Interviewing strangers over a meal since 2008 (as featured in the Washington Post)
The 107th interview is finally online! Last week I met actor Erick Lopez in New York, at the end of his visit from Los Angeles to promote the film Flavor of Life. In the drama, he plays an estranged grandson who reunites with his grandfather and has to help him save…
Let’s just pretend Dining With Strangers is like a television show and I took the summer off before coming back with the next season this month. After an embarrassing dearth of dinner interviews (seriously, my last one was in May with restaurateur Dean Gold of Dino’s Grotto) I’m happy to…
Want a free meal? Join me for dinner and share your life story for Dining With Strangers. My last interview was back in May with Dean Gold of Washington, DC, restaurant Dino’s Grotto and I’m looking to organize the next few interviews. I’ve got the 107th dinner coming up in…
Dean Gold is the owner and executive chef of Dino’s Grotto, an Italian-inspired restaurant in Washington, DC. It’s the second incarnation of his dream venue, after he had to close his bigger restaurant Dean in DC’s Cleveland Park due to a drop off in business. Having eaten at Dino’s with…
Dean Gold, 60, is the executive chef and owner of Dino’s Grotto, an Italian-inspired restaurant in Washington, DC’s, Shaw neighborhood. It’s the second incarnation of the venue after he shuttered his prior restaurant Dino in the Cleveland Park neighborhood due to declining business after a several years-long run. Last week,…
Jamila Robinson is a lifelong foodie, always eager to try new restaurants and also experiment with cooking at home. She’s taken that passion and used it to develop a career in media where, at several major newspapers, she’s edited features sections finding innovative ways to tell captivating stories about food,…
André Hueston Mack is a busy man. The sommelier turned wine company owner has a packed schedule that includes touring the country to visit the vineyards that supply his wine, giving motivational talks highlighting how he took chances to get to his current position, writing a memoir, and getting ready…
A short update to say thank you to Laura Hayes of the Washington City Paper for doing a feature on the almost-10 year anniversary of Dining With Strangers. It launched on November 25, 2008, when I posted the first interview, with my friend Joe Matar learning more about him and…
André Hueston Mack, 45, is a winemaker and former sommelier at some of the world’s top restaurants including French Laundry in Yountville, California, and its sister venue Per Se in New York City. He got into the wine industry after quitting a successful desk job in the financial investment sector,…
For 24 years, Mustafa Santiago Ali was an employee of the Environmental Protection Agency, working on environmental justice (EJ). Also known as environmental equity, EJ generally refers to addressing the disproportionate adverse impacts of industrial pollution on low-income and minority communities. It’s a cause that is personal for Mustafa, but…