Five-Star Date Night Advice: Ignore the Critics

Saturday night was date night. Given our chaotic life that is filled with kids, kids’ activities, and volunteering for kids, date night is a welcomed relief.   For this date night we decided to try the latest hot spot for dinner with a movie chaser.

Lucia is the hippest, atmosphere-filled restaurant in town since it scored five stars from Leslie Brenner of the Dallas Morning News. Reservations are booked a month out, but we were willing to plan early for anything with five stars, plus an excursion to the uber cool Bishop Arts District to break bread was a nice alternative to the eateries in Preston Hollow and Highland Park.

The latest movie darling of the critics and most film festivals is, The Tree of Life which you can catch at the the Angelika at Mockingbird Station. NorthPark Center’s AMC theater is convenient, but the crowds and teen clientele are overwhelming. I love the Angelika because its moviegoers are of the The Brady Bunch era and not the Sponge Bob generation.

In hindsight, we should have stayed in the ‘hood. Lucia was great if you like gaining weight just looking at your meal. The food was heavy and laden with olive oil, butter, or other ingredients that weighted down each plate. Everything tasted good, but should you feel like you swallowed a bowling ball after a meal? I thought that feeling was reserved for the deep-fried delights at the State Fair of Texas.

We hoped the movie would be better than dinner, but it was far worse. If you like silent films, self-absorbed storytellers, and scenes from the Discovery Channel spliced in, then this movie is for you. When the movie was over I walked out in disbelief that I had wasted two hours of my precious date night. The proverbial root canal would have been a better choice. My only comfort was overhearing similar sentiments from the rest of the audience as we exited the theater.

So, what’s the moral of this story? Critics don’t know everything and a five-star night can sometimes be a simple evening out in comfortable surroundings with people you care about.

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Imani Chet Lytle

Imani Chet spends most of her time behind the scenes at People Newspapers handling design and marketing tasks, but you can occasionally catch her out and about covering the latest museum openings, musical concerts, and delicious new food menus in the area – and all through her trusty dusty iPhone camera. Catch some of the action on our instagram page: @peoplenewspapers

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