Zoom Dinner Date at Home Ideas
Some thoughts and ideas about a dinner date and advice for what kind of dinner date recipes may be useful and recipes to avoid
Dinner dates can be a lot of fun and a dinner date at home can be a great way to get to know your date better. If you are the host, your date gets to see you in your home environment, maybe see for themselves the things you like and to get a better idea of you.
Dinner Date Host or Guest?
A dinner date at home can also be a great alternative for a birthday, relationship anniversary celebration or to going out for a special meal. This can be especially true on Valentines Day, particularly if you are conscious about the fact that a lot of people go out for a meal on Valentines Day can maybe make that experience less special along with the dinner service potentially being perhaps a little regimental.
Although cooking the meal can maybe be a little more stressful than if you were just going to a restaurant for a meal, the whole environment can potentially be more relaxing, more romantic and more fun, where you both can be more yourselves. If you find it hard or are worried about keeping the conversation going, cooking the meal and being at home can provide lots of distractions and talking points. Also you are not on show to other people which can affect yourself or your date if one of you is perhaps a little self-conscious.
If you have been invited to someone’s home for a dinner date it can be nice and show good intentions to bring a little something towards the meal, for example some dessert or a bottle of wine if you both drink alcohol. With date nerves you can potentially forget that you are going into someone’s home, so it can helpful to check or try and be observant to how your host prefers things in their home and manners, for example taking your shoes off before you enter.
Zoom Dinner Date Tips
Below are a few tips, hints, pointers, advice and things you may want to consider for a zoom dinner date at home
Tips for the dinner date host:
How to prepare?
Don’t forget it’s not just your food that your date will sample, amongst other things they will also see the tidiness of your home, any photos on the wall and the cleanliness of your bathroom.
The potential stress of organising and cooking the meal can mean you overlook these things which can add to the overall impression you give of someone. At the same time none of these things could be noticed by your date or your date doesn’t even care about them, they are just there to get to know you better. These other things can often be done in advance of the date and so it may be useful to assess whether or not they are important to you and the impression you give out, and how much free time you have available.
Dietary requirements and / or allergies
Coming straight to the point, not taking this into account can have a large affect on the dinner date, from offending your date's personal needs to allergic reactions, but when you're having a video date this isn't usually an issue.
However, you should be aware that if you date is a veggie or vegan it might be a bit off a turn off watching the blood running out of your rare steak (rare is the only way to have steak, obviously) or sucking the meat out of lobster claws!
The food and thoughts about dinner date recipes
This can depend on a number of different things, for example:
Do you know how to / can you cook the food? It can be great to try new food and cook new recipes but don’t underestimate the affect a little bit of date nerves can have on your abilities and how difficult you find it to cook and/or assemble the dishes and the meal. Additionally if you plan to or need to cook part of the meal whilst you date is in your home or in the same room as you especially if you have an open plan home, being on show can add to the difficulties and sometimes if it can go wrong it will go wrong!
How expensive is it? You want to make a good impression and you can often buy foods in the supermarket or at the grocery store which you would normally find more expensive at a restaurant. But at the same time it may not be best to make dinner dates unaffordable as it can often mean the host is spending a lot more money on the date. Also in these economically hard times for some, cooking for your date can be a cheaper alternative to eating out so you can potentially try and take advantage of this.
How long will it take to cook? As said above if you plan to cook some of the meal whilst your date is at your home, if it takes too long to cook it can mean you don’t actually spend much time with your date which can maybe defeat the purpose of having the date! Also if you need to prepare for the meal after being at work, which can often be the case if you work unsociable hours or a shift, you may underestimate how much time you have/need or how tired you are.
Is it difficult to eat?
This can be overlooked but some foods can be difficult to eat in a polite way and still look attractive to your partner or date! Examples include spaghetti, food in shells like muscles, steak if it is tough and meals where you need to use your hands.
Can foods that smell put a downer on the evening? Don’t forget that to some people food smells can be absolutely amazing but to others can be positively disgusting, and additionally once you have that food smell in the air, on your clothes and on your breathe it can be hard to get away from! Examples include garlic, fish, onions and strong cheeses.
Tips for the dinner date guest / invitee:
Compared with the host you may have a lot less to worry about and to do. Don’t forget to let the host know of any dietary requirements, anything you are allergic too or foods you don’t like that much.
As said before the host has probably done quite a lot of preparation and work for this dinner date at home, so remembering this and offering to help clear away dishes can go along way; offering to wash-up could be especially well received and also help to extend your date if it's going well.
Finding out where they live and travel arrangements in advance can help you get there on time, which can be important if the host is trying to time the meal and food with your arrival time. Additionally dinner dates, from their often casual nature can sometimes last a lot longer and if it goes well time can go quickly and fly by so make sure you know about getting back home and if you need to use public transport and get the last trains, buses, etc.
On a maybe more serious note, as with all dates don’t forget your safety when it comes to dates. If you are going to someone’s home or you are hosting it can be wise to tell friends or family members of your plans.
Good luck!
