Grubb With Us: A Reservation for Conversation (and Dinner)
Grubb With Us: Your dinner partners are based on the topic of conversation you select when you make your reservation. (Luis Gomez Photos)
From Ashley Lusk. Check out Ashley’s blog Metropoetrylis and find her on Twitter at @arlusk. You can email her at [email protected].
If you’ve been wanting to try out a restaurant but can’t afford it or convince your friends that it’s worth the cash, a new dining concept may have you covered — with new dinner companions to boot! The Grub With Us model is a formalized supper club where foodies and others mingle with other locals over dinner. These super clubs currently characterize the food scene in seven U.S. cities.
The steps to join a Grub With Us meal are simple: Visit the website, choose a meal location or a topic you want to discuss with other people over dinner, and then reserve a seat at the table. The first person to join a meal gets the seat for around $25 — and every seat thereafter increases by $1. At the table, you’ll meet five or so other “Grubbers” and spend the next three courses with them.
As DC residents, my guess is that you will start the conversation discussing your commute, your career or your political affiliations. But Sen Sugano, Director of Business Development for Grub with Us, says that the diversity of your dinner companions can lead to a deeper conversation.
According to Grub With Us website, some of the popular interests for dinner conversation include Hacker News, Female Founders, Veggie Grubbers, Startups, Travel, Cooking, Technology, Photography, Music, Running and Entrepreneurship.
The dinners include selected three-course offerings from local restaurants. An example of an upcoming Grub with Us meal set for October 11 is offered by St Arnold’s on Jefferson (south of Dupont Circle). The menu includes crostini, L’Alsacienne mussels, frites and a banana and Nutella waffle. In some instances, chefs, owners and managers may also stop by the table to discuss the specially arranged meal.
The idea for Grub With Us began in Chicago when the founders — eschewing the bar and club scene — had trouble meeting new people.
“It’s a comfortable, non-awkward way to meet awesome people, while discovering new restaurants and food. In every culture, food is what brings people together and this is exactly what Grub With Us does,” said Sugano.
