A Table for Six

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Posted 2022-08-09 by Victoria St Lukes ⇒ follow

I was nervous! I'd washed my hair, chosen my outfit and managed (fairly successfully) to leave on time. Saturday was the evening of my not-so-speedy date night.

I had booked in to attend a group dinner date night organised by with 5 complete strangers at Woolloomooloo.

Anticipation? Yes! Nerve-racking? Yes! It all added to the excitement and I was keen to find out more.The setting was beautiful. One of Sydney's top restaurants. The water gently lapping, the boats bobbing and the buzz of hundreds of people enjoying a balmy winter evening as I strolled along the boardwalk.

There they were! The five other hopefuls. Three men and two, (soon to be three), women. I apologised for being late. Nobody minded, they'd all been chatting and perusing the menu and wine list.The night stretched ahead with a hint of promise. Friendly banter, interesting conversation, which stayed on the light side and a lack of pressure ... no wondering who was single, who was available, who was interested etc. made the whole atmosphere very relaxed. I mean the hard work had been done for us. No awkward setting up of dates, no curling of toes and deep breaths to pluck up the courage to ask for someone's number. No wondering what the intention was. Everyone was really friendly and keen to chat and find out more about each other and the whole evening was spent in a gorgeous, fun, respectful way.

We all agreed we had been nervous before turning up. Everyone, funnily, mentioned which order they'd arrived in, (except me as I was obviously the last)! Everyone was there to meet new people and we were all happy to just make new friends at the very least (which, let's face it, 'isn't nothing' in a bustling city). We ate delicious food, we drank good wine, we sat outside under the stars, and we laughed a lot. It was really great.

is the brainchild of Margaret Newitt and the company has weathered the last two long years and popped out the other side ready to make introductions and whip up gastronomic date nights. Anyone between the ages of 25 - 65 plus may join.

Dinners are held in six major cities around Australia. (There was mention between the diners on Saturday some had had phone interviews before being granted membership, but it seemed all had been given the green light).

Dinners are organised in age categories and there's a membership fee to pay. Members are also asked to pay a booking fee to secure their place at the table which seems a fair and valid expectation considering the high calibre of restaurants and the number of members on the site.

The points I like best about are as follows (in no order of preference):The organisers encourage attendees to ask for personal contact details of anyone they are interested in via the office the next day. It's a definite no-no to ask someone outright at the table, in front of everybody else, for contact details. I think this prevents any embarrassing moments and stress around the whole evening.Everyone at the table has, by default, already agreed to the organiser's code of dating respectfully. Everyone seated at the table is single and looking for a partner (no double guessing necessary and everyone is on the same page).The members are all there with no expectations apart from having a lovely time and hopefully making friends with a view to romance.The age groups are greatly varied and there's an age bracket to suit everyone.The restaurants are carefully chosen and are of a high standard. chooses dinner attendees with an aim for members to meet new people at every booking.

Back to Saturday night. As the evening drew to a close, meals had been eaten and dessert (and wine) were ordered. The conversation was still fun and we were having a great time.
We were one of the last tables to leave the restaurant and had enjoyed the evening so much the more outgoing of us all decided to carry on to the adjacent pub. Cocktails and stories. The night just kept on going.

Fast forward to Monday morning. Nooooooo, we didn't spend 48 hours together (tut tut for those of you who jumped to that conclusion!), but I did chuckle to myself to find two messages from informing me two of the three men were asking to see me again!If you think about it that's nearly a 100% success rate! Join up!