I hear so many friends refer to planning and executing ‘date nights’ with their significant other. It seems ironic that we have to plan and carve out moments in our life to spent with our life partner—the person we’ve chosen to spend our life with! How did we become so busy?

I’m as guilty as anyone. My husband and I both have a tendency to become consumed by our work—me because of my unhealthy aspiration for perfection, and Brian because his travel schedule physically drags him away from our home two to three weeks a month.

During the last few months, we’ve been in different time zones more often than not so the moments we’ve have together become all the more precious.

Likely you can insert ‘children’ or ‘caregiving’ or any number of other things for ‘work’ in the above scenario and arrive at a similar conclusion. Hence having to plan ‘date nights’ with our beloveds!

While I love planning local adventures and faraway travels so Brian and I can occasionally escape together, I can’t say I’ve ever thought of our escapades as going on dates. I think my definition still looks and feels something like it did back when I was 16 and nervous about him taking me to Burger King and the Dollar Theater!

So it was fun when we decided to actually have (and call it!) a ‘date night’ last week following Brian’s week away in Germany. Just like the old days, we went to see a movie and then went out to eat—I can’t remember the last time we did that!

The movie, The Zookeeper’s Wife, was incredible and every bit as moving as the book. We reflected on it as we sat through the credits and on the drive to dinner but agreed we were heading into a pretty dark place if we continued to ponder it all evening.

Thankfully our dinner venue, the Scotsman Bistro, was the perfect environment for settling our thoughts and enjoying our time together. We grabbed a small corner table for two and were quickly greeted by one of the owners, George, whose Scottish accent and warm handshake put us right at home.

Through the side windows we could see the outdoor patio, which would be perfect in the summer. Inside the space was cozy and relatively intimate, probably only seating 30 or so people.

Our servers were friendly and hospitable, and we enjoyed sharing a wine flight and carafe of the Petite Syrah while we perused the menu. Everything looked delicious, and we ended up with the garlic butter shrimp and black and white pudding as appetizers while we decided how hungry we were.

We had arrived around 7:15 p.m. which was perfect because the live music was set to begin at 8 p.m. The music was actually how I stumbled upon this place—we really missed having some local spots that were locally owned and featured live music where we could meet up with friends or take out-of-town guests. I was thrilled when my recent search turned up the Scotsman, which has live music almost every Friday and Saturday night!

The performer the night we were there was Chuck Gay, and he was wonderful. He performed songs from the 60s and 70s, primarily folk and light rock, and it reminded me of a guy we used to love to see at the Riverside Wine Bar in Kent, Ohio.

We ended up adding a salad and an AMAZING sticky toffee pudding to our meal and simply enjoying our food, the music, and the positive vibes in the room. Some people came and went while others seemed to be settling in for the evening. While some groups were a little more rowdy and caught up in their conversations, other people were flying solo or with one other person, sipping their scotch and singing along to the music. It was a really interesting dynamic, and it absolutely worked.

We were both impressed by the food, drink, atmosphere and hospitality, and we will definitely be back!