Hot Potato Dinner is a secret underground dinner club. Another friend of mine in Cambridge started it years ago and abandoned it.

It was one of my favorite gatherings, so I decided to revive it with past members in a local art gallery.

The way it works is people on a hidden email list are invited to the dinner. We then take the first 30 people who request a spot, and open the email list to their friends so they can join the next event. The RSVP usually fills up in the first two days and the list of people doubles in size.

In the email, we only mention that they will be having dinner at a certain neighborhood at 6pm. The day of the event we announce the exact location.

On dinner day, people filter in and eye each other down,
and eventually take a seat next to a group of strangers who are likely only one degree of separation away. Since we are in Cambridge, scientists and technologists end up sitting next to artists and the real fun is in this fusion of randomness. The dinner is served in 5 courses. Big bowls are directed down the table and people serve themselves, family style.