More people are eating out than ever before, as is evident from our great independent dining options, as well as the boom in chain restaurants popping up all over the city. Bill’s have just reported gastronomical profits for their last financial year, and you couldn’t walk through Market Square in February without noticing the restaurant windows full of love hearts, balloons and Valentine’s offers.
Eating out and dating have long been a pairing – think about Lady and the Tramp’s two doe-eyed dogs sharing that bowl of spaghetti and meatballs over a candle. Romantic, right? And if you look back at your own – however painful – dating history too, we’re pretty confident you’ll have memories of eating out on early dates. We spoke to Sally and Becky to find out more about their spin on dating and dining...
Tell us about Small Plate Speed Date...
Sally: It’s a dating night with a difference. Basically a series of mini dinner dates where people can meet over a bite of food. We have taken the speed dating format and added food to it as an icebreaker.
Becky: It’s a chance to meet some nice people, maybe make a friend, maybe something more...
Where did the idea come from?
Sally: A drunken conversation with a friend who was thinking of trying speed dating but thought that it would be cringey and hard to talk to people. We started thinking about whether it could be slowed down a little to allow more conversation – the usual time frame is three minutes per date – and whether we could add something to bring people together. Food was the obvious answer. We all eat and we all have passionate ideas about food, so there is always something about food that two strangers can connect through.
Becky: Plus, it's really hard to meet people these days. Aside from the tons of apps and dating websites, how do you meet someone? If you can't hit that holy grail of getting together with a friend of a friend, perhaps meeting in this way – in a cool bar, with some great food and a relaxed atmosphere – would be a good way to go. And then we thought of the name and couldn't say no.
Why did you choose to focus initially on lesbian speed dating?
Becky: We have a few gay friends who don't really want to be ‘on the scene’, but really struggle to meet someone they like. There’s not a huge choice of events in Notts to choose from, although there are some good groups and pubs and stuff, so we thought about adding something new to the mix. A way to meet some new people and expand your social circle without having to go out to a club playing music that you don’t like.
Neither of you live in Nottingham right now. Why did you choose our city?
Becky: Nottingham is still the place I refer to as home, even though I don't live here anymore. Home is where your friends are, and we still have a huge link to the city in that respect. Nottingham deserves cool stuff to happen, and with the lovely new bars and restaurants opening up it feels like a good time for the food scene.
Sally: We still have lots of friends and family here, and I still work part-time in Radcliffe. A few months ago we were offered a new home for our Nottingham supper club at Creative Occupations Bureau cafe in Cobden Chambers, and when we were talking about our ideas they were really excited and asked us to do two nights.
illustration: Jamie Wignall
As you mentioned, some people will be put off by the idea of speed dating – how is this different?
Sally: We want to make this a unique, fun night for daters. Each couple will have an intimate table and space to talk freely. They will be served a small plate of food and given six to seven minutes to eat and chat. There will be breaks every few courses to replenish drinks and mingle too.
Becky: Everything’s better with food, right? We also have some lovely hosts who will wander and make sure everyone is okay. Everyone is welcome to just come dressed as they like, be themselves, relax and have a nice evening meeting new people.
What kind of food can your daters expect?
Sally: The menu is vegetarian so everyone can eat the same thing. There will be ten courses covering starters, mains and desserts, so it should be pretty satisfying. We toyed with the idea of making international dishes so that if people have travelled it would give them an extra angle to talk about. In the end we went for more European flavours as it makes a more coherent dinner. The most important part of the evening is providing a space for people to connect. The food is just one way of enabling those connections.
Becky: We have some pretty yummy dishes lined up – from a spanish tortilla with romesco sauce, to mushroom and hazelnut tart and frozen praline nougat for pud.
How did you select the dishes? Were you conscious to avoid things that people can get stuck in their teeth or slop down their fronts?
Sally: God, yes. We’ve thought about this a lot. The practicality of the food has been the most important aspect when designing the menu, and we’ve become a bit obsessed with it. Imagine arriving at a six-minute date to be served a bowl of ramen noodles – all that slurping. Horrible. We developed a pretty long list of banned ingredients too: raw garlic, spinach, noodles, anything too chewy or too dry...
Becky: Oh, the horror of serving something like spag bol which people would instantly drip all down their fronts. I’m clumsy, so this particular topic has been very close to my heart. It's been fun doing the recipe testing and figuring out what will and won't work. Even I could eat these dishes elegantly.
Why do you think food and dating are such a popular combination?
Sally: Why are food and sex popular?
Becky: Going out for a meal is a great way to spend an evening with someone. By breaking it down into small chunks as we’re doing, it hopefully takes the pressure off having a full meal with a stranger, while still giving you enough time to get an insight into whether you really could watch that person eat for the rest of your life. Food and love are two fundamental human needs, so putting them together can only be a good thing.
Have you had any disastrous date night meals?
Sally: I can’t think of anything clean enough to put in print...
Speed Date Small Plate, Creative Occupations Bureau, Cobden Chambers, £25 per head. Thursday 18 March for girls who want to meet girls and Friday 19 March for men and women. Numbers are limited, tickets can be booked online.
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