Originally started in Paris in 1988 by Francois Pasquier
as an elegant picnic with diners dressed elegantly all in white (hence the en blanc), Diner en Blanc is now
celebrated in more than 15,000 locations worldwide including the sixth year in
a row here in the 50th.
How can you attend? For starters, you must first receive
an invitation to attend either as a Phase 1 return attendee, as a Phase 2 guest
who is “sponsored” by a Phase 1 attendee or as a Phase 3 guest who is lucky
enough to garner an invitation after Phase 1 and 2 guests have secured their
invitations. So how did I get my invitation? Back in 2016 when we first heard
about Diner en Blanc, we waited until the Phase 3 round opened then promptly
were put on hold for at least 30 minutes. When it was apparent that we probably
weren’t ending the day with an invitation, I was about to log out of the system
then saw that I could purchase an annual Diner en Blanc membership for just $8
which might move us up to Phase 2 the following year. Well, the 2017 event
rolled around the following year and I received an e-mail that I was granted Phase
1 access. Woo Hoo! We’re attending Diner en Blanc!
The Rules
For starters, gaining access to Diner en Blanc is just
the beginning. Attendees must be dressed elegantly in white. All white. No
off-white, no cream, no ivory, WHITE! Or they run the risk of being banned from
future events. The elegant part is negotiable – I think because of the warm
climate, organizers of the Honolulu event cut attendees slack as I saw men dressed
in white Bermuda’s and white polo shirts (which won’t even qualify as office
casual) up to white tuxedo and three-piece suits though most women dress to the
nines.
You also have to bring your own square picnic table
that’s between 28” and 32” that’s covered with a white tablecloth and two white
chairs. You also have to bring your own dishware, silverware, glassware and
cloth napkins along with your own picnic basket or bag with a gourmet meal (a
local restaurant is usually contracted to sell meal sets for attendees who
don’t want to bring their own food) and the only adult beverages allowed are
wine or Champagne, no beer or hard liquor allowed.
So what if you intend on simply “crashing” the event
without an invitation? Well, good luck as none of the attendees knows where the
event will be held. Once everyone had boarded the buses and they start rolling,
your table leader asks the group if anyone can guess where they’re headed. And
they usually don’t divulge the location until you’re almost there. Their
inaugural event in 2014 was held on the grounds of Iolani Palace with
subsequent events held at Ko Olina, the rooftop of the Hawaii Convention
Center, Kualoa Ranch and Turtle Bay. Once you exit your bus, the long lines of
attendees (usually carts) their tables, chairs and food to the designated
picnic area then sets up their tables single file (it’s supposed to seat all
the men on one side, women on the other but organizers are also lax about the
seating arrangements) then once everyone’s tables and chairs are set up,
attendees twirl their white napkins in the air to let organizers know, “we’re
ready to get this party started”.
This year, the restaurant creating picnic “baskets” for
purchase and pick-up at the event was La Tour Bakery with a menu that looked
like this (I opted to purchase their faire):
The La Tour Bakery
Picnic
Organic French Baguette
with Lavosh
Butter and Sea Salt
Chicken Pesto Dip
Ulu Hummus
Whipped Ricotta
& Concord Grape Jam
Ahi Conserva with Arcadian
Mixed Greens
Local Tomato, and Shaved
Cucumbers
Kalua Pig Banh Mi
sandwich with Pickled Carrots and Daikon,
Shaved Jalapeno, Cilantro,
and Cucumber
Blanc Cheesecake
with Sweet Potato and a Mac Nut Crust
So, with this year’s event, I tried guessing the location
of the venue. It would need to be a space that could seat 1500 people (Diner en
Blanc Honolulu is capped at 1500 attendees which was hit both last and this
year) and allows alcohol consumption and also be located where amplified music
wouldn’t be an issue. So while Ala Moana Beach Park and Kapiolani Park easily
could fit 1500 diners, alcohol isn’t allowed in those locations so the only
locations I could imagine would be Moanalua Gardens, the Dillingham and
Waimanalo Polo Fields and the Bishop Museum. As our bus cruised down Likelike
Highway, it moved to the left lane so I knew it had to be the Bishop Museum (a
trip to Moanalua Gardens would have required the right lane). Since I decided
to rent my chairs for pick-up at the event (the hardest item to carry) and
purchased my Taittinger Champagne for pick up at the venue, we easily walked to
the picnic location as we only had one bag with our dining implements and
table/seat covers and a small bag with our roll-up table. And as we started
decorating our table, I felt the first rain drops. Which turned into larger
rain drops. Which increased to larger, frequent rain drops. Which then turned
into a full blown rain storm. But the bottom line is we were there with friends
both new and old enjoying Champagne and Chablis and our only concern was that
the rain was diluting our beverages! The rain did finally abate so we continued
our merriment, albeit in rain-soaked garments but our friends and the Mrs did
enjoy the evening and are already looking forward to next year’s event!
Why Pay for an
Event Just to Bring Everything?
Yes, that’s a question that many friends and co-workers
ask? For starters, it’s not easy to secure an invitation to Diner en Blanc and
even if you do, it costs close to $200 per couple (two people have to attend,
you can’t attend by yourself) and now you have to lug your own table, chairs,
linen and food and beverages. Plus shouldn’t we be spending an evening with
people our own age?
Personally, it’s our attempt to delay the onset of aging… namely to delay that point when we turn into our parents. You know, following the same routine day in and day out. Eating the same meals at exactly the same time. Remaining cloistered within the comfortable confines of our own homes. I already mutter things like “these kids nowadays” or “when I was your age…”. But attending events that take us out of our comfort zones and actually mingling with couples that could be our children… or even younger. And for the record, at least 25% of attendees look like they’re AARP eligible and probably attend for the same reason as we do. In fact we met a couple in our age bracket 2 years ago at Diner en Blanc who were seated next to us and as soon as they stood in line this year, recognized us from the 2017 event. But in actuality, we enjoy attending Diner en Blanc. Even with the rainstorm this year. Even though we have to carry everything to the site. Even with jumping through multiple hoops to secure the invitation. And as long as I keep getting my e-mail as a Phase 1 return attendee, I’ll keep securing our table at Diner en Blanc.
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