(Photo: Eliot Shepard)

1. Amy Salinger
29, East Village, stylist
“I like this place because you can just focus on your friends. At some bars, people stand around like, ‘Who’s prettier?’ I’m too concerned with my own sexual prowess to notice anyone else.”
Outcome:
“I went to a wine bar and then to sleep.”

2. Johnny Gould
34, L.A., head of a production company
“It’s hard to know who I’m attracted to, because everyone’s wearing 27 layers. I’d know better if some of those layers came off.”
Outcome:
“At the end of the night, it was me and an expensive glass of Cabernet.”

3. Ben Engelke
30, Lower East Side, industrial designer
“I’m getting drunk here so I can talk to girls later. I recently broke up with my girlfriend, so my friends are getting me wasted.”
Outcome:
“I tried to talk to those two girls Stefanie and Elizabeth, but they were standoffish.”

4. Sue Lee
31, Hell’s Kitchen, investment banker
5. Colleen Filipo
32, Battery Park City, investment banker
Sue: “I don’t think anyone here is cute, but if we drink more, that might change.”
Colleen: “We both have M.B.A.’s, and we don’t need a man for money. We’re the perfect catch!”
Outcome:
Colleen: “We met some people, but no one of interest.”

6. Keith Sullivan
30, Fort Greene, artist
“I’ve gotten a lot of phone numbers recently. The secret of my charm is that once I hang out with someone for a while, I just get talkative and nice.”
Outcome:
“We went to Bowery Electric and I did leave with a new number in my phone.”

7. Carl Schubert
22, Riverdale, student
“No one is really catching my eye; I’m pretty picky. I don’t have a strategy where I’m like, ‘All right, I’m going to fake-spill something on her.’ ”
Outcome:
“We went to Pommes Frites at 4 a.m.—that was the highlight. I love fries.”

8. Joanne Yun
25, Brooklyn, marketing
“This has been a big year of trying to talk to guys, but always spectacularly failing.”
Outcome:
“It was a standard night out and I got home around 2 a.m. I didn’t meet anyone exciting.”

Additional reporting by Mark Byrne and Amber Sutherland

Related:

• Articles by Emma Rosenblum
• Table of Contents: Dec 22, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!