EAT: Back Page Picnic - Part 2

In previous posts, Brownie Points P.A suggested the old  Back Page Picnic. With Summer disappearing, you can still salvage the last of the festive season and the last of your summer sunshine brownie points.

Mask ease and convenience behind seemingly effortless spontaneity and all-things-nice. The Sydney Picnic Company will deliver a gourmet picnic hamper, freshly packed and beautifully decorated, on the morning of your picnic. Too easy. Plus you can let them know if it's a special occasion and they'll create decor and a menu around it.

 Let her coo over the delicious food and pretty packaging. Let yourself relax and go straight to the Back Page. She'll love it for your A-plus effort, you'll love it for the too-easy brownie points.

Brownie Points P.A memo: The picnics can be a little pricey so perhaps choose it for a special occasion if it's not as affordable for a 'just-because'. In any case, you could always give it a shot yourself and just call your efforts 'rustic' and 'bespoke'.

PLAY: The New York Game

If you rate yourself above the sexpat* game but you're keen to show you've still got Game, then you might be willing to give New York a whirl.

The New York dating scene is a world (and blog post) unto itself. The following are things Brownie Points P.A has learnt, observed and been advised on by both locals and visitors experiencing the same thing.

In no other city are such rules, practices and behaviour so widely-accepted.

1. Guys will approach girls anywhere so get ready to muscle in on the action even if it means cockblocking - on the train, on the street, in a 24 hour diner, in the queue for a public toilet, at a self help lecture, the list goes on. 

2. There are 40% more women than men in this city. So guys get to have their pick and it means they are rarely going to commit. Like a kid in a candy store, when you have so much choice, why would you choose just one? And it's for this reason that...

3. Guys punch above their weight. Waaay above their weight. It's almost impressive and awe-inspiring what the average looking bloke can get here. But it also leads to insane egos and what most women commonly agree upon..

4. The problem with New York men is.. they're from New York. So play up the Australian factor. Especially since..

5. The Australian accent carries its weight in gold. And it also means Australian guys will punch WELL above their weight. Astonishing really. Open your mouth and the American girls will open their....

5. Cougars are acceptable. In fact, they're not even really seen as cougars because being 30+ and single is normal. (There have actually been very few 18-23 year old sightings which is quite refreshing compared to a Saturday night out in the Cross.) As one friend put it - it's NeverNever land and the Peter Pan phenomenon. No one has to grow up here and no one is in the rat race to settle down, worrying about when they'll buy their first home and why they need to have a baby by 30.

6. A girl can be regularly sleeping with 5 guys at once and it's acceptable. No one thinks she's the town bike so your chances are higher that she'll sleep with you.

7. On the same hand though, you can be seeing someone every single day for 3 months, 6 months.. a YEAR and unless you've had the 'exclusivity chat', you're not exclusive.

8. 'Going public' is different to 'seeing someone' but doesn't mean you're 'exclusive'.

9. Online dating is acceptable and not for losers or geeks or freaks.

10. Physical distance is as much a problem here ("He lives all the way uptown. It's just so far) as it is at home ("He lives in the Shire..what a schlep when you're coming from Bondi"). Thus, often leading to couples moving in together very quickly and out of convenience..and because the rent is so damn high.

Brownie Points P.A memo: If you meet a girl and you think they're something special, get them the hell out of the city and bring them back home. For both your sakes.

*sexpat: A person (generally man) who "couldn't get laid in a brothel back home", who moves to a poor country where prosititutes are cheap to "finally be treated like the man he always knew he was."

EAT: Etched into memory

There are certain occasions like anniversaries or 'special occasion' date nights which call for better-than-your-average brownie point efforts.  And Etch is the answer on all fronts.

This gem of a dining experience ticks all the boxes - reasonably priced, brilliant service and equally brilliant food. It's not often all 3 are offered in unison to create the holy trinity of rave restaurant reviews. Located on Bridge St in the InterContinental Hotel,  Etch is a beautiful combination of open plan dining with white walls, high ceilings, big arched windows, antique touches like teeny light bulbs and mannequins and framed artworks on floral patterened walls. It's modern without being clinical, romantic without being flowery.

The menu consists of local produce with a slight Spanish influence and the daily special is a winner especially if you arrive on Lobster Omelette day. It's modern, delicious food without being fussy, contrived or intimidating. Even their cutlery and crockery is cool. Like your best shirt, this works for the romantic date but equally for the work dinner or your mother-in-law's birthday.

Brownie Points P.A memo:   If you need any more convincing or you're the ostentatious, name-dropper type, you can just tell everyone it's also the latest venture from Justin North..you know, the guy who started Becasse. (But remember, full pockets never jingle. And they  never, ever facebook status where they've been, what they spent or what they ate.)

SHARE: Cute and convenient

Proactive present-giving, baffled by birthdays or buying your 
way out of the doghouse? If you are ticking any or all of the above, 
be it for your woman, your sister or your mother, check out these 
websites.

Buy online, buy back your time and buy yourself some brownie 
points. She'll be tickled pink with your cute (and convenient) 
offering of love. 

Chip Chop: Best known for their off beat canvas totes, washed 
denim bags and iconic and well fitting cotton tees.   

Pigeon Hole: All sorts of awesome covering accessories, jewellery, 
clothing, homewares, photography , stationery and toys   

Gosh Celebrity Fashion: Specialising in a mix of Australian 
and international labels, offering celebrity style and celebrity 
fashion at an affordable price   

Sereni and Shentel: Decoration without explanation is their 
approach to life and design with a range of exquisite hand-made 
accessories   

Alfreso Emporium: Beautiful homewares for every room. Perfect for mum.

Map 29: For that quirky, one off , map-inspired gift idea. You can 
even customise your own  product.    

Lola and Bailey: All things design - jewellery, totes, decals -
from these two talented COFA grads and advertising 
art directors.

Shop Plasticland: Retro clothing,mod shoes and bags 
and all things kitsch. The alternative to cookie-cutter women's 
fashion and accessories    

Brownie Points P.A memo: Make sure you allow enough 
time for delivery and buyer beware, you may need to gift wrap yourself.

At the end of the day, no matter what you buy, the best part for her is 

always what you have to say in your card.

PLAY: The way to a man's heart..

is through his stomach. Or so generations of women have been led to believe.

In the interests of ensuring continual good food, you may be inclined to keep this myth alive. However, don't be fooled in thinking too old- school. Her expectation is that you'll be manly enough to change her flat tyre and talented enough to know how to whip up a good meal.

Whether you're a regular homecook hero or a burnt toast beginner, a fun brownie-points-for-trying activity should include a visit to the Cucina Italiana cooking school in Annandale. Previously in a cute little sandstone cottage in Balmain, Cucina Italiana has grown so popular it is now located in a heritage-listed Italian villa in Annandale.

Learn to make everything from a full Italian meal 'Long Italian Lunch' style with antipasti, fresh pasta from scratch, a meat dish and dessert to wood-fired pizza. It's easy, fun, you get to eat it at the end and bag her brownie points for dessert - double win. 

Brownie Points P.A memo: Follow up is key. Whether you're dating or she is your main brownie points beholder, make a her a meal on a separate occasion to maximise the win.