{"id":10085,"date":"2014-10-03T10:21:31","date_gmt":"2014-10-03T14:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=10085"},"modified":"2014-10-03T10:21:31","modified_gmt":"2014-10-03T14:21:31","slug":"8-great-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/8-great-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Great Dates"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 2014 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Find new magic in the city with your sweetheart or your spouse.<\/h3>\n

by Olivia gunn<\/p>\n

\"8-Great-Dates\"<\/a>1 PMA Movie<\/h3>\n

After a week of work, errands, balancing acts, bills (and did I mention work?), there\u2019s nothing more appealing to a Portlander than oysters on the half shell at happy hour. Fil and I meet at Street & Co. on Wharf Street, where some folks have already settled in for dinner. Inside it\u2019s bustling, and we\u2019re welcomed to the bar with one sweeping gesture. Our bartender leads us through the specials though he sees in our eyes the reflection of oysters glistening on ice. We\u2019ll do a half dozen of the two locals and two Ishmael Rip Tides. We catch one another up on our weeks and soon decide to order a $4 tapa, the smoked white anchovy served with pesto. It\u2019s enough to whet the palate before heading to Portland Museum of Art to catch a film.<\/p>\n

Most city dwellers know or should know that every Friday after 5 p.m. admission to the museum is free. It\u2019s then when you\u2019ll find couples walking through after a long, brain-numbing week at work. You may think you\u2019re not the museum type, but let your eyes dance in the colors and light of French Impressionists and you may find yourselves lost in a Renoir. The film of the week starts at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Later, we ruminate on French painters and French subtitles over a nightcap at Five Fifty-Five on Congress Street.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an inspiring night. When a date revolves around beauty and reflections on life, it\u2019s all there right before your eyes. Just look closely.<\/p>\n

2 Brushstrokes<\/h3>\n

Kurt Vonnegut observed that \u201cPracticing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven\u2019s sake.\u201d And who better to grow it with than your soulmate?<\/p>\n

Muse Paint Bar is the latest hot spot for date night. In the Old Port at 245 Commercial Street, locals and visitors are invited to explore their inner artist with the help of everyone\u2019s favorite muse, a glass of wine or a bottle of brew.<\/p>\n

While the bar lines the back wall, the rest of the studio is filled with easels and the walls covered in art. Even some of the instructors\u2019 own work can be found.<\/p>\n

Each painter is given one canvas and the colors for that night\u2019s painting, which is listed on the website when you sign up. Some twosomes join the regular evening sessions or wait for that month\u2019s Couples\u2019 Night, when each person paints half of one painting.<\/p>\n

As I wait for the session to start I notice one couple who just can\u2019t stop smiling. \u201cWhat brought you here of all places?\u201d I ask as they order their first round. He grins goofily and she smiles: \u201cWe like trying new things.\u201d He chuckles and I begin to wonder if there\u2019s a hidden dirty joke in the works.<\/p>\n

Karrie, the instructor for this evening, works the room like a TV emcee, cracking jokes and rousing the crowd, all the while painting a glowing crescent moon landscape. \u201cEveryone loves it when I go over the brushes.\u201d This gets a giggle from the women, who make their way for glass number two.<\/p>\n

Though couples are welcome any evening, Couples\u2019 Night works as a collaborative effort. Briana, another artist and Karrie\u2019s assistant for the evening, tells me about her own experiences painting with her boyfriend, who\u2019s never too shy to join the group sessions. \u201cHe is so into it,\u201d she beams. \u201cSometimes we just paint on the floor of our apartment together. He says I need to be famous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking around the room, that love and support isn\u2019t hard to see, even in a room of strangers. I notice a woman who is grooving to Stevie Wonder on the sound system. \u201cMy name is Jeanne. Rhymes with fun.\u201d I ask if she\u2019s on a date and she shrugs, \u201cNope, but I\u2019m working on someone.\u201d She winks and with that is back to her paint strokes.<\/p>\n

This session will last a little over two hours, depending on the group and the painting, but it\u2019s two hours of bonding and laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s perfect for all couples,\u201d Karrie promises. \u201cYour personalities are going to leak out onto these paintings. You can\u2019t help it.\u201d<\/p>\n

3 On a Roll<\/h3>\n

One of the benefits of living in Portland is full-time access to fresh, traditional sushi. Sure, you can find sushi almost anywhere, but do you really go just anywhere<\/em> for great fresh fish? I think not. So when Filipp returned home from a month-long shoot, his first wish was a Benkay Rainbow Roll, salmon sashimi, and one tall tokkuri of sake.<\/p>\n

We arrive at 2 India Street around 9 p.m. and take two seats at the sushi bar, where the chefs greet us and chat baseball before leaving us to ourselves as they begin slicing and dicing our orders.<\/p>\n

Sitting side by side at the bar with fresh plates handed to us directly, we find an intimacy here we haven\u2019t found at Miyake or Yosaku, often the go-to choices in town. Benkay feels the most authentic to us and has become our spot on the edge of the Old Port. It\u2019s got a look you might find replicated in a Tarantino film, but it has a class and style all its own.<\/p>\n

We end the meal with lemon-drop cocktails and are the last to leave, but not rushed. Outside, the neon sign casts a sexy glow over the street, and the ocean breeze beckons us to take a late night walk to the promenade.<\/p>\n

Tiny boat lights sparkle in the distance, mimicking the stars, and we\u2019re quickly lost in a fantasy aboard our schooner on which we\u2019ll sail to Honshu and\u2013well, maybe someday, but for now Benkay will do.<\/p>\n

4 Start Climbing<\/h3>\n

All right, I\u2019ll just come right out and say it. We\u2019re not hikers. There is no reveling in nature\u2019s wonders for this pair. Perhaps I spent too much time in the woods of Western Pennsylvania while my father marked lumber, or maybe it\u2019s the fear of finding a tiny, disease-bearing bloodsucker that outweighs any inkling of interest I may have, but at age 25 I am finally not ashamed to admit that I do not enjoy hiking. That said, Fil and I were recently convinced to take to the trails of Bradbury Mountain in Pownal, assured that the fall foliage would enchant us. Looking nothing<\/em> like L.L. Bean catalog models, we head north in hopes of hearing our own call of the wild.<\/p>\n

Bradbury Mountain\u2019s summit is about a mile-long climb and can be completed in around 20 minutes. The hike isn\u2019t difficult, and the surrounding area is bright with fall\u2019s best. Looking out over the shades of orange, red, and yellow that paint the horizon of the peak, I was nearly persuaded to stop by Reny\u2019s on the way home for spankin\u2019 new gear. That was until the conversation turned to lions and tigers and bears on the way back. The main trail has several branches that lead deeper into the trees, and if you\u2019re new to trail maps you may end up in front of a \u201cPrivate Property\u201d sign surrounded by swampy grounds and no sign of human existence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas that a banjo?\u201d<\/p>\n

All jokes aside, Bradbury Mountain makes a perfect afternoon adventure. Childhood memories and tall tales are aplenty when walking hand in hand through the trees, and getting just a little bit lost is fun.<\/p>\n

Before heading home, we drive through Freeport and stop in at the Broad Arrow Tavern for the Lobster Sunday Brunch and root beers. It\u2019s the perfect ending to our first Maine trail adventure, and if every hike ends like this, I think we could easily get the hang of it.<\/p>\n

5 On Stage<\/h3>\n

Theater season is here, and I\u2019m overjoyed that movies will now be replaced with dinner and a play. It\u2019s one of the few times we overdress and play a refined city couple.<\/p>\n

There are the obvious theaters in Portland, but we\u2019ll usually take the drive over the bridge to see what drama Mad Horse Theatre has conjured up for us. The company is located at 24 Mosher Street in South Portland and has converted The Hutchins School into a two-story space with studios and a black box theater. We\u2019ve arrived several nights to sold-out shows, so I suggest ordering tickets online a day ahead of time.<\/p>\n

This season they\u2019re bringing Arthur Miller\u2019s A View From the Bridge<\/em> and Kimberly Akimbo<\/em> by David Lindsay-Abaire.<\/p>\n

6 Do It Yourselves<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s a chilly, sunny fall Saturday and the perfect time for Momma Kotsishevskiy\u2019s borscht recipe. \u201cFresh, you need fresh ingredients,\u201d I\u2019m reminded. \u201cIf they are not fresh, it won\u2019t taste the same.\u201d Fresh. Got it.<\/p>\n

Filipp and I make our way to Deering Oaks for Saturday morning\u2019s Portland Farmers\u2019 Market. Families surge among the vendors down the path lined with fresh bouquets of sunflowers, pumpkins, squash,apples, and more. Our grocery list? \u201cBig beets. Three or four big beets. Cabbage. A good\u00a0cabbage. Carrots and celery.\u201d And they must be\u2013 Yes, Momma. We know.<\/p>\n

Our list doesn\u2019t take long to complete since whichever way you turn, you\u2019re sure to come across just what you need or what you didn\u2019t know you need but now you do. A toddler reaches to touch a string bean as a German shepherd stops to sniff a crate of potatoes. One farmer couple sneaks in a smooch behind their display before a short elderly woman peeks over to pay for cukes. Fil stops for the perfect shots of earthy colors and worn hands. He tells stories of his grandmother at the Moscow bazaar, and his eyes sparkle with memories.<\/p>\n

Back in our own kitchen, we snap a photo of our goods for Momma K\u2019s approval and then get to work. By noon the entire floor of our building smells of homemade borscht and the rich red stew simmers for tonight\u2019s dinner.<\/p>\n

7 Arcadia<\/h3>\n

Within walking distance of Slab, only the best pizza in Portland, Arcadia National Bar is the perfect place for a double or triple date. Grab some pizza and a few drinks, then head across the street and enjoy your favorite arcade games. Fil and I arrive to a bar packed with couples and groups of friends. We order two beers, exchange cash for quarters, and go merrily a-gaming. Our first stops are Tetris, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong before heading to the wall of pinball machines.<\/p>\n

The bar is dark and has a slight grunge feel, but no one shows up to play Nintendo in stilettos and bling. The couch in front is usually overtaken by groups of friends playing MarioKart, and couples playfully compete over laundry duty. Out of quarters, we take a seat at the bar and watch a motley crew of gamers argue over who plays Yoshi. Arcadia is not the place for romance, but if you\u2019re looking for fun, laughs, and a little competition, I think you\u2019ll get a high score for this date.<\/p>\n

8 Flick @ The Nick<\/h3>\n

Not into dancing, theater, or the galleries? And you know your friends are bound to be at every pub? Well, there is nothing wrong with playing it safe with a good old-fashioned blockbuster, my friends.<\/p>\n

Though most would save it for Saturday, which has for too long reigned as date night, in Portland, it\u2019s Tuesdays that have become our movie night at the Nickelodeon. For six dollars each, we\u2019ve seen everything from local films and indies to Oscar nominees.<\/p>\n

After a good rom-com, there\u2019s nothing better than taking a stroll through the Old Port, where the streets are fairly clear of the party crowd you can\u2019t avoid on a Saturday night. The stars are out, the cobblestones give you the perfect excuse to walk arm-in-arm, and Gorgeous Gelato is only minutes away. We share the pistachio every time and take two espressos for the chilly walk home.<\/p>\n

Movie night; it\u2019s sweet, it\u2019s simple, it\u2019s classic. Just like Bogie and Bacall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October 2014
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