Alex Powell and Priya Rao
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When Alex Powell and Priya Rao met, he was a meat-loving sommelier, she was a vegan who stuck to pinot grigio; he was 23, she was 39.
Who: Alex Powell, 29, sommelier and co-founder of special-event wine pairing company A Vine Romance. Priya Rao, 46, film promoter and co-founder of A Vine Romance.
Location: Toronto.
Relationship status: Co-habiting since 2011.
A chance encounter
Priya: I first saw Alex on Canada Day, 2011. I was reading my book in a park and I see this topless guy doing chin-ups on a tree. He looked pretty cute, but I wasn't going to just go over and start talking. Three days later I was standing outside the Second Cup on King Street and there he is, topless again, coming down the street.
Alex: I could tell she was giving me the eye, even behind her giant sunglasses. I had just moved to Toronto from Newfoundland. At home there is no one else on the street, so I wasn't used to getting stared down.
Priya: I said, "Hi."
Alex: And then I said, "You're the girl from the park."
Priya: I asked him if he was always topless.
Alex: It was hot! In Newfoundland nobody wears a shirt at 30 degrees.
Crunching numbers
Priya: I didn't think it was a relationship. I thought, this is going to be a great summer fling and then I'm going to set him up with my 22-year-old intern.
Alex: When we met, I was a typical carnivore – meat with most meals.
Priya: And I was just transitioning from vegetarian to vegan. I have been a vegetarian for almost as long as Alex has been alive. Ha! Mostly I don't notice the age difference, but sometimes it just hits you.
It's all about balance
Priya: I can see how, on the outside, people might think we're "opposites attract" – and we are in a lot of surface ways.
Alex: Priya is a morning person and I'm not even in a good mood until the afternoon. She loves pop culture and I don't even know who these people are.
Priya: He is not a very good Trivial Pursuit partner. But I do think that we have a lot in common in terms of fundamentals, values, what we want out of life. And we have both learned a lot from each other's passions
Alex: I love to do pairings with vegetarian or vegan food. When you take away the "main" thing, the meat, it is so much more interesting.
Priya: And I have learned so much about appreciating wine. Turns out I actually do have a palate and I like more than just pinot.