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"\n\nIn lieu of an Episode 3 recap, we thought we'd draw some attention to our favorite element of last night's show: the Don-and-Lane man date. Sure, the men-in-the-company-of-men afternoon-office cocktails and boozy lunches have become staples of the series, but never before have the writers embraced the extremes of this medley: a Godzilla matinee (with alleged audience \"handjobs\"); a steak dinner (doubling as \"a belt buckle the size of Texas\"); a comedy show (\"We're not homosexuals, we're divorced!\"); and a couple of she-didn't-go-to-Barnard hookers to cap off New Year's Eve '64. Phew. In the May issue of GQ, Adam Rapoport endorsed a slightly more mild-mannered evening of quality bro time\u2014just a nice meal and a good bottle of wine without the girls around. After the jump, read the essay in its entirety:\n\n A while back, I was eating dinner with my wife at a restaurant in downtown New York. We were arguing. I can't remember about what. Even at the time, I wasn't sure I knew what we were fighting about. It was one of those fights for fight's sake.\n\nAt one point, while getting an earful and staring blankly at my bowl of cacio e pepe, I glanced around the room. I spotted two Jack Welch-looking guys sitting at a table in the corner. Each had a steak in front of him, one was gripping a bottle of Barolo, and both were jawing away with big grins on their faces.\n\nMan, was I jealous.\n\nSee, most wives and girlfriends have it wrong. I'm not saying they don't have plenty of reasons to suspect we're up to no good. But the fact is, most of us don't have the desire\u2014or the bank accounts or handlers or private jets to get into Tiger Woods\u2014grade trouble. For a lot of us, a perfect evening out has nothing to do with another woman. It has everything to do with another guy.\n\nI'm talking about the man date. You, a good friend, and a great meal. That's it.\n\nLet's be honest: You get to a certain point in your life\u2014let's say your midthirties\u2014when Single You is a quickly receding memory. And you know what? You should be okay with that. Your life is no longer about evenings fraught with uncertainty, about whether you're going to \"get some\" or whether or not she likes you. With the man date, there is no uncertainty. The meal is not a means to end; the meal is a meal. It is to be savored.\n\nThat said, you need to remember that a man date is still a date. Between two people. Just because you're meeting another guy doesn't mean you can invite your boy Lance from Cornell. You've blocked out an evening to spend time with a good friend you don't see that often because you now probably have these things called a family and a career. When you're a random single dude with seven free nights a week, meeting a friend for a burrito is almost depressing\u2014like you've got nothing better to do. Now you can actually sit down and talk with that friend. Not talk shit\u2014like you do at your fantasy-football draft or in your daily e-mail loops\u2014but conduct a real conversation, about your marriage, your career, your finances. You can get as heartfelt (or not) as you want to, but when it's just the two of you, you can't help but engage in a substantive discussion.\n\nOf course, there are parameters. That Asian-fusion place with the sake-tinis? Probably not the best choice. Eating at a restaurant's bar, on the other hand, is always a safe bet. Your masculinity won't be called into question when you have a bourbon and a bacon cheeseburger in front of you. Italian joints are generally perceived as manly (thank you, Scorsese and Coppola); steak houses\u2014obviously. In short, as one of my Wall Street buddies says, \"You go to a man's restaurant for a man's meal.\" You'll know one when you see one.\n\nBut there are limits. A few months ago, I mentioned to a food-obsessed friend that I'd never been to Al Forno, a foodie destination in Providence, Rhode Island. He promptly suggested that we road-trip up there, have dinner, and then spend the night at some hotel. Um. Hmm... How 'bout, No!\n\nUltimately, at the end of the night, when all the steak and chicken parm is put away, your wife might not like it when you stumble home reeking of garlic and whiskey. But I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that it's better than coming home and reeking of Tiany-from-the-Spearmint-Rhino's all-over body spray.\u2014ADAM RAPOPORT"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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