Making a new friend as an adult can require an awkward amount of planning. First, you have to find someone you click with. Then you have to suggest getting together, pick a place, and hope neither of you cancels. In Richmond, Virginia, RVA Girl Dinner Club is trying a different approach: Put women around a restaurant table, give them something good to eat, and let the conversation begin.
The club hosts ticketed gatherings at local restaurants and other businesses, with friendship as much a part of the invitation as dinner. Richmond magazine described the series as a way for women to get to know one another while discovering places to eat around the city. Its founder and host, Richmond resident Becca Haase, has turned her love of gathering over a meal into events that give people a reason to walk through the door, even when they do not already know anyone inside.
A Dinner Reservation With a Different Purpose
A restaurant table usually brings together people who have already made plans. RVA Girl Dinner Club flips that idea around. They make plans first, and meeting new people is the point. It is a small change to the familiar dinner-out routine, but it removes one of the hardest parts of expanding a social circle: figuring out how to start.
Richmond magazine reported that the club partners with restaurants and other local businesses to host its gatherings. Its inaugural event took place at Pink Room in Union Hill, and the series has continued with ticketed outings at area eateries. The name may sound playful, but the premise is straightforward. Show up for an evening organized around food and conversation, rather than waiting for a friendship to form before making dinner plans…