I was inspired by a blog post I read by one of my absolute favorite food bloggers, Pinch of Yum. She talked about how much starting a dinner club enriched her life, and I just fell in love with the entire idea of starting one here in Indianapolis.

I mean honestly what’s NOT to love about this idea? Sharing food and conversation over a table is one of my favorite things EVER. The idea of being a part of a club with people that valued that too was something I really wanted. But who could I find that was as passionate about the idea as me, and how? So I just started talking about it- a lot. I brought up how I wanted to start one with co-workers, friends and acquaintances and hoped something would come of it. I figured you never know who might know someone perfect for your club. And it worked! 

Now, one year later, with some trial and error and lots of cheesy themes and tasty meals behind us, we are in our flow and ready for another year!  Below I’ve shared some of my own reflections and pointers to keep in mind if you’re interested in starting your own dinner club.

Some Advice on Starting a Dinner Club:

Getting Started. Don’t worry about having it all figured out right when you start. For our group we started out with a very informal potluck with a handful of interested people. Keep in mind that asking people to commit or solidifying guidelines too early can be a little overwhelming for most people. Invite interested people to try it out with you for a couple of meetings before committing to see how they like it. Then you can narrow down your guidelines together. If you feel like no one in your life would be interested in this, start talking about it and asking around. You might be surprised how many people around you may be very interested and excited about an invitation! It’s also helpful when starting out if each guest/member knows at least one other person.

• For an example, this is how ours works: Our club is women-only (not including guests) and meets monthly. I send out a doodle a few weeks in advance so we can schedule a date that works for everyone. We rotate who hosts and the host is in charge of drinks, dishes, and choosing the theme. I got really lucky because the whole group enjoys and is interested in vegetarian food- so our dishes are generally vegetarian unless we are hosting a large event. We usually all send out what we are making via email a few days in advance. Right now we have four core members so generally each member can bring a guest if the host has enough space. We want to keep membership between 4-6 people for this reason. The host often invites any roommates or family they live with as well, and although it’s not required- our guests usually join in on the theme and bring a dish!

We are definitely changing up how we do things as we go along. Halfway through the year we decided we really wanted to host a special dinner club Friendsgiving. One of my favorite parts about being part of this group is how creative everyone is with thinking outside the box. Being open to changes and each other’s ideas has just made it that much more amazing.

Have fun! This is a chance for you to try out new recipes and grow together in your love of sharing food. So take a chance on that new recipe or that crazy theme, send out those invites and see what happens! Do you have a dinner club or are you thinking about starting one? Comment below and let me know your thoughts!