Whether it is two days, two weeks, two months or two years after you have had your baby the struggle to get out for a date night is a challenge. Seeing our favorite celebs like Anne Hathaway, Chrissy Teigen and Beyonce go on dates shortly after having babies encourages us to get out more. Each baby and family presents different challenges. Family Entourage Co-Founders Mei Ling and Kelli recently went on a double date with their husbands at Crudo, world-renowned Chef Pascal’s latest venture. It was a welcome treat with busy schedules including the Critics’ Choice Awards, work schedules sending spouses cross-country, and all the business of the end-of-the-year. While it can be hard to step away from the kiddos, the date night was refreshing and a good reminder that we need to do it more.
Crudo’s chef, Chef Pascal has served President Obama, Rafael Nadal, Julio Iglesias, Bill and Hilary Clinton, Mark Wahlberg and was even Enrique Iglesias personal chef at one time. In fact the night that we dined, former NHL player Jeremy Roenick and former MLB pitcher David Wells were there with their wives and friends. One thing is for certain that every guest at Crudo will feel like they are receiving the royal treatment.
One of the things that we enjoyed was the passion that the staff had in sharing about each of the dishes. We tried several appetizers including the Crudotinis but our absolute favorite was the brussels sprouts dish. It was described as being developed while Chef Pascal was dreaming. Guests are encouraged to take the carpaccio, take a sprout and dip it into the sauce like it is a taco. They were amazing and we want the recipe! And we also want the ability to dream up recipes like that. For our entrees, we took our server’s recommendation and tried the Chilean Sea Bass. It was delicious. Kelli’s husband, Paul was feeling adventurous and asked if Chef Pascal would send out his recommendation, which was a paella. Paul was glad that he took a leap of faith. The dish was amazing. If you like sushi, we also recommend Pascal’s roll sampler. It is a great representation of the restaurant’s blend of Mediterranean and Asian. Definitely make sure to save room for dessert. We shared four desserts so we could sample more. Each one was amazing.
Whether you just had a baby or your children are older…
We share our Top 5 Date Night Tips
- Go close for a first date. It can be a local restaurant, coffee shop, or your favorite ice cream spot. By going close, it will provide you with peace of mind if baby is fussy or the sitter needs help, you are close and can get home. Don’t compare to life before baby either. While we love the days of never-ending date night, our first dates after baby were just a couple hours long. Then the next time you go out, go a little farther or little longer.
- Go early. We like doing early date nights. After a long work day or work week, it can be hard to muster up the strength for a dinner at 8pm, keep our eyes open and have conversation. An early date night often means that your food service is faster because there aren’t as many people in the restaurant. Sometimes there are even menu specials for early dining. We also like going out earlier because if we do have energy, we can catch a movie or do something else afterwards. It also enables you if you have children who have a hard time going down for bed without you that you are home for bedtime routine. PLUS, many restaurants have great happy hours!
- Find creative solutions to a sitter. Often times date nights can be hard after you count the cost of going out and the sitter. Creative solutions can include asking a family member to watch your child(ren). You can rotate babysitting with a friend. You do a date night one weekend and they do one a different weekend. Split a sitter with a friend. This one requires that your sitter is up for it and that your kids get along. We love it when friends and family members give us gifts of babysitting as presents.
- Calendar your date nights. The craziness of work schedules, family events, sports teams, and everything else often crowds out date nights. We try and sit down and calendar the month and schedule our date nights. This helps us to schedule a babysitter in advance and we can protect that date night when other social requests come in. Start with one date night per month and then work up to every other week and if your schedule permits, do one every week.
- Have a reoccurring date night. We have seen this modeled amongst our friends where they set aside one day per week as date night. They have a regular babysitter that comes every week for that date night. We wish we could say that we are at that level, but in our transparency it is still something we are striving for!
Crudo invited us to dine with them, all of our opinions and thoughts are our own.
