Diner en Blanc V

Image courtesy of Perrier Jouet

On Tuesday night, for the fifth year in a row, my husband and I attended Dîner en Blanc New York with over 5,000 other people. Dîner en Blanc is essentially a pop-up, flash mob picnic. As you all know, it was 91 degrees (it felt like 110!) and we trekked up and down subway stairs and the streets of New York City with our folding table and chairs, picnic baskets filled with food, drinks, plates (no plastic allowed), drinking glasses, silverware, tablecloth and cloth napkins. Some people go so far as to bring candelabras, twinkling lights, ornate flower arrangements and structures from which to hang paper lanterns, etc. Truly, Dîner en Blanc is that unrivaled event where you simply don’t mind all that’s involved in the production on your end. It’s about enjoying your city in a special public space with thousands of other like minded people.

Previous Dîner en Blancs have been held at Battery Park (2011), Lincoln Center (2012), Bryant Park (2013) and Nelson Rockefeller Park (2014). This year’s was held at Pier 26 in Tribeca. Tickets are hard to come by and recipients are selected through a lottery system with 35,000 people on the waiting list. Right now, Dîner en Blanc is held in 70 cities in 35 countries throughout the world. About 100 cities are on the waiting list. For me, the best part is that the location is kept secret until the last minute. Even the table leaders who direct a group of 50 people throughout the city are not told the location; they are just given directions on their cell phone ( this is critically timed so that all the groups don’t arrive at the same time). It was a wonderful evening and our menu was droolworthy! To begin, shrimp cocktail and bellinis. Dinner was cold lobster, mango and tomato salad, bulghar wheat with zucchini and raisins, and a kale salad. Dessert was cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery – my favorite cupcakes of all time. The production value of prepping the food and packing it for 90 degree weather, packing and shlepping the chairs and table through the streets of NYC in 90+ degrees may seem “not worth it” to some. Make no mistake, Dîner en Blanc is totally worth it! Register now. If you’re lucky, you can go next year.