Dinner With Strangers

I was fortunate enough to have the chance to do something really cool the other night. At the invitation of new friend Danielle DeBoe - who also delivered that amazing speech at TEDxCLE - a bunch of folks got together for her second-ever Dinner With Strangers.

The event has its roots in a dinner Jim Haynes has held in Paris for 30 years, and DeBoe's version, like its cousin, is exactly as billed - a meal at which pretty much no one knows each other. When I read stories about the first Cleveland-area dinner, I vowed to jump at the chance to attend another. So, when I got the invite, jump I did.

And what an amazing night. There we were, gathered at a wonderful, large ground-floor space on the near west side - right near Danielle's store - to enjoy a spectacular meal prepared by the super-talented Ryan Santos (more on that later). The setting was perfect, and perfectly accompanied by my old friend Peter manning the ones and twos.

I got to meet so many great new friends, including Audrey and Ryan from ELSEWARES, Reena and Kathryn from the Rock Hall, Brian from Grey Cardigan, as well as Santos's adorable parents. True, some not-so-strangers (Kogelbram, Charity) were right by me, too, but to be sure, it was as billed. But we weren't strangers for long.

My favorite part of the night was how everyone instantly hit it off and started engaging in really interesting conversations. There's something liberating about being thrown together with people you've never met, something that loosened the nervousness, seeing that we were all in the same boat. I felt as inspired and recharged after the dinner as I did after TEDxCLE, because I got to meet some really engaged, really passionate people.

It's been great, too, to see how the interactions have continued even after the night ended. We've taken over the typical social networking haunts and have begun talking to each other there. I'm sure we'll see each other again, and soon. And that, I think, is exactly what Danielle was after - to encourage this interaction and friendship-forming. If we all get to know each other better, we'll start to develop a shared sense of community that can only be a good thing.

Back to the dinner itself for a moment. Feast your eyes on the menu:

Amuse: mediterra bakery breads + cucumber butter + thai long pepper butter + chamomile & thyme butter

1st: celery root ice cream + ham zest + sprinkles + lemon + tonic water + radish + parsley

2nd: birthday cake + strawberry + lovage + tarragon + green apple + pea tendrils + strawberry vermouth

Intermezzo: dandelion ice + sumac ice

3rd: country fried egg yolk + grilled spring onions + blue cornbread + braised mustard seeds + fiddle heads

Dessert: rhubarb ribbon + buckwheat cake + truffle oil frosting + buttermilk panna cotta + honeycomb + poppy seeds

That alone is worth a post. But for another take on the night, here's Hallie & Eric! And here's to continuing to form the friendships that make living in Northeast Ohio so special.

Comments

[Gina]

Awesome-sauce! Danielle is so cool. Love the idea and cant wait for the next one (fingers crossed for an invite - wink wink)

[Joseph]

She really is. She's like a Pied Piper of Cleveland awesomeness and a real fixture/asset to her community.