Actor Fred Melamed, the 76th stranger featured on this site, is earning praise for his role in the new movie Shiva Baby which won rave reviews at the online South by Southwest film festival this year and from a screening at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. As described by the movie’s…

Here’s the 68th consecutive Throwback Thursday to my existing interviews; my November 2014 dinner with single mother Caecilia Key at Carolina Kitchen in Washington, DC. Caecilia talked about how she overcome some personal setbacks on the path to realizing her goal of a successful career in public relations and communications.

This is short notice, but Griefcat — a fantastic DC-based singer/songwriter duo including former dining stranger Louisa Hall — will be performing a concert outdoors this weekend at Cherry Hill Park in Falls Church, Virginia. Here’s the relevant blurb from the event’s Facebook page: “On the evening of Saturday, September…

The 67th Throwback Thursday is my October 2014 dinner with decades-long French Quarter resident Dr. Brobson Lutz at the landmark Galatoire’s Restaurant in New Orleans talking about the city’s history, his medical career, Hurricane Katrina, being a graphic novel character and much more. I’m still in touch with Brobson and…

Mark Bucher, one of the founders of DC-based steak frites restaurant chain Medium Rare and a former Dining With Strangers interviewee, is launching a new campaign called Fill The Fridge to provide school lunches to communities throughout the District. “We will be providing 1000’s of refrigerators filled daily with fresh…

The 66th Throwback Thursday is my two-part interview with actor/writer Stephen Tobolowsky in October 2014 at Art’s Delicatessen in LA. Stephen is instantly recognizable as the character Ned Ryerson from the movie Groundhog Day, as well as other popular films including Sneakers and Mississippi Burning, and television appearances on shows including…

A former dining stranger is now interviewing other strangers. Daniel Lelchuk, assistant principal cellist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, recently launched a podcast, Talking Beats, “where dynamic and compelling people share their lives, their work, and of course, their favorite music.” He’s already featured some incredibly interesting guests, such as…

The 65th Throwback Thursday is my October 2014 lunch with the delightful actor/producer/writer/comedian/everything Michael Hitchcock. We met in Los Angeles at Taste On Melrose to discuss his lengthy career; from his start in comedy to working on Glee, and from starring in Christoper Guest movies like Best In Show to…

Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours, the Atlanta restaurant owned by Chef Deborah VanTrece, has reopened with certain safety restrictions because of the COVID-19 crisis. Deborah — featured on this site as the 131st stranger — talked to Chowhound recently about the stress involved with trying to keep her eatery afloat amid…

The 64th Throwback Thursday is from a trip I took to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in September 2014. One night there, at the Blue Corn Cafe, I met Jesse and Sarah Smith — a couple who talked about discovering and loving omnism thanks to trying a hallucinogenic drug, meeting otherworldly…