Making something more accessible can be a boon, unless it's Boone's Farm, and Pat Boone's coming over, in which case, hide it now! Making their formerly hard-to-penetrate concept more accessible, the new Veritas.
Moving from a haute French prix fixe deal to a more user-friendly a la carte mod-American one (while maintaining its famed 3000+ bottle cellar), Veritas has totally overhauled its space, with a front barroom focused around an elongated stone-top bar that's attached to a cork board art'd dining room by a tunnel lined with empty wine bottles, logical, as empty wine bottles are generally good for making connections. The menu now boasts sea-centric apps like squid stuffed w/ black olives & pepperdews, and brioche-crusted lobster "draped over" bone marrow, while meatier options include the tartare/peppered sirloin/short ribs Beef in Transition, which your date will agree is best executed without dribbling. Seasonal mains, meanwhile, also get fishy with the likes of seared scallops w/ sunchoke puree & foie gras, and potato Za'atar-crusted salmon w/ black olives & haricot vert ragout, but the meat's the meat, from Niman Ranch lamb loin with minestrone broth, to a wooly Mangalitsa pig that gets a maple brine, sure to make any vegetarians feel extra a-salt-ed.
Pulling up to the bar'll get you loads of vino by the glass, classically inspired cocktails (French 75, Union Square Side Car...), and smaller bites of duck fat fries, pretzels w/ spicy mustard, and Kobe bresaola, also another dude you might want to hide the alcohol from, unless you want him to think you're accessible.