Yay for date night! Five years ago, we moved from Chicago to metro Detroit (childless) to pursue our dreams of opening a restaurant. Two restaurants, a digital marketing agency, two kids, a house and two dogs later — here we are!
These days, date night can be hard to come by or just too exhausting to think about. However, we know and feel the importance of taking time to enjoy each other and have a meal where you can carry on a conversation without having to negotiate with a 4-year-old about his next bite or have your hair pulled.
Once a month or so, we treat ourselves to a babysitter and enjoy a night together. We’re sharing two of our favorite date nights — both inside the house and out.
Date Night OUT
When we have one of our moms in town (mine’s in Chicago and Joe’s is in Wisconsin), for date night, we take full advantage and leave the house in the afternoon for some sort of pre-dinner activity.
Pedicures, bowling, a float session (it was weird, but cool) or even shopping is fair game. Afterwards, we’re likely heading to dinner in Detroit — some of our favorite spots are Takoi, SheWolf or Selden Standard.
When we’re at a restaurant and it’s just the two of us, we always opt to sit at the bar. Bartenders give you individualized service and bar seating always provides a great opportunity for people watching.
When we’re at SheWolf, we never even look at the menu. We’re adventurous eaters, so we let Chef Anthony just cook for us. Right now, they’re offering tasting menus inside the restaurant and it’s a great way to try many items from the menu.
Date Night IN
When we want to have a chill night in together, we grab up some primo take-out in the afternoon, feed the kids, do an early(ish) bathtime, bedtime and then dig in.
Our go-to take-out is always Clawson’s Noble Fish, followed by a slice of the swiss roll cake from White Wolf Patisserie. Conveniently the two are on the same block on Main Street. Take things up a notch by trying to enjoy a glass of wine during bath time.
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