Interviewing strangers over a meal since 2008 (as featured in the Washington Post)
Toyin Alli was already running two businesses out of a single sandwich when I caught up with her at Union Market back in May 2019 – cooking each morning at a shared incubator kitchen, then splitting the food between her Puddin’ stand and her food truck, Biggie, a $2,000 former…
Zeb Soanes, the 28th stranger, has a packed run of performing dates across England over the next few months. After a long and successful radio presenting career, Zeb stays busy with concerts, writing children’s books, and now theatre – currently touring “Two Halves of Guinness,” his one-man show about Sir…
Mikko Kosonen was days from his restaurant’s first anniversary when I sat down with him back in April 2019 for the 118th dinner interview. He was already exhausted – 170-person weddings, embassy dinners, a World Bank sit-down, all in the same week. “I almost lost my belief in the whole…
By day Burcin “Kaia” Dalkanat works a full-time job in the DC area. Nearly every night and weekend, she’s the self-shot, one-woman operation behind My Food Adventures DC, a nine-year-old Instagram account with more than 20,000 followers covering restaurants across DC, Maryland and Virginia – on a strict, self-imposed cap…
Steve Hayes reviews movies online with a consistent approach: “I don’t want to criticize, I just get excited, and if I like it, I want other people to like it. And if you don’t enjoy it, that’s okay, but just try it,” he told me during the 117th interview, then…
Jonn Elledge – the writer who took me through the history of the world in 47 borders back in January 2025 for the 131st dinner interview – has a new book and a U.K. tour to go with it. We met at Bellanger in London to discuss “A (Brief) History…
Look for the 147th interview at the end of the month. But today, a spotlight on news from another all-time favorite meal with a stranger: Fred Melamed – the 76th interviewee – is back working with Larry David. Fred appears in the seventh episode of HBO’s “Life, Larry and the…
New interviews are on the way. But today, a spotlight on news from one of my all-time favorite meals with a stranger: Frank Brigtsen, legendary New Orleans chef, has finally been talked into writing a cookbook. But as Frank – the 100th person featured on Dining With Strangers – told…
Got an interesting job, an odd hobby or a fascinating life story? Let me interview you about it over dinner. Dining With Strangers is a long-running interview series I started back in late 2008. The premise is simple: I invite someone I’ve never met to share their story over a…
“I’m going to compare ourselves to some greats now, so please forgive me – Burns and Allen. We know who we are and we know how to set each other up.” Jane Lynch arrived to the 116th dinner interview at Hugo’s Restaurant in West Hollywood ready to fix the blinds,…