Want to impress on a first date? Try the following: dress to the nines, bring a gift — and get a table at the world's best restaurant halfway around the world.

That's just what San Francisco's Stephanie Robesky did last month when she pulled off the date of a lifetime: dinner for two at a Tokyo popup edition of Noma, the Danish eatery ranked top in the world in recent years by Restaurant magazine. The all-in trip cost? Upwards of $10,000.

The technology entrepreneur's reservation request beat those of thousands of other hopefuls vying for a seat at Noma's temporary incarnation at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. But then she found that she didn't have a date with whom to share the experience, which fell on her 39th birthday. What to do? She did what any savvy Bay Area person would do — turn to the Internet.