From Stephen Starr, the man who’s graciously given us the Continental, Makoto and Le Zoo: a California-loving restaurant with an NYC pedigree named Upland. It’s open now in SoFi.

This place? Textbook date night.

Read: warm woods, walls lined with wine and preserved lemons, a candlelit patio. And the chef is Justin Smillie, a Gramercy Tavern and Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria vet, who opened the original Upland in NYC and hails from... Upland, California. Cue the “aha” moment.

Now, cue you picturing what said date night might look like here...

You’ll grab one of the semicircular banquettes and order a bottle of wine. Perhaps one of the fine West Coast specimens strewn all over the menu. Then, consider your starting lineup. Things like housemade ricotta, wood-fired prawns and crispy duck wings (menu here). Finally, choose your main (the coal-roasted short rib for two is a solid option) and throw a pair of blood-orange-and-vanilla California Dreamsicles in there for good measure. There, you’ve just succeeded at life and this place.

But if it’s more of a casual affair, opt for one of the pizzas made in a humidity-controlled room that ensures the pizza dough is perfect all year round.

Now to work on a humidity-controlled Miami...