Me? Cynical about love? Well, if the emphasis is on good food and conversation over the hot-n-heavy hunt for bedmates, TastyLA—the cringe-worthy name notwithstanding—may just make a semi-skeptical believer out of me.
The premise is simple enough. Participants pay a registration fee and sign up for a restaurant of their choice. Each event is set within an age group (Lolita-lovers stay away!) and capped at a Brady-Bunch-esque group of three guys and three gals. The evening convenes at a table for six and ends with six separate checks—and the satisfaction of getting wine-and-dined on a first date without any mixed messages or shady expectations.
TastyLA was born out of a savvy divorcee and a Craigslist post for a six-way dinner at Santa Monica’s high-end Frenchie, JiRaffe. Lynn Richard and the five other foodie-flirters had so much fun, they continued meeting-and-eating on a weekly basis. As word spread, Richard’s email list grew, and she launched TastyLA in 2005. “Six is the perfect-sized dinner, because you can talk to everyone at the table.” (What, no 20-guys-in-20 minutes?) “It's always surprising…to discover how much fun dining with strangers can be,” says Richard. “I can't tell you how many times…our group closed the restaurant because they were having such a great time.”
While there’s no guarantee for a love connection, at least the food and drink will be delish. Events are scheduled exclusively at high-profile, highly-rated venues across the city—that means, nothing under a Zagat 22. The summer TastyLA tour will hit Dusty’s Bistro in Silverlake, Koi in Weho, Abode in Santa Monica, Ca’ del Sole in Toluca Lake, Water Grill Downtown, and La Parisienne in Monrovia. Hmm, looking for a Tasty groupie?
And like that first dinner at JiRaffe, many of these evenings grow into something more: TastyLA will see its first wedding in September.
Bet there won’t be any Awesome Blossoms there.
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TastyLA from Los Angeles - August 09, 2008 at 4:22 PM
TastyLA is now Tasty Dining Networks, with dinners in New York, Chicago, Boston, and Seattle, and more cities coming soon. To see who's coming to ...
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