How to engineer an ideal dating activity or venue when meeting someone new

Given the proliferation of dating apps, sites and agencies that send suitors to your doorstep these days, your first date is likely to be someone you’ve spoken to at length but haven’t met before.

The popularity of such encounters has produced new rules for dates when it comes to the choice of activity or venue. As The Washington Post reported in an 2016 article on what restaurant staff think of date outings, “This has given rise to new rules: Dinner and a movie are out. Cocktails and casual, inexpensive dates are in.

Here’s what you should consider when choosing a venue:

The ambience matters. Yellow and red interiors make the environment feel more hectic, causing diners to eat faster and, of course, leave quicker. It will turn a better profit for restaurants, with customers waiting in line, too.

Choose a setting that has soft lighting and soft jazz instrumental music playing. Cornell University researchers found that by transforming even a fast-food restaurant into a fine-dining area using these compelled patrons to hang around longer than they would at a fast-food restaurant.

Pick a place that has a counter-top bar or a bar at the side as well as a dining area that serves the dinner crowd. If your date is going fantastically well, it will make the transition from one hour of drinks to another two hours of dinner much easier.

This article was first published on DUET magazine.