Nick Snow and Roxane Briones found each other on Hinge, the online dating site. Each liked what they saw, and decided to meet in person at Avec, the Mediterranean mainstay.
But there are two Avecs. He went to the one in the West Loop. She went to River North.
"I forgot he is new to the city," said Briones, who suggested the restaurant. "He went to the wrong one. I panicked."
"I walked into the place, looking to meet, and there's no one there," said Snow.
A phone call was made, an Uber grabbed, and the couple got together. Magic ensued.
"We hit it off very quick," said Snow. "We joke, after our first date, we felt like we were dating a month. After a week, we felt it was a couple months. Now it feels like we've been together for years."
Briones, 31, is a cook at Proxi, the coastal Asian place in the West Loop. Snow, 40, is a filmmaker who spent almost 20 years in Brooklyn before moving here last October.
"It was time for a change," said Snow, who noted that Brooklyn was getting very expensive. "Try a new city for a little bit.''
Briones had a bit of a head start, coming here from Michigan.
"I came to Chicago almost three years ago," she said. "I was drawn to the restaurants, and the people that I admire work here. I just packed my bags and took a train. I didn't know anyone. Had to rent an apartment in Pilsen with two random girls, who turned into my best friends."
The relationship, begun in misunderstanding, deepened by accident. Literally.
"In February I was trying to teach her how to snowboard," said Snow. "She had never done that, coming from Nicaragua. I took her to the tiniest little hill in Naperville. I'm thinking, 'She's going to be fine. There's no way she can get hurt here.' She was doing pretty good, she was picking it up, and just fell forward, tried to catch herself and broke her wrist."
"In two places," Briones added.
Bad for a cook who spends her days chopping and stirring.
"Her whole livelihood," said Snow. "She ended up living with me while she was recovering for two months. In a weird way, that really helped us. It launched us into this position where we were together every day and fire-tested the relationship. We hadn't been dating too long. Suddenly we're living together and together all the time. I'm caring for her. It feels so right. It didn't feel like a burden. That was a special sign."
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Very romantic. Love it...
ReplyDeleteNice touch! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I read this morning , so nice to start the day with happy news. Nice couple.
ReplyDeleteSuccinct. Even the comments so far.
ReplyDeletetate
Got married in the County building in 1980. Parting shot from the judge, "I don't want to see you here again."
love this anecdote. I asked a judge I knew if he'd officiate for my marriage. He agreed, so my husband and I wed in his courtroom - in Domestic Violence Court! All the workers in the building celebrated with us - even the security guards who ran the scanning machines. it was clearly an appreciated counterpoint to their everyday work routines.
DeleteConsider myself fortunate to have been a city resident during Harold Washington's time in office, and to have been able to vote for him. I still have his campaign buttons and posters.
DeleteMayor Washington was getting out of his limo, flanked by his bodyguards, on the Saturday morning (September 12, 1987) that I arrived at City Hall to be married. I wanted him to pose with us for a picture, but I didn't have the guts to ask. I just said hello and moved on.
Eleven weeks later, I stood in the long sad line that stretched around the block, waiting to view his open casket in the lobby.
Do it now--you may never get another chance. Always, always do it now.
A great story…thanks for sharing. I really like Lou Mitchell’s, it’s such a Chicago place.
ReplyDeleteEasy and uplifting...married for 35 years so never needed a dating sight but this story shows the good side of that resource.
ReplyDeleteA big percentage of couples meet on such sites, and my understanding is they no longer have the aura of tawdriness that our generation associates with them.
DeleteAgreed...akin to a job interview
DeletePeople of all ages now use dating sites, Mr. S. Even geezers.. There are some scammers, but they certainly produce far more lasting relationships than the singles bars of the 70s and 80s, which mostly produced frustration and disappointment. Unless you got lucky and got laid...and found either one-night stands, or temporary hook-ups that didn't last.
DeletePlaces like Butch McGuire's and Mother's always claimed that thousands of marriages took place among their clientele. Always thought that was just marketing hype and fabricated bullshit. In reality, those claims just made the owners very rich, and helped sell a lot of booze, and created thousands of alcoholics and tobacco addicts.
The woman who eventually became my first wife was a neighbor in my Evanston apartment building. That lasted 13 years. My second wife is also my first college sweetheart. We met on a blind date at 18. Reconnected at 45. We are still married. Going on 33 years now.
Propinquity...or proximity, if you will... once brought potential dating and mating partners together. Work, school, church, neighborhood, community. That doesn't work the way it once did....for far too many reasons to list here. Hence the dating sites. Whatever gets you through the night...or through life.
Oh to be young and in love and so...hip. They look flat out hip. We never looked that hip. I'm envious on a certain level.
ReplyDelete