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Flavour of love
Brush up on your table manners and review grandma's recipes because the latest trend in singles events will put your culinary confidence to the test.
By Marilisa Racco
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Forget the runway! We roam Canada to check out your street style! Check out the videos here!
The new recipe for love consists of sixteen women, sixteen men and a gourmet tasting menu. Or at least it does according to FastLife, the pioneers of Tasting Dating a singles event that takes speed dating to a new, and more satiating, level.
Hungry singles gather at one of Toronto's many hot spots for a multiple course meal that comes with accompanying dates. Once a dish is consumed, the gents move to the next tantalizing table.
"It's good because if you are not immediately interested in the person you are dating you have a conversation starter with the food," says Meredith Hopper, events and public relations coordinator for FastLife.ca.
Singles who seek out the food-infused events usually complain about the same thing: speed dating is too quick and there are too many people to remember. With Tasting Dating participants get 12 minutes with no more than 20 dates, which means more time to establish a love connection.
Justin Parfitt, CEO and founder of FastLife International, which covers 43 cities in Canada, Australia, the U.S. and the UK, has organized his fair share of speed dating events, and in one particular case time was not an issue. "We call it the eight minute club. It happened at one of our events in Australia where a couple had gone to the toilet to shag within eight minutes of meeting."
Ever since that incident, the dating events in Australia no longer offer open bar service. But Torontonians' legendary reserve prevents participants from getting too carried away, so the spirits flow freely.
"It's a little like a high school dance," says Nick Iozzo, 32, a retail real estate manager who has attended a couple of FastLife events. "The guys are all on one side and the girls on the other, until they get some drinks in them and start to mingle," he says of the 30-minute cocktail warm-up that precedes the dinner. "But the food and wine is definitely a catalyst for more stimulating conversation."
At Toronto's Aphrodite Cooks, co-owners Stephenie Summerhill and Vanessa Yeung bring singles together through cooking classes. "Our concept works because we bring people into an environment that's very relaxed and after about 15 minutes, they forget they're even at a singles event," Ms. Summerhill says.
What's your ideal date? Chat about it with other readers in our forums!
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