Diner en Blanc

I first heard about Diner en Blanc this past summer while I was in Greece. I was invited to this flash-mob-cum-al fresco dinner-cum picnic and I agreed to go but I really wasn’t sure what the big stink was. I was in Greece, within walking distance of an azzure beach that I swam at twice a day. Anything “Toronto” was furthest from my mind.

Fast forward to Sept. 20th (the day I returned from vacation) and the Diner en Blanc date was fast approaching (Sept.27th). I needed to find articles of clothing that were “all white”…one of the pre-requisites of attending a Diner en Blanc. This flash-mob outdoor mass-dinner began in Paris and New York, Montreal and even Niagara Falls have staged their own. The other requirements for attendees was to bring your own food (uptight Toronto does not allow BYOB)  – be it something home-cooked or bought from one TO’s fine purveyors of food.

The table settings would be simple, white and attendees could bring candles, flowers, etc. to add to the ambience. To the attendee the Diner en Blanc was a simple matter: jump through the two hoops (wear white and bring your own) and stay tuned as the secret location of the Diner would be texted to those with tickets.

About 400 attended Diner en Blanc in Toronto but it could have been better and it could have been worse. Many reserve tickets only to bail upon fearing that the evening would be spoiled by a cold and rainy forecast for that evening. Thankfully meteorologists got it wrong and Sept.27th was the last warm day and evening in Toronto for 2011! Some last minute tickets were sold and to those who attended – you knew something special was about to occur and to those that skipped Diner en Blanc, you were probably at home watching a re-run of Big Bang Theory.

Those with tickets met at a parking lot near the Distillery District, where they would then be escorted to “the secret location” (gosh….I wonder where the event would take place?) – which ended yo being in the central laneway (you guessed it) of the Distillery District. We were escorted by captains of the event and the dinner was held inside a white picket-fenced area. Some tables were reserved for organizers and their friends but otherwise, it was first-come-first-serve general admission and folks immediately began to place their food on their tables.

I took the time to walk around and take a look at what others had brought with them: there was an even split between home-cooked meals and foods bought & brought from some of Toronto’s finer stores. With much relief, I did not see any Happy Meals at anybody’s tables. I brought our food which was an appetizer, main and dessert. I decided to bring some Melitzanosalata, vegetarian stuffed peppers and some Baklava for dessert.

In a very Greek way, I brought more than enough and encouraged others nearby to come and try some of my food. Refreshingly, others brought extra food and a kind of pot-luck dinner occurred where many were sampling other people’s foods. This was Toronto at it’s best! The first photo moment was where everyone stood up and twirled their  crisp white napkins in the air (another Diner en Blanc tradition) and kick-off the meal.

New friends were made, some fabulous food was eaten (and shared) and many Torontonians embraced the the “all white” clothing requirement and dare I say – dressed with panache. The weather for that day was prefect – neither too hot  or  too cold (I was dressed in a long-sleeve white shirt) and white slacks came courtesy of a thrift store that would have made Captain Stubing proud.

I wasn’t going to write a blog post about Diner en Blanc but I wanted to share the beauty of this evening…especially for those that cancelled on the day of the event and even last minutes! We got it right, we attended – you missed out but…I look forward to seeing you all at next year’s Diner en Blanc.