Interviewing strangers over a meal since 2008 (as featured in the Washington Post)
Continuing the sequential Throwback Thursday features of past dinner features, here’s the 75th interview: my May 2015 dinner at the landmark Los Angeles restaurant Musso & Frank Grill with its proprietor Mark Echeverria. The restaurant opened in 1919 and has catered to Hollywood celebrities and regular diners alike. It has…
The utterly charming BBC radio presenter Zeb Soanes (the 28th dinner interviewee) in recent years has also turned to writing children’s books about Gaspard, “the handsomest fox in London” and his adventures in England’s capital. Zeb writes the books along with illustrator and author James Mayhew, and they recently announced…
The 74th Throwback Thursday feature is a dinner from an April 2015 trip to Italy for my eldest brother’s wedding. I was in Milan alone for a night and posted on craigslist seeing if anyone wanted to be interviewed for Dining With Strangers. City resident Federico Leidi got in touch,…
Legendary Hollywood character actor Stephen Tobolowsky (the 66th dinner interviewee) is also a great storyteller, writing two books of anecdotes about his fascinating life and career. He also shares tales from his past on The Tobolowsky Files, a podcast that took a hiatus starting in June 2017 but recently returned and…
For the 73rd dinner with a stranger, in April 2015 I met Craig Schattner at Mintwood Place in DC to learn about his video documentary Dated. Craig said he’d been on more than 100 dates in four years and was still single, and so he launched the series to try…
During the coronavirus pandemic, restaurants have grappled with how to adapt to a takeout or delivery focus rather than in-house dining — and many are struggling with whether they can stay afloat. I’ve written before about the different ways that chefs and restaurateurs that I’ve interviewed for Dining With Strangers…
Here’s the 72nd Throwback Thursday: my March 2015 dinner at Bourbon Steak in DC to meet Jacki Barnett. She’s one of three co-founders of In Christy’s Shoes, an organization that hosts shoe fashion show fundraisers in memory of Jacki’s late friend Christy Levy Peters. During a very enjoyable meal, Jacki…
This is very short notice, but if you live in DC and want a good laugh, check out Alex English’s standup show on Saturday October 31. Alex, the 112th stranger featured on this site, will be performing an outdoors socially distanced set at 8pm, though doors open at 7.30pm. The…
The 71st sequential Throwback Thursday feature is my February 2015 dinner at DC’s Le Chat Noir with Dr. David Sherer, an anesthesiologist who talked about his plan to retire and focus on his love of writing. He’s already released a book, “The House of Black and White,” about his quest…
Sampson McCormick, a comedian from DC now based in LA, is returning to his home city next June for two nights of standup performances (assuming social distancing and related restrictions have eased by then). He recently tweeted that he’ll be at the venue June 11-12, giving you plenty of advance…