A blind date at the Benugo Bar & Kitchen
By Patito, published on 27 March 2010
A week on from our first Lovestruck date, it was time to meet date number 2. Andy, a 31 year-old Englishman with a cat called Pandora, suggested meeting at the British Film Institute bar on the South Bank after work one Thursday. We’d been emailing for a few weeks. The conversation was easy, relaxed and amusing (we decided to ignore Pandora for the moment). Andy works in PR. Surely (surely!) he would be able to hold a conversation. Or would he?
But before we get there, a word on our Lovestruck experience. We were really quite horrified by our first date. Awkward and difficult, why go online to subject yourself to that? The day after our date with Gregor, he called to say he’d had a lovely time and ask if we could do it again. Again? Noooo! We politely, but firmly, said we didn’t feel a second date was the right next step. Gregor was cool “fine”, he said “good luck with Lovestruck!”. Good luck indeed. Could we really do this again?
Yes, we could apparently. We agreed to meet Andy at 7pm under the clock at Waterloo station. How would we recognise one another? Easy; the Guide wears a pink pashmina on Lovestruck dates. Andy spotted us immediately, and with a smile and a casual hand on our back he greeted us warmly. He was relaxed and cheerful. We left the station together and stepped out into a very rainy London night.
There are two BFI bars; one is under the bridge as you walk along the South Bank, and the second – the one we were heading to – is around the corner. There was a fantastic buzz as we walked in. We looked for a place to perch in the sofa area but the place was packed. The crowd was mixed; there were quite a lot of what The Guide’s mother might describe as “media types” and although we never knew what they were, we recognised them when we saw them. There was also quite a gay vibe (we realised on the way out it was the 24th BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival), mixed in with a Westminster crowd and groups of colleagues having a drink after work.
“What will you drink”, asked Andy. The Guide was undecided. This wasn’t an obvious Martini place, but we didn’t fancy a glass of wine, what to choose? “How about two gin and tonics?” suggested Andy, “I’ve just spotted the best gin”. Good idea. What he’d seen was Hendrick’s, a small batch gin distilled in Ayrshire in Scotland and bottled in old apothecary bottles. In addition to the traditional juniper infusion, Hendrick’s uses a hint of Bulgarian Rose followed by a mash of cucumber. Gin and tonics using Hendrick’s are therefore traditionally served with a slice of cucumber. Now, unlike Gregor’s Martini last week, a cucumber in this drink would actually have gone down nicely. “Unfortunately”, the barman said “we’ve run out of cucumber”. No problem, a slice of lime will do. We took our drinks and went in search of a place to sit.
Andy was assertive in this quest. “Look, over there, would you mind perching next to those two?” he asked, pointing towards two people sitting reading newspapers. When we first walked in, we assumed all these people were here together, but actually most were sitting waiting for the rest of their parties to arrive, presumably to go and see a movie. We weaved our way through the sofas and squeezed into an empty space. This was cosy. But cosy in a good way. When you’re on a blind date, you want a space that makes talking easy. This was perfect. It was busy without being crazy, loud without being noisy. And there was plenty to talk about. In fact, Andy and I hadn’t stopped chatting from the moment we met. These PR boys really can hold a conversation! He was funny, open, interested and attentive. The funniest part of the evening was when we talked about Lovestruck (a topic that had been off limits last week) and the new dating etiquette. Was it ok to ignore messages? (No, we agreed. A polite, non-committal response took no effort.) What if a date goes well, do you unsubscribe? What if a date goes badly, can you remove someone from your favourites? (This was The Guide’s question after noticing last weekend that we had gone from having 9 favourites to just 8. How very cruel of Gregor.)
The next two hours flew by. We had a couple of drinks and then made our excuses. Andy walked us back to Waterloo where we said goodnight. “Thank you for a very fun evening”, we said with a kiss on the cheek and a genuine smile. What a difference a (good) date makes! This was a whole other ball game to a night with Gregor. And one we would happily repeat.
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, South Bank, Waterloo, London SE1 8XT Tel: +44 (0)20 7928 3535
A blind date at the Benugo Bar & Kitchen
A week on from our first Lovestruck date, it was time to meet date number 2. Andy, a 31 year-old Englishman with a cat called Pandora, suggested meeting at the British Film Institute bar on the South Bank after work one Thursday. We’d been emailing for a few weeks. The conversation was easy, relaxed and [...]
