The post I'm about to write has very little to do with food. I didn't cook the food for this event, nor can I say the food I bought was particularly spectacular. But the event itself was, well, beautiful.
Diner en Blanc is a flash picnic that was started in Paris in the late '80s. This is the picnic's 2nd year in the US, and I have to say, it was incredibly well organized. Space was limited to 1100, and signups were all online. Once signed up, you had the option to purchase a picnic basket. For $48, I couldn't have put one together myself (basket to boot, no less!) The location of the picnic was secret- we met at one of the 10 "bus stops" around Cincinnati, and had our names checked off a list.
This thing was not easy to prep- I had to buy a table and rent linens and folding chairs. The bf has no white clothes, so white pants/belt/shoes had to be mail ordered. Of course, there had to be at least a modest table setting, so an Ikea trip for votive candles and a white pitcher for flowers became necessary.
So- back to the bus. We boarded around 6pm, and drove 10 minutes down the road to Lytle Park for the event.
Bus by bus, all 1100 people set up their tables and decorations- some people had insane tablescapes- one table had a canopy with twinkly lights. White napkins waved in the air to signify the start of the event (and the wine!)
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| Setting up in Lytle Park |
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| Fantastic home-made picnic... wish it was mine! |
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| Eiffel Tower Centerpiece |
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| The table with the canopy! |
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| Our table... flowers and candles are creative by my standards ;) |
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| me at our table |
Everyone had to pack a picnic basket with white plates (not plastic- real plates), flatware, wine glasses, and of course, wine. We brought two bottles thinking we'd only open one... good thing we brought both! One was a Hooked! 2011 Reisling... crisp, not overly sweet. The other was a 2009 Urban Uco Malbec- probably one of the best inexpensive Malbec's we've had since Argentina. Really smooth with strong blackberry overtones. My pre-purchased basket had spinach dip with crackers and veg, chicken sandwich, potato salad, tomato mozzarella salad, and cookies... good quality but not as impressive as some of the home made baskets.
All in all- a successful evening. The weather was perfect, and the white lights and balloons in the evening were beautiful. I'll sign up for next year, you should come too.
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| DEB at night |
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| Sparklers to end the evening |
