VIRTUAL EVENTS FOR "SOLO SLOSHERS" 50+
Are you spending most of your time at home by yourself?
Tired of eating and sipping solo?
Let's have some fun and build connections until we can get together again in person.
PREMIUM EVENTS
Livestream Cooking Class!
JUDY BARBE is an award winning dietitian, author, and speaker. Her recipes and recommendations have appeared in Prevention, Reader's Digest, Shape, TheHealthy, NBCNews, and more.
Judy brings her culinary skills to Dinner Mates in a fun and flavorful class. Learn how to make one of her signature dishes, online in real time. Come cook with her, and then sit down and eat together. So grab your apron and let’s get cooking!
Pan-seared Salmon and caramelized grapes over leafy greens drizzled with homemade vinaigrette
Wine Wednesdays
Sip Wine • Share Stories • Savor Relationships
We meet for an hour of fun, laughter and connection. This not just your regular run of the mill Virtual Happy Hour.
Events are set for East Coast time, but all are welcome from any place in the world.
What is Dinner Mates?
The original mission of Dinner Mates was to make friends and build community over sharing a meal in our neighborhoods.
Unfortunately, COVID changed all that. The pandemic has also made many of us feel physically isolated. Especially those, like myself, living alone.
So now, more than ever, Dinner Mates is about BREAKING that sense of isolation, and CREATING A SPACE for people 50+ to come together. By having a drink or sharing a meal, learning about wines, foods and about each other.
And once we are comfortable getting back together again, IN PERSON, well, we will have built new friendships and relationships so we can hit the ground running!
LAUREL CHITEN
Founder of Dinner Mates
PAST EVENTS
HAPPY HOUR LAUNCH
Valentine's Day February 14, 2021! We launched our first Happy Hour! It was great fun. This will be a weekly event.
WINE TASTING CONTEST
Last summer we created (social distanced) wine events in Central Park! To join the contest everyone brought a covered bottle of wine, and a dollar bill.
Connect • Make Friends • Support restaurants
Dinner Mates created virtual dinners events so we could stay connected.
We worked with local restaurants to deliver a prix fix meal to directly to our guests.
The dinners were small and intimate.
We lexpanded to creating events. Classes, lecturers, and more! All around eating together.
THE STEAM ROOM
June 22nd Sizzling Cool Chat About Today's Hottest Topics. Led by Artist Flash Rosenberg and Activist Ruth McDaniels.
To support Harlem and Black-owned restaurants, this event was paired with a prix-fixe dinner from the the French-African cuisine of Ponty Bistro Harlem
LA SIRENE
On June 10th we all took a trip to Paris. La Sirene is an authentic French Bistro. A little slice of Paris right in our neighborhood Their prix fix meal was delicious!|
We tried something new with this dinner. We used conversation cards and sparked deep and thoughtful interactions.
BETOLLA REDUX!
June 8th Dinner Mates returned to Bettola where we had a sold out event.
VIRTUAL DINNER PARTY
June 3rd we had a spontaneous Dinner Party to meet one another and share our feelings about #blacklivesmatter and all that is happening in our local, and global, community.
We all posed with our animals!
DINNER & LAUGHTER REDUX
May 27th Back by popular demand. Carl served up an “amuse bouche” of four of his favorite comedy monologues as we are dinnering-in-place.
BETTOLA
May 20th. This dinner we all had a special treat. Chef Vlado joined our dinner and sang us a song! Another surprise: the restaurant included jello shots with each delivery!
Bettola is a family run neighborhood trattoria offering rustic Italian food.
DINNER AND LAUGHTER
May 11th Upper West Sider Carl Kissin created a fun interactive and playful improvisation class with our guests. Everyone had a great time! People joined from all over. NYC, CA even Australia!
OUR 2nd VIRTUAL DINNER
May 15th, we had our second virtual dinner with Tarallucci e Vino.
OUR 1st VIRTUAL DINNER
April 21st. We had our first virtual dinner with Tarallucci e Vino. It was a hit!
IN PERSON DINNER EVENTS
Our 1st Manhattan event in the Upper West Side!
Feb 18th. Dinner Mates packed the place at Lucciola! They served an amazing multi-course meal that our guests enjoyed.
Our launch dinner in Williamsburg!
We opened the door for our first Dinner Mates event on Jan 21, 2020 at Pomp and Circumstance. Chef James Ahearn served an amazing multi-course meal that all our guests enjoyed. We welcomed our first 13 Founding Members!
MEMBERS PRAISE
...it was a long time since I had giggled, let alone laughed. Can’t wait for the next one!
For the first time in 2 months I actually felt like I was going "out". Getting totally dressed really helped boost my mental state. No one could see my high heel booties, but my life took a step back to the old normal as I got out of my daily outfit : tee shirt, tights, and sneakers and put on real clothes for the first time since March 13th.
Last night I was human again. In my mind I was leaving the confines of my apartment and going out to meet friends. It totally lifted my spirits!!
Thank you for all you are doing to make these get togethers possible.
We can start to lose ourselves when we isolate from others. This workshop allowed us to cast aside our inhibitions and find our common bonds.
The Dinner Mates Happy Hour was so much fun. A bunch of “solo slashers” no more, we laughed and chatted and drank. Breaking out into small rooms facilitated fun conversations and I can’t wait for the next one to further my connections and make new ones. Beats drinking at home alone!
SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY!
Our Mission, Our Passion.
Dinner Mates was created to bring people together face to face, eat great food,
and meet like minded people in their neighborhoods.
We believe we can STILL build a vibrant community around the dinner table,
even if we are all in our homes!
We just have to be a bit more creative..
BREAK BREAD
Ready for a night off from cooking? Want to treat yourself to a communal restaurant meal?
MAKE FRIENDS
Want to connect with others who are sheltering at home alone?
BUILD COMMUNITY
Hungry for dynamic conversation?
