Date Lab
She wanted to meet a nice Jewish doctor. He wears the scrubs, but will he be nice enough for her?

Sunday, December 31, 2006

7:30 p.m. | Zengo | Northwest

Amory: I left school early and was 20 minutes early to the restaurant. By 7:40, Noah hadn't shown up. The hostess said he'd called to say he was stuck in traffic. He walked in after I'd been seated and had ordered a mango mojito -- 20 minutes late.

Noah: I'd gone home to change. I didn't want to show up in scrubs, which is like, "Oh, are you a doctor?"

Amory: I thought, "He's not exactly my type, but he's cute." He reminded me of George from "Grey's Anatomy." He said he'd just come from the emergency room, so of course I had to say, "Are you a doctor?"

Noah: I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw her. She had gorgeous cheekbones and a classically pretty face. I slid into the booth and kissed her cheek. At first, we talked about what we did -- basically a lot of biography. Within five minutes, she mentioned that she'd wanted to meet a nice Jewish doctor.

Amory: He's very smart. He has an MFA and is sort of a Renaissance man; he's even cooked professionally. [But] I started getting the sense that he's very aware that he's done a lot of wonderful things. I kind of zoned out at that point.

Noah: Everything was easy, but we didn't settle into the "Wow, I feel like I've known you for ages" rhythm. Then when the waitress came, I ordered for us. It's an old-fashioned thing to do, for the guy to order.

Amory: I've never had someone order for me -- I was shocked. I'd told him earlier that I didn't eat meat, but a couple of non-vegetarian things showed up anyway. Then in the middle of dinner, he gets a text message from some nurse and goes, "Yeah, it's one of the perks of my job." Some guys think that if they talk about other girls, it'll make you think, He's such a stud. I'm not one of those girls.

Noah: Amory may have taken that the wrong way. It was from a friend. I wasn't trying to build some crazy jealousy thing.

Amory: After dinner, he wanted us to go to this bar, Saint-Ex, where [another friend of his] was hostessing.

Noah: I just wanted them to meet so that Amory would know I had friends. (Laughs.)

Amory: I went because I'd said earlier that I was free; I would've come across as a jerk saying no. Of course, he monopolized the conversation and totally excluded me. And he asked why I wasn't showing any cleavage.

Noah: It was totally within context at the time, but I can't remember how.

Amory: [Afterward,] we walked to my car. He wanted to hold my hand and kept asking me to come up to his apartment. I turned my cheek when he aimed for the lips.

Noah: I invited her up for a drink. We'd been talking about our condos earlier, so I wanted to show her my apartment. [Instead,] we hugged and had a little awkward peck on the lips. It ended with her saying, "Let me give you my number."

Amory: It was a safe way of not being too rude. I'd rate the evening a 3 [out of 5]. We're not the best match, but I'm not entirely convinced that if I went out with him again, it'd be awful.

Noah: I'd give it a 3.7. I didn't feel like I got to know her well, but there were no red flags. I definitely want to see her again.

Interviews by Jill Hudson Neal

UPDATE: Noah called and texted Amory several times after the date. She, in turn, e-mailed us saying she'd "realized how inappropriate Noah's behavior really was," and listing 14 things he'd done that "you should never ever do on a first date."

Okay, sometimes we don't make the best matches. Think you could do better? Our Valentine's Day special will give you a shot! See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/datelab/redate/index.html.