Remember Dîner en Blanc, the all-white culinary flash mob, a.k.a. the Guilty Remnant of pop-ups? Well, now we have the scoop on the menu.
The September 4 event is BYO everything, from tables and chairs to “fine china” and silverware. Though you can also bring your own meal to the undisclosed location, the St. Michaels catering company Gourmet by the Bay has signed on to prepare picnic baskets for two. Options range from a $72 European-style selection with “lobster salaad” [sic], pâté, truffles, and more, to a $52 mezze platter with various dips, spreads, and salads. Potential guests should register for the waitlist of what the website says is “several thousand people” by August 11 (an additional $40), and place their catering orders by August 19.
The only thing you’re not able to bring? Alcohol. A spokesperson for the event says no outside booze is permitted due to the liquor permit. Hard liquor and beer are already shunned at the gathering—très déclassé—but participants will be able to buy wine and Champagne from Gourmet by the Bay when they register. Also, don’t forget your cigarettes.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
