Your idea of high art is the MAD magazine fold-in. How are you going to impress that cultured coffee-shop-flirt-session acquisition if he or she speaks solely in Goethe quotes and Kandinsky compositions? Relying on your surroundings, that's how.

Drinks: No offense to the city's casual pubs, but you're gonna need more than an endless stream of Pabst-and-Beam specials to make it out alive. Ease into GiGi to check out this sure thing: the chocolate raspberry martini, made with Grey Goose, Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur, cream and decadent Chambord. (GiGi, 319 Market St., 215-574-8880, www.gigiphilly.com)

Main Event: British choreographer Siobhan Davies' In Plain Clothes relies on single musical notes to connote specific movements (and vice versa). But she didn't just copy stale stock poses out of a Twyla Tharp coffee table book. Davies consulted professionals outside her realm—architects and doctors among them—to observe the creative process and deliver nonjaded input. Lovely! (Thu.-Fri., Oct. 5-6, 8 p.m., $15, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914, www.paintedbride.org)

Dinner: Watching lean, attractive, ultra-flexible people contort will certainly stimulate one's appetite … for kebob. Right next door, Konak serves Old City quality Turkish cuisine. Just don't collar-tug when you check the menu—it's a little hard on the wallet, but there are a number of fairly priced combo platters perfect for sharing. (FYI: Konak is Turkish for "mansion," a factoid you can totally drop to impress your date.) (Konak, 228 Vine St., 215-592-1212, www.konakturkishrestaurant.com)

Dessert: You gotta Istanbul your breath somehow. Browse Red Sky's sweets menu for items like the warm brownie sundae, served with an insane chocolate chip banana gelato. At this rate, you'll be naked in bed reading The Fountainhead to each other in no time. (Red Sky, 224 Market St., 215-925-8080, www.redskylounge.com)