Solas - where first dates end in marriage...

On Friday night, I was at dinner with B, W and J when I inserted my foot so far into my mouth that it might still have acid burns from my stomach.  I mentioned that I had an upcoming date on Saturday night with Frog #4 (met on the interweb; vital stats:  mid-30's, back bay dweller (hurray!), works at some sort of health care company, seemed nice, etc.).  Frog #4 had asked me to dinner and said that he had a certain restaurant in mind, so I told him to go ahead and book it.  However, I was really disappointed that he ended up choosing Atlantic Fish because it seemed kind of chain-y and corporate and maybe where you'd eat with your parents... and he also asked me to meet him for a drink at Solas beforehand. 

So I asked my friends, "oh my god - I can't believe he chose those places to take me to - why would anyone ask someone to meet them on a first date at Solas????"  Well, it turned out that J had taken W to Solas on their first date (and now they are married).  I was completely mortified and no amount of quick thinking could make my snotty statement any better!  Luckily, W and J have a great sense of humor and were not offended.  (I hope)  So, we decided that actually all first dates at Solas must end in marriage. 

With a newly inflated set of expectations, I went to Solas to meet Frog #4.  Thankfully, it seemed that his pictures were recent and he immediately struck me as being very nice and chill.  We ordered a couple drinks and ended up talking about disastrous mistakes that people can make on dates.  I mentioned dropping the L-Bomb too early on and he said "oh, so you think my plan of proposing to you tonight is too much?" 

We then headed over to Atlantic Fish where they took us to a creepy special downstairs room with bright lighting, four tables and a huge flatscreen.  I was a little taken aback that we weren't eating in the main dining room, but Frog #4 said "I planned it this way on purpose.  I wanted the flatscreen so you could see the video I made about my life so that you could get to know me before I proposed.  Who do you think the other people in the room are?"  I answered, "your family?" and he said "of course!"  Later in the meal, an Asian family (two parents and a son) walked in and he said "I also arranged for your family to join us." 

Even though he did not actually propose, we ended up having a great time.   He also texted me the next day, so hopefully we'll meet up again and I can keep you, the KF readers posted.