The Late Show

Date Night — Going Out

Most dates begin at the obvious hour — seven, eight, the slot the evening hands you. The late show begins later, on purpose. The nine-thirty film. The last set at the jazz club. The kitchen that serves until midnight. A date that starts when most evenings are ending.

There is a particular magic to it. The city is quieter and more itself. The crowds have thinned. The hour belongs to the people who chose it, and choosing it together is its own small statement.

WHY LATE WORKS

The late show changes the texture of a date. An early start carries the day’s residue — you arrive a little tired, a little still-at-work. A late start clears all of that. You have had the evening to shed the day. You arrive as your night self, not your day self, and so does the city.

It also bends the shape of the evening. A normal date ends and leaves you with the question of what to do with the rest of the night. The late show does not have a rest of the night. It is the whole of it, compressed and concentrated and a little bit secret.

HOW TO DO IT

Eat first, lightly, so dinner is not the event. Then the late thing — the film, the set, the show. And know that very little will be open afterward, which is the point: the late show ends on a quiet street, a walk, a nightcap somewhere small, and then home.

The best part of the night is often the part most people are asleep for. Stay up for it together.

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POUR — Something small and late. An amaro, a final glass of wine.

MOOD — Nocturnal. Quietly conspiratorial. Wide awake.