It was a night of firsts for Evan and Rachel when we set them up at SoHo Italian restaurant Via Dei Mille. For both, it was their first blind date; Rachel tried her first mussel, and at the end of the night she experienced her first bike ride through the city. So was Rachel, a 22-year-old graduate student, impressed by Evan’s two-wheeler? Or was Evan, a 26-year-old design engineer, more of a flat tire than a wheelie good date?

—CS

He said:

I got to the restaurant first, and Rachel came a few minutes later. She looked really cute in a pretty dress. She started the conversation off right away by asking how I had gotten involved with the Meet Market. I followed suit, and from there we talked about everything from family to careers.

The conversation was going so well that we actually had to take a break just to look at the menu so we could order. Rachel mentioned that she had never tried mussels before, so I insisted she try them. We both thought they were so good that when the photographer arrived, we made him try them, too!

We were laughing the whole night and finally realized we had been on the date for 31/2 hours. I offered to give Rachel a ride home on my bicycle and gave her my card at the end of the night. I would definitely hang out with Rachel again. I found her cute, or, as she would say, “sassy.”

She said:

I was a little nervous going into the date since I didn’t know anything about him, but I felt comfortable after just a few minutes. I thought he was really cute — I like the dark and scruffy look.

We talked about working in fields that we love, our families and living in New York. Pretty soon we were just laughing over silly things. He even convinced me to try mussels for the first time.

At the end of the night, Evan offered to give me a ride on his bike back to my apartment. I figured, why not? He took me from Spring Street to 10th Street in just a few minutes. I was pretty impressed. All in all, I thought the date went smoothly. I’m really glad I did it.