Interviewing strangers over a meal since 2008 (as featured in the Washington Post)
In 2015, Martin Dahinden was the Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States. He was also the 83rd stranger to dine with me. His staff at the Swiss Embassy were incredibly generous to arrange an evening of a special menu for the two of us, taking place at the gorgeous Swiss…
Where were we? As I slowly get this site back up and running ahead of hopefully resuming dinner interviews later this year, one regular feature that’s returning is Throwback Thursday — a sequential look back at past dinners. The previous throwback update was in March 2021(!) when I shared memories…
Far too late in posting this sad news but I still wanted to pay tribute to the memory of singer and performer Matt Yee. Matt, the 96th stranger featured on this site, was diagnosed with liver cancer at the start of last year and unfortunately passed in December in his…
Steve Hayes, also known as the “Tired Old Queen At The Movies,” has a one-man show next month in New York. He’ll be performing “Quiz The Queen” which promises to be “an evening of hilarity, surprises and unexpected anecdotes as we try and stump [Steve] by showing him various clips…
Ben Claassen III, the artist behind the comic DIRTFARM and the 43rd stranger featured on this site, is taking part in the ongoing Artomatic in Washington, D.C. It’s a multimedia arts festival now in its 25th year, with dozens of local artists exhbiting their work, along with a marketplace where…
Actor Burt Young, perhaps best known for his recurring role as Paulie in the Rocky movie series, has died at 83. I had the incredible honor of meeting Burt for a very enjoyable afternoon in October 2011 for the 39th dinner interview. We met at his apartment in Port Washington,…
Medium Rare, which has three restaurants in the Washington, D.C., area, is expanding to New Orleans. As WTOP reports, Medium Rare recently opened a venue in the Crescent City featuring its unique, and very brief, menu of bread and butter, house salad and steak frites, with a secret sauce that…
Matt Yee needs your help. The exuberant entertainer, for decades a fixture on cruises around the world, is currently battling liver cancer. Matt was the 96th stranger interviewed for this site, and we met at a restaurant on a cruise ship somewhere in the Caribbean Sea back in January 2017….
Until the day when I resume dinner interviews with people across the United States and even overseas, I’ll provide some updates on news of interest about some of the 131 people I’ve already met. Today’s post is about actor Fred Melamed, the 76th interviewee on Dining With Strangers and easily…
The other week, Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema invited me to tag along for a review of Gordon Ramsay’s new fish and chip shop (creatively titled Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chips) at The Wharf in D.C. The review was a chance to share my thoughts on the best way…