The Three “D”S

For a Good Date Night, How Can You Go Wrong With Drinks, Dancing, and Dinner?

It’s been a while since I’ve written “Dinner and a Date,” a shortlived column where I reviewed both my food and my date (spoiler alert: most of the latter were not great). I’m happy to report that, since then, I’ve managed to find a partner! Having recently moved in together, I’ve deemed that now we’re serious enough to write about, which is what led to our recent date night in downtown Gables.

We started with drinks at Copper 29, which we have to give honors to as one of the best happy hours out there. With drinks only $5 from 5 to 6 pm ($6 from 6 to 7, $7 from 7 to 8), we loaded up on liquid courage for our impending couple’s dance lesson, neither of us particularly confident in our hand-to-foot coordination.

Copper has recently taken over a second space next to its previous dimly lit and generally very cramped room, which meant we had a little more privacy and could actually hear each other over the pop remix playing overhead. We tried the Passionfruit Martini and Tommy’s Margarita, both excellent. My partner considers himself something of a margarita connoisseur but even he was impressed by the recipe simplicity, which he maintains is key to a good margarita.

Braving the rain, we headed to our dance lesson at Fred Astaire Dance Studios on Galiano Street. Owner Vera Kosarev walked us through a short private lesson of about half an hour, where we learned the basic steps to the foxtrot (surprisingly easy), the hustle (pretty sure I’ve already forgotten this one), and the waltz (since by then we were experts). It was a typical beginner’s lesson that left us eager to return and hone our skills with another private lesson or group class. Vera explained that it takes 20-plus lessons to be considered “good,” but she also instilled so much confidence in us that we’re sure we could do it in 15.

Feeling a lot more devoted to each other after our whirl across the dance floor, we set off to our last stop of the night: dinner. We chose Shadow Wagyu, primarily because I’m a consummate carnivore, but also because neither of us had been there before. 

Often unnoticed in the Gables culinary scene, this back-room, hole-in-the-wall on Le Jeune just south of Havana Harry’s serves nothing but the finest of meats. Even the rice is cooked in Wagyu tallow. We were lucky enough to show up on one of only a handful of nights each year when this Shangri-La of steak is serving Wagyu croquetas ($5 each). They were so good we shamelessly stuffed them down, then took a deep breath and moved on to the main events: steak frites ($44) and a burger ($24). 

Shadow Wagyu claims to have the best burger in the world and while we can’t verify that, it was absolutely a top choice for the Gables. The steak frites, meanwhile, might just take home the No. 1 prize. Oozing with flavor, so tender as to almost fall apart in your mouth, it was a masterpiece of meat.

Satiated, romanced, and a little tipsy, our date night was a huge success, one we’d recommend for all Gableites.