A popular restaurant's singles club asks its dateless patrons to place a salad bowl to the side as a way of letting the opposite sex know they're available. Sherelle Folkes and Raoul Izzard tried their luck

She said...

For most of the year, being partnerless can be bliss you can do what you want without having anyone to answer to.

However, Valentine's Day is the one day when being a singleton is not absolutely fabulous it's absolutely depressing.

Seeing hearts, chocolates, flowers and cards everywhere can make you feel like a 'love reject'. Therefore armed with visions of meeting my Mr Right, just in time to wangle a Valentine's card, I did something I never thought I'd do I went to a singles night at a Harvester restaurant

So there I sat, with a bowl of lettuce and tomatoes in a prominent position at the edge of my table, my calling card to announce that I was indeed in the market for love.

At first I felt really nervous, as if everyone could sense that I was there with the sole purpose of bagging myself a man, as I scanned the room hoping to make eye contact with some tall, dark, handsome stranger.

Sadly, it wasn't to be. Mr Right didn't come walking through the door, but I didn't let it faze me. I pushed all thoughts of men to the back of my mind and settled back to enjoy the next best thing a calorie-loaded chocolate trifle!

He said...

I don't consider myself a sad singleton, more a successful bachelor. Just without the Bentley, diamonds, expensive gadgets and Armani suits.

But, with 'V' day fast approaching, even I began to feel the need to hook up. The local Harvester came to my aid with a bowl of lettuce.

The restaurant chain has decided that pushing an untouched bowl of salad to the side is a good way of telling a potential hot date that you're in the market for love. To tell the truth, I felt a bit of a fool sitting there with my lonely bowl of salad.

I remembered my mother's kind advice as I sat staring nervously wear clean underpants, don't eat with your mouth open and stop biting your nails. It just wasn't very inspiring.

The chat-up lines I had memorised such as 'Can I have your cherry tomato, darlin'?' or 'You don't get many of those for a pound' meant the only bit of hot flesh I would feel was the back of some angry girl's hand. Time ticked away. Families tucked ravenously into jumbo-size steaks but I had lost my appetite.

I needed to make a stand at least that's what Gary, 36, a bus driver from Leeds, thought. "You're a tiger. Give 'em what for!"

A pair of girls at a nearby table, without salad bowl, seemed a good target for my attentions, so I sidled up and ... well, that would be telling!