DINNER WITH STRANGERS

June 26th, 2010

AGAIN, having lost the last 3 months of blog posts I am attempting to repost some of the more important ones…DINNER WITH STRANGERS is a big part of what I am doing these days, so here is a re-cap of that past post:

DINNER WITH STRANGERS:

DWS Two

So what is DINNER WITH STRANGERS? Well, it an intimate dinner amongst, well…strangers! At least theoretically. Inspired by a DINNER AMONGST STRANGERS that I attended in Paris, hosted by American expat Jim Haynes, pictured below:

This version I co-host alongside my friend and very clever chef, Ryan Santos of Please Catering

HOW IT WORKS:

Ryan comes up with a theme or concept for the dinner and creates a very unique menu inspired by that theme.

And I come up with the decor and table settings around that theme AND I pick the guest list!

I pick 24 people, to keep it intimate, that I do not think know one another, or at least too well…as I do not know who actually knows who it is not fool proof, BUT it’s fun no less!

So each person pays for a 5 course meal and drinks are BYOB. It is held in a different venue each time, with a different set of guests and fresh new menu.

Essentially, it is a networking event, but to my mind, a less formal, more relaxed and intimate one. As a result of past events, people have made new friends, gotten side work and expanded their own connection to Cleveland.