Red Bank RiverCenter is offering Date Night In packages featuring dinner and beverage for two and other items to create a festive date to enjoy at home.
By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
It takes a bit of creativity to find new ways for restaurants and businesses to reach customers in the midst of a pandemic.
“We all know you can get great food in Red Bank, but you can also get flowers and wine and other things,” said Laura Kirkpatrick, executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter. “All the ingredients to create a great date in.”
And a cozy date at home – romantic, platonic or otherwise – can be enjoyed through Red Bank’s Date Night In packages.
Each week a new package will be carefully assembled by RiverCenter to offer local eateries and retailers a chance to give guests everything needed to create a date night while staying at home. Now that winter temperatures put a chill on outside dining and health officials urge us to keep our distance from one another until the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, staying home may be the safest place to be these days.
RiverCenter started the initiative last spring during the initial surge. “That’s when COVID started and restaurants were shut down to indoor dining and retailers completely shut down,” said Kirkpatrick. “Restaurants were still making a go of it with curbside pickup. We thought maybe we can curate the whole thing.”
The RiverCenter team started reaching out to borough restaurant and business owners and put dining and goodies together to create a package of one-stop shopping for an evening – food, wine or beer, flowers, as well as other items such as candles, massage oils, or even a craft a couple can do together.
The idea worked. It helped retailers showcase their goods, restaurants keep their staff cooking and couples a chance to break out of the rut of eating in every night.
Packages must be ordered two days before the event. This Jan. 21 package included: a complete dinner for two from Patrizia’s of Red Bank, wine to share, a floral bouquet from Mayflowers of Red Bank, and deluxe spa lotion plus a special offer for a future treatment from Woodhouse Day Spa. The cost is $80.
Future date packages might include chocolates from Red Bank Chocolate Shop, beverages from The Wine Cellar or Red Tank Brewery, or wine glasses to decorate from A Time to Kiln.
Packages are inclusive of items and sales tax. There will be no substitutions and you must be 21 years of age to purchase and proof of age will be required for pickup. There will be limited quantities, so order early. Selections for the upcoming Date Night In will be posted on Fridays.
“Date Night In is great,” said Scott Broschart, a Red Bank resident who took advantage of the initiative last year. “It takes the worry out of planning a nice night with your significant other. The flowers and wine are a great touch with dinner.”
“With outdoor dining pretty much nonexistent since we’re in the heart of winter, it’s nice to have a pre-planned dinner date,” he continued. “With any takeout meal, we’ve found the key is plating it up when you get home. It’s what elevates ordinary takeout to an at-home dinner date.”
For more information or to reserve your Date Night In package, visit redbank.org.
This article originally appeared in the Jan. 21, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
