Greeted by maitre d' Mateo Saina, and waited on by table angels Alice and Pete, as well as cocktail maestro Neil, our latest crop of First Date Ireland contenders have been put through their paces as they meet their blind dates.
No matter how hard the match-makers may work, nothing can be guaranteed on a first date; while one dater may be ready to open their heart, their companion may be putting their foot in their mouth.
After spotting a few red flags and wincing through some dodgy one-liners, it's always a treat to see sparks fly between a couple, which is exactly what viewers enjoyed when David met Jordan.
Twenty-seven-year-old hairdresser David from Cork was paired with 29-year-old make-up artist Jordan from Dublin for a night of dinner, drinks, laughs, and open-minded conversation, with the two covering everything from Jordan's grief to David's hopes of fatherhood.
All followed by a night of cocktails in Pyg and dancing in The George.
Speaking to the camera crew ahead of his date, Jordan spoke about being raised in the tight-knit community in Clondalkin: "Where I come from, everyone knows each other. We have street parties and we used to do clean-up days and things like that, it was great."
Sitting down to dinner, Jordan immediately teased David for his "champagne lifestyle on a MiWadi budget" before easing into more serious topics, opening up about the losses he suffered in his early 20s.
Jordan's mother battled with drug addiction, and when she had him at the young age of 17, she decided it would be best if he was raised by his grandmother. While his nanny took on the role of parent, his birth mother held more of a sisterly role.
Despite this, he insists he had a great childhood and always remained close to his mam: "We were the best of friends as well, I always had love for her, I never had any ill will."
Jordan and David need the whole show to themselves. 💕 #FirstDatesIRL
— Dara Ó Cinnéide 🎙🎧 (@ThatBlindFella) January 19, 2023
Tragically, both his mother and grandmother passed away when he was in his early 20s, leaving Jordan devastated and a little isolated from his community. However, since persevering through his grief, the 29-year-old says he's making an effort to get back out into the world.
"I'm so proud of myself for doing something like this," he told the First Dates crew. "I'm doing a whole year of stepping outside my comfort zone, doing things that scare me, making meself vulnerable."
"I didn't let their deaths define me," he later added. "They're with me all the time and they're watching me all the time so I have to make sure I'm doing them proud."
"I'm really after personally, mentally, spiritually - all that - I'm after growing so much," he told his date.
Later in the show, David spoke about his family situation, explaining that his parents had amicably separated and re-married when he was just a toddler, so he has always grown up surrounded with a big family.
"I don't remember it ever being two, it's always been the four of them," he explained. "To me, a two-parent household is really weird."
While enjoying an after-dinner drink together, David told Jordan that he would "love" to have kids but admitted that he initially struggled to see his future as a father as a gay man.
"It was the thing that I found hardest to come to terms with, about understanding that I was gay but that all I wanted to be all my life is a dad. It took a long time for me to be like, I can't have it the normal way."
Wrapping up a date filled with vulnerable conversations and big laughs, the two told the First Dates crew that they would happily see one another again, and went on to enjoy a night of cocktails and dancing in the capital.
To watch First Dates Ireland back, head over to the RTÉ Player now.
