Single in Sydney: Roaming dinner party No. 2 had good food, fun guys and plenty of wine so why was Sarah home by midnight?
SARAH’S second roaming dinner party had all the ingredients for a great night and fun was had but all the blokes disappeared at the end of the night. And she stumbled into a forgettable Tinder date.
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Roaming Dinner Party #2
I recognised him from somewhere.
Work, maybe? Had I interviewed him for something?
Or maybe he lived in my building?
Hmm. He was British. Perhaps I knew him from uni?
Nope.
“We went on a Tinder date,” he said grinning.
Lord.
Yep, here I was standing in a kitchen in Manly, with a bloke I’d been out for a drink with.
And I had absolutely no recollection of it at all.
I’d erased it from my memory. Like on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or something.
Apparently we’d gone to Crows Nest, where I used to live, for drinks “last June”, he told me.
“It wasn’t good or bad, it was just one of those dates,” he shrugged.
Eek.
You see, last weekend, I went roaming again.
Not just randomly wandering about like a lost backpacker or something — but to a roaming dinner party.
(Also not to be confused with a Roman dinner party, which is what one of the work photographers thought I’d said. Imagine that. Folk in togas and sandals.)
And while I hadn’t managed to hook a decent men at the last one in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, I decided to give the concept another go.
This time it was in Manly, and arranged by a new company, Wine & Dine Sydney, which has just launched on the northern beaches.
The men were hosting at their places in groups of four, and groups of four girls would be ‘roaming’, to a different place for each course.
We’d been assigned a starter in Queenscliff, followed by main and dessert at two different houses in Manly.
There were about 40 or so folk taking part, and afterwards we’d all head to Donny’s Bar in Manly.
It’s not strictly for singles, though all the blokes I asked were unattached.
But when Jenna and I got off the ferry, we were slightly miffed.
We, along with my pal Annie and her friend, had agreed to dress up — literally — after a Facebook Messenger chat.
Except only Jenna and I had donned frocks, with the other two opting for jeans. Jeans!
I mean it wasn’t quite Kanye turning up to the Met Ball in denim, but it was rather disappointing.
Anyway. Next stop was wine shopping.
At the previous roaming dinner party I’d been to, the girls supplied the wine, and left 12 bottles at the first house for the next two groups to drink, to save lugging it all around.
I’d assumed that’s what we did this time.
And nobody else had bothered to read the email we’d been sent.
But as a previous editor once said, “assume makes an ass of u and me (gettit?).
And I was the ass when we waved goodbye to our Marlborough after the first course, which had been a tasty haloumi salad with a nice bunch of British blokes on their lovely outdoor terrace.
They’d used a blanket for a tablecloth, but it added to the rustic feel.
And there’d been at least a couple of cute guys too, and we looked forward to seeing them later.
Then, at the second house (where we’d arrived bereft of booze and had to share their only bottle of fizz between us) we met a surfer, and a bunch of computer guys. And a cute dog which slobbered on my legs.
Still. Their amazing BBQ salmon on a bed of quinoa was almost MasterChef worthy, so I didn’t mind.
And we took an uber to venue three, where one of the blokes went and bought some wine. Phew.
I needed a glass after meeting the Tinder man in the kitchen.
So, after cheesecake with cream eaten standing up in a kitchen overflowing with empty dishes, we all wandered to the afterparty.
We had a couple more wines and mingled with a few of the blokes we’d met earlier.
Annie and her friend drifted away.
But Jenna and I were a bit mystified.
With great food, fun guys and plenty of wine (in the end) the night had all the ingredients if not for love, for lovin’.
But despite being the perfect recipe, it just didn’t turn out right.
The place emptied out. The men all disappeared.
And we got an Uber home with the PR girl at midnight.
And I wondered. Could it have been a case that faced with an all-you-can-eat-buffet, none of the blokes could make a decision — so went hungry?
Details: Wine-dine.com.au
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