Date Lab
They talked for hours -- but if he's looking for a blonde and she prefers a beanpole, does it matter?

Sunday, July 9, 2006; W06

7:30 p.m. | ZAYTINYA | IN CHINATOWN

Adrienne: I got to the restaurant first. I was hoping I wouldn't. You feel so conspicuous. They showed me to the table, but I went to the bathroom because I didn't want to just sit there. By the time I got back, Gordon was standing there with the waiter.

Gordon: No, definitely when I arrived she was already sitting.

Adrienne: That's so not what happened.

Gordon: She wasn't exactly the type of person I'm attracted to. A friend of mine described me as liking "the little blond ones," so I guess that's more my type. But she was very cute, with long hair and those librarian glasses. And she was smiling, which is always good.

Adrienne: He was really nice-looking, [but] I shouldn't have worn platform sandals! I'm 5 feet 4. It's not like he walked in and I was towering over him, but I noticed he wasn't tall.

Gordon: I sat down, and we must have chatted for half an hour before we even really looked at the menu. Some people going on their first date are really reserved. She was very outgoing and willing to throw comments out there.

Adrienne: I hardly ever drink, and [that night] I had two really strong cocktails. I will talk about anything once I've had alcohol. And he's really funny. I told him I was so relieved because going into it I was worried I'd have to sit there and pretend to have a good time.

Gordon: We ordered like six plates of these random Greek tapas. It came out she was vegetarian. I asked her if she would be willing to have seafood, and she said yes, but it wasn't really an affirmative yes. Then she was like, "Oh, why don't we have some octopus."

Adrienne: We did get the octopus, which, well, was gross. I swear I had a tentacle in my teeth, so while he's talking I was trying to use my fingernail to pick my tooth. I was like, that's so not cool.

Gordon: I didn't really notice. I liked the fact that she was open to trying new things.

Adrienne: I felt like I laughed the whole time. We talked nonstop pretty much for four hours about a little bit of everything. He's adventurous, it sounds like. He mentioned climbing Kilimanjaro in the next couple years. I'm like, wow, sounds awesome, but I would never do it.

Gordon: Halfway through the date, she stood up. It's a pretty high table, so until then I could only see her from the [tabletop] up. I tend to like girls who are a little bit skinnier, I guess. Not that she's overweight or anything, but she's more average.

Adrienne: [Toward the end of the date] he seemed like he was in a little bit of a hurry. He did mention he was on the way to a party. We left and walked to the train station, and we were going in opposite directions. He gave me a hug, and then we went to our sides of the train track.

Gordon: A friend of mine was having a going-away [party]. It was like 11:30, and I was very anxious to get [there]. I had to run over before the bar closed.

Adrienne: It wasn't one of those things that I was like, "Oh my God, I'm so attracted to this person." My type is taller. But as far as a good time, I would [rate it] a 4 out of 5.

Gordon: It would have been nicer if there was more physical chemistry. It was a 2.5 or 3.

-- Interviews by Kate Ghiloni

DATE LAB IS LOOKING FOR OUTDOORSY TYPES -- and other singles willing to get set up. See the sidebar for details.

UPDATE: Getting in touch post-date didn't even occur to either dater.