How COVID changed the way that Utah couples meet, date and fall in love. 

• Derek Carlisle

Brian Carlson, ABC4 morning news anchor, first caught sight of Liz Pratt at a 2019 Christmas gala at the Governor's Mansion. "She walked in with her date. When we looked at each other, I knew there was something there," he said. "I didn't believe in love at first sight, but then it happened to me."

Carlson asked Pratt to dance, "and we almost kissed on the dance floor," he said. A week later, their first date was dinner at his favorite barbecue place in Bountiful. After that, they dated weekly and declared themselves a couple on Valentine's Day of 2020.

Then COVID-19 hit.

There were several intervals when the new couple couldn't see each other for weeks at a time due to pandemic restrictions. On one Zoom date, they both watched the same movie. Another time, Pratt brought Carlson a care package containing a steak dinner, then headed home to her own kitchen for the same meal. They dined together via FaceTime.

Another night, Pratt bought a murder mystery kit, and they puzzled over a whodunnit via Zoom. Two times, her kids got sick, and she self-quarantined at home. "With my job, I can't be around anybody who has COVID," Carlson said.

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• Stephanie Pack and Sam Peterson met through a dating app in the initial weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Peterson said the outbreak created an “icebreaker” by forcing them to first interact online.

Stephanie Pack and Sam Peterson met on the Hinge dating app in May of 2021. Because of the pandemic, they opted for a FaceTime first date.

"In a way, COVID made things easier for us. Seeing each other face-to-face online was a good icebreaker," Peterson said. "Stephanie felt safer meeting in person after seeing me."

Both quickly realized they had a good connection. Their next step was walking together in Memory Grove. "I asked if he was hungry, and the [planned] hour-and-a-half event spread out for the rest of the evening," Pack recalled. Peterson added: "I quickly recognized this was something I wanted to take more seriously. We were both at a stage where we were looking for long-term partners."

Pack recalled a two-hour conversation in which Peterson addressed every lingering reservation she felt from a previous relationship. She said it was a breath of fresh air to meet someone so earnest and self-aware, and she was surprised when he accepted an invitation to her family's reunion after only four months of dating.

But then, during the six-hour drive to the three-day reunion, the couple discovered their goals weren't as aligned as they first thought. Peterson was finishing school in history and international relations and planned to relocate to Washington, D.C., for the next step of his studies. Pack had just purchased a home and was settling into her career in Utah.

"Projecting out 12 months, we were moving in different directions," she said. Finally, she asked herself, "Is this where it ends?"

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• Dating counselor Loni Harmon

The pandemic made dating more intentional for many singles, says Loni Harmon, a licensed therapist known locally as The Dating Counselor. "[Many people] had a heightened awareness that they wanted a partner and became clearer with what they were looking for," Harmon said.

But, she added, things like vaccinations became a line in the sand for some couples—leading to philosophical disagreements and, eventually, breakups. In addition, shifts in work and housing generated new relationship challenges to sort through.

"During the quarantine months, many singles moved back in with their families and began to date in that area," Harmon said. "When it came time to be back in the office, they had to decide whether to do long distance or break it off."

Going for It
In her work as a matchmaker and dating coach for Latter-day Matchmaker, Erin Schurtz continually sees people seeking romance. And she agreed that the pandemic likely increased the urgency of such searches.

"Before COVID, people approached relationship-finding more casually—[it seemed like] they always had someone to hang out with or go on dates with," Schurtz said. But during the quarantine months, she added, people "felt very lonely and were more desperate to find companionship."

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• Scott Wood and Yale Holcomb opted to combine their surnames as “Holwood” after meeting online, dating long-distance and marrying in Lehi in 2022.

Scott Wood and Yale Holcomb likely wouldn't have met without COVID-19. They first crossed paths on a Zoom call for gay LDS dads. At first, Wood didn't appreciate Holcomb's presence. He texted others, saying, "This guy isn't LDS, and he's not a dad. What's he doing here?"

Wood later discovered that Holcomb stared at him throughout the meeting. "He liked looking at me. He was all kinds of happy, and I had no idea he was visually attracted," Wood said.

Once they started talking to each other, their conversations easily lasted seven or eight hours. "With headphones, I took him Costco-shopping with me," Wood said. "I could talk to him all day."

Still, there were initial hitches. Wood lived in Idaho, and Holcomb's home was in Indianapolis. Wood has five sons. Back then, Holcomb had yet to have a positive experience with kids.

But through Holcomb's former job as a hotel inspector, he had accumulated airline and hotel miles. He invited Wood to be his Yellowstone tour guide on Labor Day, 2020.

"I picked him up in my family minivan," Wood said. "The windshield was cracked, and I'm sure he didn't know what to think of me." But, he added, "I told myself this wasn't a date. I was tour guiding. I showed him [that] my car with a dent was just me."

They stayed at lodgings in both Yellowstone and nearby Island Park, Idaho, and Holcolmb found himself chatting more and more with one of Wood's sons, developing a bond. When it was time to drop Holcomb back off at the airport after the trip, he said that he didn't want to leave and was interested in maintaining a long-distance relationship.

Harmon said the pandemic made life feel more precious, and caused many people to pause and look more deeply at the people around them. It also shifted the self-awareness of singles, giving them time to work on their own personal development and goals.

"I think the pandemic taught each of us what we want in life and gave us the push to go get it," Harmon said.

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• U of U professor Lisa Diamond

The distancing during COVID-19 was somewhat unprecedented in the modern era, according to Lisa Diamond, a professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah. She said the lack of interpersonal contact was like a worldwide experiment and many of the questions around its effect on relationships have yet to be answered.

"We are experiencing a new normal," Diamond said. "Nobody knows how it is going to go. It's an unusual time to be a relationship researcher."

Diamond said that while online meetings had taken place before the pandemic, the format was supercharged during COVID-19. "Interacting online is not really how our brains have evolved to interact socially," she said. "A screen can't replace the kind of feedback we receive when we meet in person."

Regarding online dating, Diamond advises that aspiring couples shift to in-person interactions as soon as possible. "Don't waste time chatting with a virtual person. Talking to someone face-to-face and looking into their eyes is how we make mating decisions," Diamond said. "The chemistry that you have, in-person, is irreplaceable."

Now, in 2023, Diamond said that many people are returning to pre-pandemic social patterns. But while that's easier for some—like college students or others whose lives revolve around a physical space—remote work and other virtual/hybrid spaces impact a person's ability to expand their social circle.

"Today, anyone whose job is done on a computer likely spends at least part of the week working remotely," Diamond said. "You don't pass them in the hallway, and you don't go to lunch."

Making It Work
Pratt has four children who love to hike. So in January 2021, the night before a planned trek, Carlson and Pratt's children made signs together. Each child held a sign and, when they took a break to sit down, the signs formed a question: "Will you marry me?"

Pratt said "Yes," and when the couple tried to book a wedding venue, they were successful only because another marriage had been canceled. "It just happened to fit when we could do it," Carlson recalled.

Megan Bartholomew, editor of Utah Bride & Groom, is aware that many weddings were postponed during the pandemic era. And many venues and wedding services experienced a plunge in business in 2020 and 2021, she said.

"When there's an economic crunch, luxuries—like weddings and travel—are the first to go," she said.

But as COVID-19 recedes in severity, the wedding industry is bouncing back in a big way. "This year, they are swamped trying to squeeze the (formerly postponed) 2020 and 2021 weddings in with the 2022 weddings," Bartholomew said.

Flying to Indianapolis in November 2020, Wood visited Holcomb's renovated charcoal-gray house with its well-tended garden of beautiful flowers. In January of 2021, Holcomb came to Idaho for Wood's birthday. On Feb. 12, 2021, both flew to Denver, dining at a nice restaurant where everyone still was masked.

On another excursion, Wood proposed to Holcomb in the mountains near Grand Targhee, and Holcomb also proposed at the top of Las Vegas' Eiffel Tower. They created a blended surname—Holwood—from their two former last names. Guests from 11 states attended their wedding in Lehi.

"The weather was perfect for bringing everybody together after we had been apart for so long. My Scouting friends had never met my gay friends before," Wood said. "They had a lot of fun getting to know each other."

Wood, who previously had been married for 30 years, said he never imagined finding a man to marry and call his husband. Likewise, Holcomb never envisioned marrying a man with five kids.

"Now the kids will text him before they text me," Wood said. "This year, he went with my ex-wife to a parent-teacher conference. We're just being ourselves and loving it."

Meanwhile, Pack and Peterson discussed what a third path might look like for their future. Peterson was open to postponing his studies and fleshing out a career in Utah, and his willingness to sacrifice his goals for the sake of the relationship struck Pack, she said.

"I realized I had to be willing to make a similar sacrifice someday. If he stuck around for a few more years, his career goals might lead him away at some point, and I needed to be willing to make that leap," Pack said.

Pack was anxious about engagement and wedding planning, and initially tried to convince Peterson to elope, with him responding that his mother would "kill" him. But one day overlooking the city on a hike, Pack suggested they "rip off the bandaid" and formalize their engagement. To her surprise, Peterson had the wedding ring in his pocket and handed it to her.

"As soon as he put the ring on my finger, I felt a rush of relief and peace over my previous anxieties," Pack said.

The couple delegated aspects of the wedding planning to friends and family who were happy to help out. Pack's mother and sister prepared a small, intimate ceremony and then, months later, Peterson's mother organized a larger reception delayed by COVID-19.

"She threw an incredible party," Peterson said. "It was an outpouring of love. I can't believe we almost didn't do it."

Despite the inconvenience of the pandemic, Carlson felt there were benefits, too. "For me, as someone who waited a long time to get married [at age 43], it helped us take our time, and I got to know her in ways I wouldn't have otherwise," he said.

In addition, when they married, "I became a stepdad, and the extra time helped me ease into a situation where I took on a big responsibility and commitment," he said. "It made me feel more confident about taking on that choice."

According to Harmon, dating in 2023 is shifting away from meeting potential partners online and back toward traditional habits. That translates to an uptick in singles events and participation in singles-oriented social groups.

"They are still struggling to find matches," she said, but they are going on many dates and making efforts to choose a partner."

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• Urban Hill, in the Post District , is one of Salt Lake’s newest dining options.

Check out the special Valentine's Day menus at these restaurants around Salt Lake City
Date Night
By Aimee L. Cook

Are you looking for the perfect place to take your special someone on or around Valentine's Day? Celebrate an evening full of romance, good food and memorable moments over dinner at one of these delightful restaurants.

Whether you're in search of a cozy Italian restaurant or a chic new eatery with signature cocktails, this list has something for everyone who hopes to make their night out extra special. With romantic lighting, delicious eats and unbeatable ambiance at every price point, it's time to make Valentine's Day dinner extraordinary. Pro tip: Make a reservation now.

Urban Hill
The newest eatery on the block with a seafood-heavy menu. Fun fact, the diver scallops are delivered with the actual name of the diver who gathered them.

For one night only, as a Valentine dining treat, a four-course menu has been carefully crafted by chef Nick Zocco. Dinner begins with a taste of peekytoe crabcake or beet carpaccio. Choose then between Malaspina oysters, served with caviar and strawberry sorbet, or a citrus salad with pickled raisins and fromage blanc.

Main dishes include three options—roasted duck breast, wood-fired grass-fed hanger steak or potato gnocchi. Cost is $90 per person, with optional wine pairings for an additional $45
510 S. 300 West, Unit 100, SLC
385-295-4200
urban-hill.com

Laurel Brasserie & Bar
If you have not yet dined in this revamped space (formally the Garden Café) at The Grand America, perhaps this should be the time. The newly remodeled space has a main restaurant, three private dining rooms and a 21+ bar area.

The bar area offers two daily happy hours, 4 to 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to midnight. Bar menu items are discounted and the craft cocktails are flowing.

The regular dinner menu will be offered in the main dining area, and you can't go wrong with any of the offerings by executive chef Fernando Soberanis—the pigs in a blanket are Snake River Farms franks wrapped in a buttery dough ($10), or the Christiansen Family Farm cider-brined bone-in pork chop ($33) are very popular for good reason.

For Valentine's Day, the Grand America is offering a Room & Dinner package. Couples can choose a room or suite and enjoy a five course, prix-fixe dinner in a private dining room. Dinner includes shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad, butter-poached lobster tail with dry-aged filet mignon and a scrumptious chocolate cake and apple crisp tarte to finish. Cost is $600 per couple, depending on room.
555 S. Main, SLC
801-258-6708
laurelslc.com

Table X
Table X's impeccable tasting menus have made it a destination for those in search of an exquisite dining experience. From the first course to dessert, chefs Nick Fahs and Mike Blocher have crafted each delicious dish so that guests embark on a culinary journey. A winter tasting menu experience to celebrate Valentine's Day will be offered between Feb. 10 and Feb. 15 (at press time, Feb. 14 slots were sold out but availability remained on the other dates).

"The menu will feature winter produce that we still source at the Downtown Farmers Market, and we will be pulling out some special items preserved from last summer like Weeks Farm's blueberries, fermented tomatoes and preserved currents from our garden," Chef Blocher said. "We will also be doing house-made pasta with Umbria black truffles and pork from our whole pigs from Christiansen Family Farms."

Note: The entire seven-course menu was not released at press time.
1457 E. 3350 South, SLC
385-528-3712
tablexrestaurant.com

• Aimee l. Cook
• The oysters with beef tartare at Mar l Muntanya in the new Hyatt Regency come with a view of downtown Salt Lake City.

Mar | Muntanya
Located in the new Hyatt Regency hotel in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, Mar | Muntanya takes diners on a culinary journey created by chef Tyson Peterson highlighting the best of Northern Spanish cuisine. The rooftop restaurant with its skyline views blends traditional recipes with local flavors, such as the funeral croquettas ($8) and the roasted elk tenderloin ($35)—a dish that's personally nostalgic for Chef Peterson—for an unforgettable dining experience. In addition, four newly installed temperature controlled globes are available for an intimate dining experience.

If brunch is more your style, Mar | Muntanya recently launched a brunch menu, offering savory items like egg basquaise ($11) and sweeter dishes like churro French toast ($13) and their noteworthy oysters with beef tartare ($17).

"It's been fun to see this place come to life," said Peterson. "I don't think anyone else is doing brunch five days a week—I like going to brunch, and as a chef, I don't have normal days off, so I don't get the opportunity to go to brunch. I am originally from Utah, so there a few cheeky things on the menu."

Brunch is served Wednesday through Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
170 S. West Temple, SLC
385-433-6700
mar-muntanya.com

Fratelli Ristorante
Pete Cannella and Dave Cannell are brothers with a passion for Italian cuisine. Together, they run Fratelli restaurant, dishing up delicious homemade sausage and sauces crafted with ingredients imported from Italy by Pete Cannella, while Dave Cannell manages front-of-house operations. Enjoy the classics such as lasagna, made with Grandma's red-sauce recipe, or chicken piccatta.

A prix fixe menu for couples ($60 for two) offers a tasty introduction to their family recipes, new and old. Lobster crab ravioli with creamy tomato vodka sauce, espresso-rubbed petite filet with Cabernet pan sauce and strawberry chocolate tiramisu is what's for dinner.

"Valentine's is a special day for everyone—not just those in relationships—but to celebrate love for all," Pete says.
8612 S. 1300 East, Sandy
801-495-4550
fratelliutah.com

SLC Eatery
At SLC Eatery, flavors are made to move. Logen Crew and Paul Chamberlain create an ever-evolving cuisine that's sure to fuel your flavor explorations. You never know what delicious combination awaits on the menu. True to form, the duo has crafted an exceptional menu for Valentine's Day that allows the diners a choice of dish per course.

"We hope you can celebrate a memorable meal with us," Chamberlain said.

Course 1 includes cauliflower fattoush salad, dungeness crab, mushroom-Parmesan ravioli or grilled hearts of palm. The second course includes Platinum Provisions wagyu beef, poached black cod, smoked celery root, organic chicken or crispy duck bo ssam for two. Cost is $85 per person. Complimentary bread service is included.
1017 S. Main, SLC
801-355-7952
slceatery.com

Dos Olas
Make your way to Dos Olas, located at the Pendry resort in Park City, and enjoy something new for your Valentine's Day dining. Offering a special Valentine's Day three-course menu of yellow fin tuna aguachile, braised short rib with mole rosa and, to sweeten the deal, unique chocolate textures including Maracuya sorbet and Mexican spices biscuit. What a way to treat your sweetheart and your taste buds. The cost is $65 per person.
2417 W. High Mountain Road, Park City
435-513-7198
dosolasparkcity.com