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DinnerRituals

Date Night Lamb Chops

By September 9, 2013October 2nd, 20136 Comments

The day after we had our first baby, a friend with kids visited us in the hospital to meet the new addition. He held Phoebe, we took some pictures, and before he left, he delivered some advice: “Make sure to get a date night every once in a while,” he said. “Alone time is important, and it can get lost.”

Lost? On us? Never!

As if to prove our point, we headed out for our first post-kid dinner six weeks later—an early-bird special in downtown Manhattan. We put our daughter to bed, handed the babysitter many pages of insane instructions, and ran out the door. But the alone time we’d carved out didn’t feel so…alone. We checked our phones. We called the sitter. We ate like cavemen and skipped dessert, telling ourselves we were too full (we weren’t). When we got home, it was still light out. Was this how it was gonna be? Like, forever?

For a while, yes. Forever, no. At some point, the clouds parted. Our one kid turned into two kids, who miraculously learned to place food into their own mouths and go to sleep without us. And so we embraced dinner out in a big, existential way. Even when the girls were finally old enough to tag along, we kept the reservation capped at two. Going to a good restaurant became the easiest way to remind us that there was a world out there beyond Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and “Kidz” menus.

Nowadays, we do not mess around with these nights. We book the sitter within minutes of booking the reservation. We hand the girls their favorite take-out menus and tell them to make a night of it themselves. We meet at a bar for a cocktail. We wear shoes that are not waterproof. We order dessert.

Last month, we hit Lafayette, Andrew Carmellini’s new downtown brasserie, a leather-boothed place that felt like a New York institution the minute it opened its doors. We sat down for dinner at 8:30—when we used to aim to be home by—and 
started to feast: leaves of butter lettuce served with Roquefort and country ham; short-rib ravioli; market-fresh peas tossed with mint pesto and ricotta salata. We took particular pleasure in ordering things the kids would never allow in their airspace: buttery, sweet scallops, a pickled-blueberry sorbet. The stars of the night? Moroccan-spiced lamb chops that we could have eaten by the dozen. “Man, the kids would love these,” we said as we ate them. “We should bring them here.” On second thought, no, we shouldn’t. But if they’re lucky, we might make them at home.

This is our “Providers” column for the September issue of Bon Appetit. Head over to their site for Lafayette’s Moroccan-Spiced Lamb Chops recipe. Photo by Christopher Testani for Bon Appetit.

6 Comments

  • Avatar Ruthy @ Omeletta says:

    As a first time mom-to-be, I love this article. I’m nervous about losing our “together time” once the baby comes, but it’s nice to know it comes back eventually and, it sounds, even better than before.

  • Avatar janet says:

    You are so lucky you went to Lafayette. It’s been on my wish list ever since it opened. Oh well, I guess I can make these at home, too. 🙂 I adore you column in Bon Appetit!

  • Avatar Jesse says:

    gotta love the date night. it keeps us sane.
    http://semiweeklyeats.blogspot.com/2013/08/rethinking-date-night.html

  • Carlinne @Cook with 2 Chicks says:

    I love this post! My favorite part? “Man, the kids would love these,” we said as we ate them. “We should bring them here.” On second thought, no, we shouldn’t. This blog never disappoints!

  • Avatar Jim DeRoy says:

    How funny, good for you! We get into such a routine with our children it’s hard to break away from it.

  • tea-time365.blogspot.com says:

    I lvoe lamb chops! Good post, funny.

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