Jedidiah David Pines and Jeanette Danielle Settembre weren’t looking for everlasting love when they matched on Hinge in January 2021. Both wanted to explore New York’s dating scene and meet different people.
“I was newly single and dating around,” Ms. Settembre said. “Finding my husband wasn’t my intention.”
Mr. Pines said, “I was not looking for anything specific but trying to be open-minded.”
After a few messages, they set up a FaceTime call and chatted for a half-hour nonstop. “Jeanette told me she was a freelance journalist and would be interviewing the Rock the next day for a story, which I thought was really cool,” Mr. Pines said.
“I lit up when Jed told me about his site, Mister Chicken Parm, his passion project where he posts reviews of chicken Parm sandwiches,” Ms. Settembre said. “I’m Italian American and food-obsessed, so we instantly bonded.”
They had their first date two weeks later at Uva, a wine bar on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. At the time, Mr. Pines, now 40, rented a studio in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood while Ms. Settembre, 34, was living with a roommate on the Upper East Side.
Mr. Pines was instantly drawn to Ms. Settembre. “She had a vibrant energy,” he said. “I knew after a few minutes that I wanted to see her again.”
For Ms. Settembre, the attraction grew as the evening went on. “I thought Jed was shy because he was soft-spoken, but I realized it was his quiet confidence,” she said.
They chatted for a few hours over small bites and wine. “I don’t remember exactly what we talked about, but I could feel a strong positive energy coming from Jeanette,” Mr. Pines said. “I asked her to go to another bar for a nightcap, so we could keep hanging out.”
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Over more drinks, Mr. Pines shared that he had climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in jeans. “In that moment, I knew he was the type of person who could do anything he set his mind to, and he always does,” Ms. Settembre said.
By the end of the night, Mr. Pines said that he was sure that Ms. Settembre was “the one” and told her that he wanted to see her again. Ms. Settembre was more apprehensive. “I was still unsure if I was ready to date, so when Jed kept asking me out by text, I was slow to respond,” she said.
By mid-March they had their second date over dinner at Italianissimo Ristorante on the Upper East Side.
“Our conversation flowed like the Montepulciano wine we were drinking,” Ms. Settembre said.
After their meal, the pair headed to the Upper East Side dive bar Gaf East for martinis and eventually kissed. “Let’s just say our chemistry was saucy,” Ms. Settembre said.
Their relationship went into full speed. They texted frequently and saw each other several times a week. In late April, they went to West Palm Beach, Fla., and lived together for a month in an apartment that Ms. Settembre’s father owned.
“We really connected in Florida, and for the first time ever, I felt so safe and at peace with a partner,” she said.
When they returned to New York in late May 2021, Ms. Settembre’s lease was close to ending, and she began looking for another place. By that October, she moved into a one-bedroom co-op on the Upper East Side. The following March, Mr. Pines moved in, and the couple continue to call it home.
They discussed getting married, but first, Ms. Settembre was set on finishing the novel she had long aspired to write. The book, “Little Red Flags,” a summer romance thriller, will be published by Regalo Press in May 2026. “I had written the book in starts and stops for years, so I set myself a deadline to finish it before getting engaged,” she said.
By March 2024, she reached her goal.
Ms. Settembre grew up in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. She is a features reporter for The New York Post, covering culture, entertainment, celebrity news and food. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication from Manhattan College.
Mr. Pines is from Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. He owns Pines & Co, which manages accounting and finance for restaurants. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Pace University and an M.B.A. from the Rome branch of St. John’s University.
The couple wed Sept. 6 before 170 guests at Meadowlark North Fork, an event space in Cutchogue, N.Y. Jeffrey Glazer, Mr. Pines’s childhood friend, officiated and was ordained by the Provenance Center for Ordination for the occasion. Mr. Pines walking down the aisle to an instrumental version of his favorite song, “Regulate” by Warren G and Nate Dogg. Ms. Settembre walked down to an instrumental version of “Something Just Like This” by Coldplay and the Chainsmokers.
Dinner at their reception featured many of their favorite Italian dishes, including chicken piccata, gnocchi with pesto, and tomato and burrata salad, but no chicken Parmesan.
Shivani Vora is a New York City-based travel writer who considers herself a very savvy packer.
The post They Bonded Over Chicken Parm appeared first on New York Times.
