at Town House , have left the restaurant, John Shields tells The Post.

Less than a week after performing during the Super Bowl halftime show, pop icon Madonna announced a massive North American tour, with a Sept. 23 stop scheduled for Verizon Center. Tickets go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster and range from $48 to $358.

We pay a price for all the five-course dinners, wine tastings and chocolate we indulge in over Valentine’s Day.

That price is cellulite.

So, in the interest of being able to fit into the tiny number you picked up for V-day, we’re offering a few “sweat, then splurge” Valentine’s pairings for couples: First, get in a workout, then head somewhere special to treat yourselves for all your hard work.

When winter weather is on the horizon, some people get excited by the promise of snow, sledding and snowball fights. Others wish they were anywhere else — especially thousands of miles away, enjoying tropical climes.

If you were paying attention to Twitter on Friday afternoon, you might have seen the good news retweeted from 14th Street: Bar Pilar is serving drinks for the first time since November.

The cozy tavern closed during the construction of a second-floor dining room and dedicated cocktail bar, which will significantly expand the number of seats and hopefully cut the wait times for chef Justin Bitner’s exquisite small plates.