I think dinner at a nice restaurant is much more enjoyable when you're not sitting there thinking that you'd rather be having sex. A date should start with sex, then proceed down the hierarchy of other date activities, moving from best to worst. But (and this is key), the date should also end with sex. This way, the really boring things you do at the end of your date won't be that boring, since you know that you'll be having sex again soon.
To explain the point, let's take the initial sex-to-dinner transition. You should have sex right away, because nothing you do during the date is going to beat the sex. So, first you get the sex out of the way. Then, immediately go to dinner. Dinner is a good way to relax after sex, but this isn't the real reason why you should go to dinner. You should go to dinner because it's probably the second best thing you'll do after sex. Of course, if you have something else planned that's better than dinner, do it right after sex instead. Say, going skydiving. (Foreplay also works well after sex, since it's the next best thing to sex.)
So, if you have skydiving planned, do it after sex because it will be better than all the remaining things you'll be doing. Otherwise, while you're curled up on the couch with your loved one, playing cards or watching reruns on TV, you're just going to be thinking about jumping from an airplane.
After skydiving, you'll probably want to have dinner, or if you have a movie planned, watch the movie. If you're really hungry, though, have lunch or a snack, since hunger trumps a movie and therefore lunch becomes the most important thing you can do after skydiving.
Continue to work your way down the hierarchy of activities until you're at something really lame like walking around the block looking at the stars, etc. Once you've reached rock bottom, and the two of you are looking upwards and starting to recite childhood dreams of growing up to be ballerinas and astronauts, it's time for sex again. Once you've gotten to this level (if you're adhering to my suggested methodology) you really don't know what the hell you're saying anyway, because the two of you are both intently focused on the sex you're about to have again.
The great thing about the sex at the end of the date is that it makes all the less exciting things you do much more interesting. Sex adds anticipation to the activities that really need them. Dinner at a nice restaurant doesn't need any anticipation to make it enjoyable, which is why it should come after the first sex. Other time fillers, the things you do just as an excuse to be with each other, are much more interesting, because not only are you about to have sex eventually that same day, but you've already had sex. You're wandering through a perfect, tranquil valley, between two high points of sex.
An alternative dating pattern might be to start with sex, then immediately jump to the boring stuff, and work your way back up to sex. (I'm picturing those exercise bikes that have those bar charts on them that explain the difference between the aerobic and the cross-training modes.) Some people might just enjoy the post-sex glow so much that paging through a goddamn J. Crew catalog would be sufficiently entertaining after sex. Then, once your consciousness gradually become operational, you can attempt something more complex, like microwaving popcorn. Before you know it, you'll be debating the content of a lecture on Israeli foreign policy, and as the last arguments are delivered, you'll be back in the bedroom again for more sex.
Whatever your choice, the guiding principle should be the maximizing of interest and entertainment value of all your date activities. The order of activities is optional. As long as you utilize the sexual bookends principle, what happens between sex and sex is completely up to you.
