A brief history of community dinner
Community Dinners are at the core of the 1RG origin story. I might go as far as saying that 1RG would not exist if it wasn't for this tradition.
Back in February 2022 Max and I were on a phone call rambling about the state of the world and our lives. At the time, Max was looking at mixed commercial/residential real estate - those apartments on top of a storefront that you see on all major streets in Toronto. Max was considering what kind of business - a bar? A laundromat? I was of the opinion that Max should find one above a co-working space so that all our friends could hang out there. Max thought we should run a space like that together.
A few weeks later, we decided to treat this as an experiment. The plan was more or less this:
- Rent a house for 6 months. We thought that a house that waiting to be demolished would be perfect for a short contract.
- Invite our friends to hang out and tell them to invite their friends.
We thought, at the end of 6 months, if the experiment had gone well, we'd have expanded our network.
On our quest to find the right house (one that wasn't falling apart but also was waiting to be demolished), we were introduced to the owners of 1 Roof Garden Lane, a 7500 square-foot warehouse beautifully renovated to be a live-work space. They were inspired by what we were trying to do - merging our networks of tech friends and mutual aid friends to inspire more social tech projects - and agreed on letting us use Roof Garden in exchange for paying their bills.
Other than the obvious price discount, Roof Garden came with a 25-person dining table and a huge kitchen that had been designed and outfitted by a chef. When we got the keys to that space, we knew immediately we had to do something with that.
The first Community Dinner happened on the 31st of May 2022, and featured a formidable Ottolenghi yogurt, peas and mint pasta, as well as other slightly less impressive sides. 20 of our friends joined us that Tuesday, excited to see the space and what we'd been up to for the last month or so.
That was the seed of the 1RG community. Sharing food, conversations, and the excitement of being together after many long months of isolation.
some candid shots from the first Community Dinner at 1 Roof Garden Lane
For the rest of our time at Roof Garden, and a little while longer, we kept hosting dinners every Tuesday (yes, every week, minus the time we thought one of us had been exposed to COVID, when we cooked but cancelled last minute and ate most of the food by ourselves). I'm a firm believer that repetition and consistency create good rituals so I insisted on keeping up the weekly schedule for.. a very long time.
After the first 52 dinners we decided that we do not have the stamina to cook for 20 every week, but that the dinners are an integral part of how we build community so we do them once a month now, which is a lot more manageable 😄
Our next Community Dinner is next week and it's number 77 - this is still the best way to come see what 1RG is about, reconnect with friends, or make new ones and if you're reading this, you're invited.
