Dîner en Blanc, Los Angeles

Aug 23, 2013

Beverly Hills Triangle, Rodeo Drive · Neighborhood: Beverly Hills

In case you saw the herd of 1000+ elegantly dressed people lugging tables and chairs and picnic baskets across Rodeo Drive this past Wednesday and wondered if you happened upon a cult (yes, we all wore white), you would be very close in your assumption.

Consider it a food-loving cult. A gang off freaky foodies. A barrage of tailgating chic-picnic-partiers.

This group of food lovers and friends gathered to this “secret location,” some having been on a wait-list for months. Others knew somebody who knew somebody, and got a ticket into LA’s first ever Dîner en Blanc.

This fancy-pants (and ~~crazy~~ ~~weird~~ cool) tradition that all started in France 25 years ago has grown to various iconic locations worldwide including the plaza at Lincoln Center in New York, in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Boston and Sydney. It was only perfect that Los Angeles’ inaugural Dîner en Blanc was an the most elegant of locations, Rodeo Drive.

Our group met at the designated bus pick up spot in Santa Monica and drove down Wilshire Blvd., many of us trying to guess where the secret location would be… LACMA? The Getty?

Once we saw the blockades and white balloons we knew this would be the place. There was no car traffic and no pedestrian traffic (except for the occasional dumbfounded tourists). There were people in white… everywhere.

There are a lot of rules to this thing. You must wear white (no off white or beige), you must bring white chairs and your own 30″ table. You also can’t arrive late or not show up or are threatened with being revoked from the party – for life! (this happened to a friend of mine). Also, even though you pay $30 for your membership and bus fee, dinner is not included. It is up to you to BYOFood, and booze.

If it sounds like a pain in the ass… it kinda is. But once you are there, and see it set up in all it’s glory — food, music, dancing, friends — there is no denying the uniqueness of the occasion and you can’t help but feel that you are a party of something truly special.