Ormer’s ‘First Dates’ success leads to second date

Friday 23 February 2018

A restaurant that held a ‘First Dates’-inspired Valentines meal, where couples were matched on their food preferences, have confirmed at least three couples are meeting for a second date.

Ormer gave singletons the opportunity to dine with like-minded foodies to see if the restaurant could also cook up some romance on the evening – and it seems to have worked!

Events manager Kate Stephan told Express that of the twelve couples who were matched up last week, three have confirmed they are going out on a second date, with another saying that although there was no love spark they are going to stay friends.

She said: “The night was really successful. There were no no-shows and nobody left early. Everyone said how much they enjoyed the vibe of the night and the flow of the evening, even the married couples who dined in the restaurant at the same time commentated on how much they loved the atmosphere.”

Pictured: Due to the success of the 'Love of Food' date night, the restaurant plans to hold another event in the summer. (Ormer)

Due to the nature of the event, Ormer chose to make the evening at the St. Helier restaurant slightly different to their usual ambience. They played different music and left ice-breaker questions on the table to help the conversation flow between the blind date couples. They also had their very own ‘Merlin’ – the bartender who warms the couples up with light chat to relax them as he made them an arrival drink - and the rest of the staff also interacted and chatted with the couples to help with any first-date jitters.

Kate has received feedback from some of the first-daters. One read: "Had I not spoken to you I wasn’t going to go but anyway I’m glad I did and I would say the date was very successful. Thank you for giving me my first blind date."

Another said: "I had a really good time and yes I'd say my date was pretty successful! We are meeting again and he seems nice. I thought it was ran really well and the 'ice breaker' questions were a good idea - we used them even though we never reached the emergency stage!"

There were some worries that were wouldn’t be enough couples ahead of the night, as many more woman applied than men. But the restaurant's plea for more men resulted in a number of further applicants, some of whom were unfortunately too late to be matched up.

Pictured: Barman Diogo helped relax the first-daters as he made them a welcome drink. (Ormer)

Kate said that due to the success of the first date night, and to match those who missed out on a date this time, Ormer is going to hold another ‘love of food’ date night in June.

The application process for singletons to meet their ‘food-match’ (and hopefully ‘love-match’) will open six weeks prior to the evening.