Interviewing strangers over a meal since 2008 (as featured in the Washington Post)
“You can’t be all things to all people. Do one thing and do it well,” says Mark Bucher. He’s built his entire Medium Rare restaurant philosophy around that principle, achieving success with a simple idea. . When I sat down for dinner with him at his Arlington location in November…
After 16 years and 143 dinners, Dining With Strangers is finally on Instagram. Starting today, I’m archiving the entire interview series on Instagram from the very beginning in November 2008, when I had brunch with a friend in New York and came up with the idea for this site. Each…
Dining With Strangers was dormant for most of 2020 through the end of 2024 for several reasons. I finally resumed the interviews this January, wanting to make good on a promise I made to my late friend John Curry to do so. When I restarted the process of taking strangers…
Missed this when it happened but it’s still fairly recent, so here we are: British entertainer Bernie Clifton finally released his autobiography, “Crackerjack to Vegas,” and has been on tour in the U.K. to promote it. Bernie featured on this site as the 115th stranger, back in December 2018. I…
Author Gary Krist — the 70th dinner interviewee back in 2015 — specializes in writing historical non-fiction about key moments in relatively recent U.S. history, including early 20th century New Orleans, Hollywood and more. I met the New York Times-bestselling writer to discuss Empire Of Sin, his book about the…
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case from 2015 that backed same-sex marriages, has joined the organization Family Equality which provides legal support and other assistance to LGBTQ+ families across the United States. According to a recent press release from the group, “Obergefell will be lending…
***Sponsored Content*** A trip to see an NFL game is a treat for the senses, with the chance to try some great food being one of the highlights for many fans. While the COVID-19 pandemic means the 2020 season will be played behind closed doors, or with small crowds in…
Jane Lynch and Kate Flannery (my dining companions for the 116th dinner interview in January) are hitting the road with their annual festive concert “A Swingin’ Little Christmas” in California, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan and New York. They’ll be joined at each of the shows with singer Tim Davis, who was…
Actor, writer and producer Jim Piddock (the second stranger featured on this site) is off to the races after writing the script for an upcoming movie starring Jeremy Irons about the legendary British horse racing trainer Sir Henry Cecil. Screen Daily broke the news of the production, quoting producers Andrew Berg…
Marijuana smuggling is a big focus of the 35th Throwback Thursday, my August 2011 dinner at since-closed Lana in Charleston, South Carolina, with author Jason Ryan. He told me about his book “Jackpot: High Times, High Seas and the Sting That Launched the War on Drugs,” a non-fiction account of…