Happy summer (officially)! I’m Becky Hughes, a social media editor for New York Times Food. When Nikita asked me to fill in for her this week, her requested topic was unsurprising: perfect restaurants for the single-and-ready-to-mingle set. I’m obsessed with first dates. I love going on them, I love watching other people go on them — I can spot a Hinge date from a mile away — and I love talking about them.
I do recognize that there are a few schools of thought here: Some believe in dinner on a first date, others lean toward low-commitment drinks. A few even meet their date in the light of day over lunch. Below is, I hope, something for each of them.
Finding Love Over Lamb, Cocktails and Soft Serve
At the risk of sounding square, or maybe just Type A, I think the key to a low-stress first date is to eliminate any wild-card factors. With that in mind: Make a reservation, especially for dinner. I recommend Dr Clark in Chinatown, a Hokkaido-style restaurant and occasional late-night karaoke spot with a decidedly — sorry for this combination of words — libidinous vibe. Talking over a sizzling tabletop grill of spicy jingisukan lamb is my idea of romance. Same goes for sharing a plate of the mayonnaise-drenched “addictive cabbage.” And for your drink order: a wasabi margarita, or a “lamb shot” highball with vodka, yuzu and lamb consommé.
You could stay for dessert and try a slice of Basque cheesecake topped with adzuki bean paste or a cherry blossom panna cotta. Alternatively, you could move to a second location for a cocktail (the River next door will guarantee a celebrity sighting) or take a stroll for something sweet (Softside in NoLIta for a chocolate-dipped swirled soft serve).
Fluffy Pita in the Sun and People-Watching With Martinis
For a daytime date, consider Miss Ada in Fort Greene for lunch. Grab a table streetside or in the backyard, share some dips (whipped ricotta with brown butter; hummus piled high with crispy merguez) and get many orders of warm pita. For those capable of day-drinking without an immediate nap to follow, there’s a harissa Bloody Mary on the weekend menu worth a try. Afterward, if you’re lucky, there will be a Mister Softee truck parked at the southeast corner of Fort Greene Park. Pay close attention, because you can tell a lot about a person from their order. I’m a strawberry shortcake bar girl, F.Y.I.
Not ready to commit to a full meal with someone? (Read: They’re a total stranger.) At the edge of the Lower East Side (in Dimes Square, if you will), the new Le Dive is a great place to snag a table for two outside, drink an ice-cold martini and do some prime people-watching. If all goes well, smoothly transition into a dinner date by ordering leeks over sauce gribiche; burrata with bright-green pistou; and the perfectly classic steak tartare.
And if nowhere else pans out, there’s always 169 Bar for frozen drinks and Cajun-spiced popcorn. Or just save that for the second date.
In Other News …
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At the Thai restaurant Zaab Zaab in Elmhurst, Queens, the “thrilling rise of Isan cuisine” has reached a new high point, Pete Wells writes in his three-star review.
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Openings: The sixth iteration of La Pecora Bianca opens on the Upper West Side; Fort Defiance in Red Hook once again has a liquor license; Cecconi’s, the lavish Italian restaurant based in London, opens in the former NoMad hotel; and more.
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Cathy Erway reports on the Taiwanese American chefs reimagining Taiwanese fried chicken as interest surges in the United States.
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And Christina Morales details a different kind of Brooklyn food crawl, one that involves swimming into the Atlantic. (Some participants stow cash and credit cards in their swim caps.)
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