Author Topic: This year's secret Dîner en Blanc in New York is...???  (Read 48484 times)

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #20 on: August 21, 2012, 06:19:20 pm »

http://newyork.untappedcities.com/2012/08/21/the-2012-nyc-diner-en-blanc-lincoln-center-gets-down/


The 2012 NYC Dîner en Blanc :
Lincoln Center Gets Down


By Michelle Young
August 21, 2012 12:22 am





Lincoln Center has never gotten down quite like this. Tonight, 3000 revelers took in the night at the NYC Dîner en Blanc,  descending upon the plaza and its famous fountain for four hours, eating, drinking and dancing surrounded by the three pillars of Lincoln Center–the Metropolitan Opera House, Avery Fisher Hall and the American Ballet Theater. The plaza turned into such a rocking dance floor even the security guards got into it.

I have been fortunate to have been involved in the Dîner en Blanc  in various incarnations–as an attendee in the mythical Paris Dîner en Blanc  for the last three years and in the NYC debut last year. I thought that this year’s dinners at Notre Dame, Place des Vosges and Versailles would be hard to beat, but the dance party at the NYC dinner tonight Lincoln Center may have trumped that.

I was a group leader for NYC’s second production of the famous pop-up white dinners. In charge of 250 attendees, I witnessed first hand this year how the events come together. At the top of the pyramid, the Dîner en Blanc  International partnered with NYC-based company, French Tuesdays, to produce the event and select the location, caterers and other details. There were 10 group leaders, myself included, each in charge of 4-5 table leaders. Each table leader was in charge of 60 guests, or 30 tables.

The location is of course kept a secret by the organizers and group leaders until the very last moment. Assigned a designated meet up location for my group, I separated my table leaders out to specific corners and landmarks in our pickup location at Broadway/Lafayette. Staggered, we entered into the subway station and headed en masse on the B/D trains up to Columbus Circle, unleashing a flood of white up Columbus Avenue, carrying all the accoutrements needed for this dinner–tables, chairs, food, table settings and more. At precisely 6:30pm, we took over the Lincoln Center Plaza.

New York City is a difficult city to plan large-scale events, due to its rules on public gathering, alcohol, food, noise, how late an event can go. So for a dinner that is supposed to be spontaneous, a large amount of behind the scenes planning needs to take place–and more importantly, the location has to be majestic or the event could run the risk of feeling catered and corporate. In New York City, all of the registration fees collected go into the rentals for the location, which range between $20,000 and $40,000. Was it worth it? I’ll let you be the judge, but you probably won’t see this happening at Lincoln Center again anytime soon.














































"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Meryl

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #21 on: August 21, 2012, 06:26:25 pm »
Wonderful!  Next year, dinner in plaid?  ;D
Ich bin ein Brokie...

Offline Pipedream

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #22 on: August 21, 2012, 06:43:19 pm »
My goodness. I want to come back to New York!!! What a lot of gorgeous people on a perfectly silly and magical mission. Can it get any more wonderful?

 :o

Hi guys. I still exist, by the way.  ::)

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #23 on: August 21, 2012, 06:45:42 pm »



Wonderful!  Next year, dinner in plaid?  ;D



Sure! As long as it's white-on-white plaid!   ;D



Last year, approx. 1,200 people, this year 3,400--and with a 30,000 plus waiting list, it won't be long till we match the Parisians with 10,000 dîners en blanc --rather, we could,  if we knew where to put them. New York is not Paris (alas!) and we don't have the magnificent Places, Plazas, Piazzas, Squares, of other major cities. I certainly don't envy the Dîner en Blanc  International people in having to picking the new 'secret' location next year!

 :-\



"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #24 on: August 21, 2012, 06:47:10 pm »


My goodness. I want to come back to New York!!! What a lot of gorgeous people on a perfectly silly and magical mission. Can it get any more wonderful?

 :o

Hi guys. I still exist, by the way.   ::)


 :D



"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Meryl

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #25 on: August 21, 2012, 08:38:50 pm »
Anke!  How great to see you!  :-*

Last year, approx. 1,200 people, this year 3,400--and with a 30,000 plus waiting list, it won't be long till we match the Parisians with 10,000 dîners en blanc --rather, we could,  if we knew where to put them. New York is not Paris (alas!) and we don't have the magnificent Places, Plazas, Piazzas, Squares, of other major cities. I certainly don't envy the Dîner en Blanc  International people in having to picking the new 'secret' location next year!

Finally, a good use for Governor's Island?   :D
Ich bin ein Brokie...

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #26 on: August 21, 2012, 09:07:42 pm »



Anke!  How great to see you!  :-*

Finally, a good use for Governor's Island?   :D



You are SO smart!

 8) 8)



"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #27 on: August 21, 2012, 09:26:55 pm »

Time Lapse en Blanc!

 :D ;D
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaLwtsyJQAc[/youtube]
Published on Aug 21, 2012 by UntappedCities


"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #28 on: August 21, 2012, 10:17:18 pm »


http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Diner-en-Blanc-Lincoln-Center-Flash-Mob-Secret-Dinner-166835386.html


Thousands Gather for
NYC Secret Outdoor Dinner

The venue was a surprise until just before
the flash-mob feast started at 7 p.m.


By Verena Dobnik
Monday, Aug 20, 2012 Updated 10:18 PM EDT



An estimated 3,000 people all dressed in white attend a flash mob feast on Monday, Aug. 20 at
Lincoln Center.

Guess who came to dinner?

On Monday night in Manhattan, the answer was 3,000 people — all dressed in white, descending on the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
 
The venue was a surprise until just before the flash-mob feast started at 7 p.m. Registered guests got emails telling them where to go.
 
They brought chairs, tables, food and drink, plus candles and snow white balloons sailing high above the main plaza at sunset. Row after white row filled the space around a high-shooting fountain — free of charge, with legal permits.

Matthew Karl Gale wore a sailor hat as he sat at a small white-covered table he bought on Craigslist.

"I looked for 'small white folding table,'" the 33-year-old eyewear designer from Brooklyn said with a grin.

His tattooed dinner partner, biotech industry employee Cassandra McCall, also 33, came all the way from San Francisco to join the revelry, explaining, "I love the group dynamic of all these people together, in white — it's enchanting."

Gale said he enjoyed "the difficulty of getting everything together — the food, the table — and bringing it here on the subway."
 
Their table was filled with cheese, a couscous dish, prosciutto, grapes and more — eaten with real home cutlery and linen napkins that came from their wicker basket. There were white roses for the table.
 
And then, Gale added, "you have this unique, quirky experience, and it's over."
 
Pop-up picnics will also be staged in Philadelphia on Thursday, Chicago on Friday, and next week in Vancouver, Singapore and Brisbane, Australia, followed by about a dozen other cities months from now.

Rob Robinson and Gai Spann, both 43, brought their own strobe light, plus some pearls and diamonds that represent his college fraternity and her sorority.
 
"We're both into food and wine, and dressing up," said Spann, who owns a travel agency and wore a lacy white head ornament. He runs his own e-commerce company.
 
Next year, they plan to fly to Paris, where Diner en Blanc  — French for dinner in white — was started in 1988 by a group of friends and is repeated each year. The volunteer event grew by word of mouth and social media to dozens of cities worldwide.

This year was the second New York repast; the first was held last August on a plaza near the World Trade Center.


"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: The secret Dîner en Blanc 2012 in New York comes to...Lincoln Center!
« Reply #29 on: August 22, 2012, 05:40:32 pm »

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2012/08/diner-en-blanc-2012-photos-slideshow.html#



Last Night’s
Dîner en Blanc

Clear Skies and a
Color-Coordinated Setting


By Devra Ferst
8/21/12 at 1:30 PM











































Gramercy Tavern chef Michael Anthony attended.








































Though skies stayed clear this year, it was once again easy to be both enchanted and frustrated by Le Dîner en Blanc , the Paris-imported picnic that popped up in New York for the second time last night. After meeting at designated locations around the city, diners were led to a destination kept secret until they arrived: the plaza at Lincoln Center, whose colorless cement columns nicely complemented the white outfits, tablecloths, and chairs.

For those given the opportunity (via an online lottery) to buy tickets, rules and restrictions abounded: Guests had to provide their own tables, white chairs, and tablecloths, and bring dinner (or order one for a hefty fee), traveling en masse via subway while clutching these props and defending their whites against the commuter crush. Yet, the collective struggle “is all part of the event,” said co-organizer Sandy Safi. And so is the reward — in New York in particular, a sea of people all in white is a rare and elegant spectacle.

One guest, Jeni Cruz, carried her white maltipoo Olivia, who wore a white flower behind one fluffy ear. “She’s white, little, and she’s family,” Cruz said, explaining her choice of dinner date.






Atop a canvas of pristine bleached tablecloths, the flowers, candelabras, and food brought by guests provided pops of color. Many toted charcuterie and cheese, while the more ambitious tucked into bowls of homemade watermelon gazpacho, a three-tiered tower of sushi, platters of poached lobster, or ramekins of jewel-toned salmon tartare.

While most people seemed to enjoy the evening — which evolved into a clublike dance party after dinner — a few who had attended last year’s Dîner  at the World Financial Center observed that Lincoln Center lacked the romantic backdrop of the bobbing yachts and a sunset over the Hudson. Others said the increase from 1,200 to 3,000 guests made for a less intimate night. In the end, the evening was perhaps best summed up by a nearby diner, who opined, “This is wildly annoying and wildly beautiful.”


"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"