Guide #1 How Many Restaurants Does it Take to Screw up a Date?

When my internet date suggested we meet at M Cafe in Culver City for our first meeting, I thought, "Oh, man, there's a trend monkey for ya." But I got there before he did, and was gratified not only by M's charming sidewalk cafe exterior, but by a lovely, fin de siècle interior. Lots of deep mahogany and, even with tons of little bistro chairs and tables, the feeling was light and airy. Not a whole lot of design personality, but looking at the delicious - and vegan! - food (displayed in a large case), I realized that's on purpose: they don't want to distract the diner from the food. The staff is mixed, everything from super helpful and nice to rude and dismissive - depends on who waits on you. My date showed up, and let us just say, I continued to concentrate on my dining experience. When we were shown our seats (on the patio, as requested), this guy complained until we were moved, then upon opening his menu, his mouth fell open (presumably from the mid$$ prices), and he began line-iteming everything until I informed him that I would be singing for my own supper that night. That seemed to lessen some of his anxiety, but didn't prevent him from "if only-ing" his way through the dinner. "We could have gone to Tender Greens - they have really good salads," he said and I concurred; their Chipotle Salad, with chicken or steak is out of this world, and their soups are delicious, "But they're a bit pricey." Depends on what you think is pricey. You can get out of there, easy, for $30 for dinner for 2. "Then there's Ugo, but pasta is so done," he muttered. Yeah, the best pasta dishes on the west side. But oh well. "You know where I really want to go?" At this point my weary head just shook in surrender, "The Meltdown!" Great for lunchtime, the Meltdown features all sorts of oozy, melty grilled cheese sandwiches. I ordered the Grilled Veggie Salad, he ordered the Terriyaki Rice Bowl. The food was great. And outdoor seating facilitated an easy getaway. Later, fool!