Relationships

My Adventures in Speed Dating

Three personas, three events. The experiment begins.

By 

My Adventures in Speed Dating

Speed Dating: Professional Chef Persona

Speed Dating Event #2: Professional Chef

The Event: Simple Date – age category 28-38

The Persona: Professional Chef

Preparation

Not much preparation needed for this one. Fairly natural makeup and hair down but straight (basically wash and go.) I wore my Diesel jeans and a plain fitted white collared shirt that was cropped at the waist. Overtop, I wore a funky Chanel-type blazer. Simple and elegant but with a touch of personality.

The Schtick

“I’m a sous-chef at Truffles. A sous-chef. No – SOUS. I’m an assistant chef. The restaurant at the Four Seasons. I work there on weekends and I work at Canoe for weekday lunches. No, I don’t really have a specialty – I try to mix it up so I keep learning. About eight years if you count training. At the CIA in New York. Culinary Institute of America. No, it’s about three hours by train from Manhattan. Yeah, it’s a lot of fun.”

The Talent

First, I’ll say not great in the looks department, but we’ll keep an open mind anyway. At least most of the guys were from Toronto this time. There were a few out-of-towners (again, why bother, guys?) but on the whole most were from around Eglinton or Sheppard (about 20-30 min from downtown.) Things were going okay, despite the fact that everyone except for one guy (a doctor!) worked in the computer software or finance industry, until the halfway break whistle when everyone stood up I noticed that half of the men I just talked to were about a foot shorter than me!

My Adventures in Speed DatingBelievable?

I didn’t stumble upon any problems until my ‘date’ with a guy who’d managed a restaurant for four years. I bluffed my way through the conversation (yeah, I wish I had a set of Sabatiers, too) and made it through the five minutes unscathed.

The next road bump came when my next ‘date’ just happened to have also attended the last speed dating event I went to (hmmm…) I tried to talk about my flights to London as little as possible for fear that someone would overhear and it would blow my cover. At the end of that endless five minutes, if anyone overheard they didn’t say anything, so I didn’t worry about it.

The last snag hit when I met a fashion editor who just happened to work for a magazine that I had just done a shoot for. And he told me this after I told him I was a professional chef. Yikes! Damage control! I had no choice but to let yet another unsuspecting victim in on my little secret.

The Verdict

Better than the last event but not a great selection in terms of looks or career. Was it worth the $20? Let’s put it this way – if it wouldn’t have been unethical, I would have split at the first break.

Dates: 20

YES responses (from them): 11 / 55%

Interest (from me): Zero – The two guys who seemed like potential date material (the cute blonde guy and the doctor) both lived in the middle of nowhere so the transportation issue arose again.

Results: 9 of the 11 people emailed within the first two days.

Summary: Not bad – especially since the men were older and some may have thought I was too young for them… or maybe I’m just rationalizing about the nine who ticked ‘No’. One thing I didn’t like is that they made the women switch seats after every date instead of the men. In my humble opinion, the men should be the ones moving because the women have purses, skirts, etc. Not to mention that the men could order food because they stayed at one table and the women couldn’t!

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Sarah enlightens us on a daily basis with the newest trends as (and often before) they transpire. She is the consummate globe trotter. Having traveled to over 70 countries, she earns her living writing, blogging (InsiderDiva.com) and modeling while on the road. In her spare time she gets manicures, suntans on yachts in Greece, shops for even more shoes, and lives in the limelight. She loves photography, elephants, sailboats, bangles and ballet flats.

Reader Discussion: 114 Comments

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  3. Simon

    I have a speed dating event coming up. Already I feel as though it’s not the women who are being treated like sheep, but the men. First bad impression given by the organisers is that the women are to be allocated a table. The men then have 4 minutes to talk, then it’s the men who have to move table to the next woman while they sit there making their judgement. Why can’t the simplest way of dating/meeting new partners, start on an equal footing? Baaa!

  4. Great article. I totally agree. The great thing about speed dating is that every individual who comes to speed dating is open to getting to meet and know new people. So, with speed dating, you will either leave with your perfect match or a bunch of new friends. Speed dating is a good icebreaker. Thank you for this great piece.

  5. It is always a numbers game and speed dating can help you meet a lot of people in a short amount of time, of course so can online dating but it has its own pitfalls

  6. Stacy Murray

    For real? Are women moving instead of men? Chivalry is dead!! They are more in favor of men, that’s why.

  7. Rose Mason

    Whoa! That’s the deal if you’re lying while on a speed date. You will meet and meet people you met before. It’s up to you how will you handle your lying. It’s better, to tell the truth from the start.

    • Candice Reeves

      Have you ever been on a speed date? Well, better try for you to know how it feels.

  8. Robert Patel

    Wow! Your stewardess character is insane!!! How did you do that? Well, men would like to date a stewardess. who wouldn’t want, right?

  9. Pamela Wilkerson

    It’s hard to lie especially in your career. Like that, what if there’s someone connected to your fake job? It’s hard if you thought you are being caught up! Hahahaha You’re a good liar, I think.

  10. Theresa Figueroa

    I used to lie in speed dating. It’s a way to impress your target partner. It’s normal to lie in speed dating, but of course, make sure you can handle it.

    • Leigh Massey

      I remember when I lied on a speed date and ends up we both like each other. I’m so fucked up that time. Hahaha!

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