Meridian Winter Blast, El Rey de las Arepas, and Valentine's Waffles

EVENTWIRE—Quicken Loans is sponsoring the Meridian Winter Blast February 6-8 at Campus Martius. Sweet drink and donut purveyor Tim Hortons will be there serving 2,500 free cups of coffee and hot chocolate every hour, alongside marshmallow roasting stations. Atwater in the Park, Victory Smokehouse, Andiamo Italia, and other local restaurants will also be out in force. Saturday evening will end in a late night pub crawl. The event features 20-second long zip line rides down Woodward Avenue, a snow slide, and an ice garden. [EaterWire]

MID-WEEK REVIEWS—Jane Slaughter takes on the menu at El Rey de las Arepas, a Venezuelan restaurant in Southwest. Slaughter dug into the arepas, "the Venezualan version of the empanada," and recommends adding a little house green garlic sauce. [MT]

Black Saturday—Nothing says Valentine's Day like waffles and Monk Beer Abbey in Royal Oak is offering just that—lobster waffles and strawberry waffles with Nutella stuffing. There's also a pricey foie gras burger for non-members of PETA. Wash everything down with a bottle of Kasteel Rouge or Lindeman's Kriek. 248-544-6250. [EaterWire]