Farid Ali Lancheros and George Constantinou Fernandes met at a Date Bait event at the GLBT Center on a cold and snowy night in February in 2001.  "I saw George leaning against the piano located on the second floor and found him very attractive," said Farid, "so I was very excited when I went in to Date Bait and saw him there."  George and Farid started dating, but the relationship did not fully develop for some time.  "I knew that I was not ready for a relationship," Farid said, "so I wanted to take it very slowly with George." 

That was not exactly what George was looking for:  "It almost drove me away because I wanted to settle down," he said.  After a few ups and downs, George went on vacation with some friends to Brazil and came back to New York missing Farid. At that point, Farid was ready to move to the next step.  Since then, George and Farid have opened a restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn called Bogota Latin Bistro.  Farid says that because of the restaurant he does not come to the Center as often as he used to but the Center does allow him to reconnect with old friends and it continues to be a resource.  "I love that the Center offers so many activities that allow me to meet people in different ways," he said.  "Earlier in my life I utilized the Center for personal growth and now I use it for professional development in addition to social activities.