Interviewing strangers over a meal since 2008 (as featured in the Washington Post)
Artist Jonathan Blum, a portrait painter featured on this site as the 101st dinner stranger, has just announced the shows where he’ll be presenting his unique works in the coming months. If you live in either New York or Washington, DC, I can highly recommend trying to meet Jonathan; his…
Throwback Thursday 14 is to one night in November 2009, and dinner in DC at Dupont Circle’s Thaiphoon with Michael Chamberlin. He has two jobs: magician and theater director, including through his own theater company. He spent equal time talking about his love of the stage, including and about the…
Actresses Jane Lynch and Kate Flannery, featured on this site in the 116th Dining With Strangers interview, tour occasionally with a cabaret show of humor and music called “Two Lost Souls” — and it’s coming to Minneapolis this Friday May 3. When we met, they talked about how they first…
Meet Mikko Kosonen, he’s a chef from Finland now living in Washington, DC, who divides his time between operating his busy catering company and his namesake restaurant Mikko. We met earlier this month for dinner at his establishment for my 118th interview. Mikko talked about why he wanted to bring…
Throwback Thursday 13 (unlucky for some) was the second interview during my August 2009 trip down to New Orleans. I had a fun lunch at the fantastic restaurant Bayona with Buzzy “Beano” Langford, a member of the long-running and popular New Orleans-based cover band The Topcats. He talked about what…
Artist Leslee Melamed, who was the 76th dinner stranger along with her husband actor Fred Melamed, has launched a website featuring some of her work. Here’s how she describes it: “On canvas, she is associated with the bold use of texture and judicious color. Early influences were Mark Rothko and…
Throwback Thursday 12 is my August 2009 dinner with Jerry Gandolfo, owner of the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, at The Court of Two Sisters in the French Quarter. We had a interesting talk about how Jerry got involved in preserving voodoo’s story, even though he’s not a practicioner. You…
Earlier this month I returned to New Orleans, one of my favorite cities. The holiday gave me a chance to revisit some wonderful restaurants, starting on the first night with dinner at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in the French Quarter. I’ve never done a Dining With Strangers review at this restaurant,…
You can now watch Dean Gold, owner of DC restaurant Dino’s Grotto, online. He’s launched a YouTube channel for the Italian-inspired venue, and although he’s just getting started there are already several clips that should appeal to food lovers. His first is a three-video step-by-step guide to making a rissoto,…
The wonderful show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend finished last week. I had the honor of interviewing a few cast members for Dining With Strangers during the last few years, so for Throwback Thursday here’s an ICYMI list of breakfasts and lunches with them. Back to the sequential TBTs next week! The first…