September 16, 2012

A sea of white for Le Diner en Blanc (pic via Taste of Belgium)

“When I’m wrong I say I’m wrong…” — we’ll get to that later.

Le Diner en Blanc, a tradition started in France 24 years ago by François Pasquier, held its inaugural “dinner in white” in downtown Cincinnati. The purpose of the event is to gather 1,000 or so friends for an unconventional picnic in a public space. Considering this was a first-time event most people, either a.) didn’t even know it was going on; b.) those that did, weren’t really sure what to expect. The consensus, however, from the soc-net (social network) sphere is that the night was as magical as it was made out to be.

bird’s eye view of the buses unloading and the guests arriving for the picnic (pic via Mike Moroski)

One of the key ingredients to the evening – besides the fact that everyone dresses in white – is that guests aren’t told the location of the picnic until the last minute. Initially, I had guessed Washington Park would be the site of DEB, but I was wrong — cue the Dirty Dancing quote at the beginning of the post.

Turns out Lytle Park, with a backdrop of the Taft Museum and the Queen City Tower, was the perfect setting to kick off this – hopefully now – annual event.

To the pictures… of all the Instagram, Facebook, and Twitpics I perused, here are my Top 10 from Le Diner en Blanc. (These are not in order of importance or likability b/c, let’s face it, they are all pretty awesome.)

Number 10:

Jean Robert de Cavel and Paula from Paula’s Deli

Number 9:

the balloon says it all (pic via @MrsMandyJones)

Number 8:

the table is set (pic via @NatalieTaylor11)

Number 7:

And now for dinner — coq au vin (pic via @MrsMandyJones)

Number 6:

Craig, Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach, Jamie Humes, and Doug Brandt (pic via Doug Brandt’s fb)

Number 5:

Dinner in full force (pic via @NatalieTaylor11)

Number 4:

Here come the sparklers (pic via @MollyWellmann)

Number 3:

Time for dessert — make a wish (pic via @MrsMandyJones)

Number 2:

The jewel in the Queen City’s crown is lit up for all to see and enjoy (pic via @NatalieTaylor11)

Number 1:

A toast to good friends, good food, and an unbelievable city (pic via @NatalieTaylor11)

If you have other pictures of an equally worthy note, then sign up for U-SPY and load them onto the photo feed. We’d love to see what you spied!

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