Dîner en Blanc brings secret picnic to downtown park
On Aug. 4, 1,000 of my closest friends and I got dressed all in white, packed our picnic baskets and hopped on buses headed to a mystery location for a picnic. Well, to be honest — I may not have known all 1,000 folks, but if you were Downtown in Memphis Park on that night, you sure felt like everyone was friends.
Dîner en Blanc hosted its inaugural event in Memphis with a sold-out picnic that 1,175 guests attended on the bluff of the Mississippi River in Memphis Park.
Based in Montreal, Dîner en Blanc International is responsible for developing this secret posh picnic in more than 70 cities worldwide. Each event is headed by passionate local organizers who fell in love with the concept and who wanted to bring it to their city, adding their local flair, yet respecting the event’s core values. The original event was launched with just a handful of friends by François Pasquier nearly 30 years ago in Paris.
Victoria Young, 26, and Gene Robinson, III, 27, were the two friends who brought this event to Memphis.
As part of the organization process, Young and Robinson worked closely with the Downtown Memphis Commission.
“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to help bring Dîner en Blanc to Memphis. The Downtown Memphis Commission supports many powerful events in our core city, with primary goals of helping to create a downtown that is active, vibrant and welcoming for everyone. So, when we saw the video and social media posts for other Dîner en Blanc events around the globe — we
were in,” said Penelope Huston, Downtown Memphis Commission’s vice president of marketing, communications and events. “For us, the thought of hosting the city’s largest, and most glamorous, picnic in Downtown Memphis was just really exciting.”
There are lots of rules to follow when attending Dîner en Blanc.
First and foremost, you must dress all in white. Your table decor must be all white too — as well as be real china, glassware and linens. No plastic or paper dinnerware allowed. The only pop of color allowed is your floral arrangements.
You had the option to bring your own white table and chairs, but because the dimensions were so specific, I decided to just rent mine from Dîner en Blanc. I’d recommend that for anyone attending in the future. As for food and wine, you could bring your own multi-course picnic or purchase a pre-made picnic box from local catering company Sweet Potato Baby.
Guests gathered at 5:30 p.m. in designated spots all across town — from Collierville to Downtown — to board buses to take them to the secret site.
Upon arrival, we unloaded, set up our tables and started setting up our picnic. I can only imagine what bystanders thought as multiple busloads of people all dressed in white descended on the park. From an attendee’s point-of-view, it was a really cool sight to behold.
Everyone was helping each other, laughing and making friends. It was a really fun party that even two bouts of light rain couldn’t dampen. (Well, our hair and clothes may have been damp, but not our spirits.)
After enjoying a delicious meal, guests mingled and danced to the tunes of Nick Black and the Love Theory Band until it was time to pack up and reboard the buses at 11 p.m.
“Le Dîner en Blanc Memphis was much more than a good time,” Young said the next morning. “It was symbolic of what Memphis will be when we acknowledge our past and use it as a catalyst to embrace diversity and inclusion in spaces that have been historically exclusive.” Will the event be back next year? “Yes,” Young said emphatically. “We are here to stay. We can’t wait to plan for next year.”
To register for the 2019 event, guests can sign up on the wait list at memphis. dinerenblanc.com.
Changes at Interim
Interim Restaurant has a new chef: David Todd. Todd, who most recently worked at The Green Beetle, trained under chefs Wally Joe at Acre and Ben Vaughn at the now closed Grace and Au Fond restaurants.
“We are excited because we know that David will elevate our menu to be more contemporary, cohesive and exciting. His innate energetic personality will show on the plate,” said Brittany Cabigao, who is a partner in Interim with her husband, Ed. The couple also has ownership in South of Beale and Zaka Bowl.
Former head chef and partner Nick Scott has parted ways with Interim. Tony Westmoreland, who also owns Growlers, remains a partner in Interim.
Southern Foodways Alliance screens Tennessee barbecue film
Join the Southern Foodways Alliance for a Barbecue Digest film screening and discussion of Tennessee barbecue. The event will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 16 at Crosstown Arts 430 Gallery, 430 N. Cleveland.
It will screen segments from “Whole Hog,” a film about pitmaster Ricky Parker, followed by “Like Father,” a film about his son, Zach Parker. Zach, now the owner of B.E. Scott’s Barbeque, will sit on the panel and bring a taste of whole hog barbecue for attendees.
Tickets are $12 per person and can be purchased at 2018bbqdigestmemphis.brownpapertickets.com.
Contact Jennifer Chandler at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.