10 Things You Need To Know About A Foodie Before You Date One

On a play date in first grade, I asked for linguini with white clam sauce for lunch. To six-year-old me, it wasn’t an unreasonable request. But the mom whose house I was playing at thought it was hilarious.

My parents are restaurateurs who appreciate good food, so my siblings and I grew up eating the good stuff. By the time I was five, I’d learned how to crack and eat a whole lobster. When the other kids at school were asked about their favorite food, they’d say things like chicken fingers or mac and cheese. When it was my turn, I’d rattle off my favorite menu items from my parent’s Italian restaurant: Veal Caprese, Tortellini, Escargot.

“You’re going to be a tough date,” grownups would tell me. They weren’t wrong.

Here are a few things you should know if you’re thinking of dating a girl who loves food.

1. Picky eaters need not apply.

When you love a girl who loves food, you can’t be a picky eater. You’ve got to be willing to try new foods and revisit the ones that you swore off as a kid, especially if she offers to make them for you “her way.”

2. She isn’t into just fancy restaurants.

Some days your stomach will be fatter than your wallet, but if your girl is a true foodie she’ll also appreciate the hole in the wall restaurants that are undiscovered gems, with old school chefs, three tables and no menu. In fact, she’ll seek them out and insist you go there. Even if it means you’re braving an hour long subway ride.

3. She’ll make you travel just to try a dish.

Regardless of what borough, city, or town you find yourselves in, she likely has a spot in mind that she read about or saw featured on one of her favorite food shows. You may think that you’re taking a trip to Maryland to enjoy the beach, but she’s got ulterior motives that include fresh crabs and a hammer.

4. She’ll want to try any dish you order.

If you try to order the same thing as her, she’ll change her order so that you each get to try something different from the restaurant you’re at. Hopefully, you’re also up for splitting some appetizers and don’t mind when she reaches over to eat off your plate. You’re welcome to do the same!

5. She’ll cook you things that will change your life.

Especially if you’ve got an entire Sunday, a local butcher and a crockpot at your disposal. She’s likely been practicing these recipes for quite some time, waiting for someone she loves enough to spend hours rolling out homemade pasta for, or enough to share her grandma’s meatball recipe with.

6. She’s got big ideas about how to put her groceries to good use.

No need to tell her that the store brand is on sale; her sauce won’t taste the same if she’s not using San Marzano tomatoes. Don’t roll your eyes when she makes you stop at the farm stand after you’ve just left the grocery store, either. They’ve got better prices and fresher produce. Plus, she’s tight with the owner, who always saves her some artichokes.

7. Deciding what to eat is time-consuming.

It’s not that she doesn’t know what she wants; it’s that she wants five different things from five different places at any given time. She wants to visit her go-to sushi spot, but that new French bistro just opened on the corner, and there’s also that pork shoulder in the freezer she could make into pulled pork tacos.

Your best bet is to let her rattle off the options she’s got on her mind, and then make an executive decision. Otherwise, restaurants will be closed by the time she’s made a choice.

8. She’ll shamelessly make you her sous chef.

Cooking goes much faster when you’ve got an extra set of hands, especially a set of big manly hands to chop all the onions and garlic, and other smelly but necessary ingredients. That’s what she’ll tell you as she hands you a knife and a head of garlic, and you’ll happily take on the role because you love her and she’s feeding you.

9. You’ll make beautiful food babies together.

Whether you devoured seconds and thirds of the dish that you two cooked to perfection, or went HAM at 25 cent wing night, when you love a girl who loves food, there will be times when you both love food a little too much. But it’s all good, because you’ve got someone to lay next to and hold your stomach with until it passes.

10. You’ll know that you’re loved.

When you love food, you love to feed people. When you love someone who loves food, you’ll see that love given back to you in many delicious ways. Your midday conversations will involve her making sure that you ate something good for lunch, because when you love someone who loves food, she’ll want to know you’ve been fed.

In fact, she might go as far as to pack lunch for you, just so she’s sure. You’ll find your favorite candy tucked into your coat pocket, or see your favorite ice cream materialize in your freezer. Food makes her happy and you make her happy, so it just makes sense for her to combine the two in order to make you happy, too.