My first #BrandsExperience took place this past weekend at Le Dîner en Blanc, all thanks to Valpré. The aim of #BrandsExperience is to share with you the experiences that I will be having with various brands.
On Saturday, 18 March Johannesburg hosted Le Dîner en Blanc for the fourth time and this year’s “secret” location was the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton.
Launched in Paris in 1988 by François Pasquier and some friends, Le Dîner en Blanc has become a worldwide epicurean phenomenon. The pop-up dinner party is held in over 70 cities in 25 countries and has gained well over 100,000 new friends worldwide. Each event is headed by passionate local organizers who fell in love with the concept and who wanted to bring it to their city, adding their own local flair while respecting the event’s core values. Along with Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Montreal, Sydney, Singapore, Mexico City, Johannesburg held its very first in 2013.
The exact location of the event is a closely guarded secret until the very last minute. For me, I only had an idea of where the dinner might be when we took the Grayston Drive off-ramp on the M1, from Coca-Cola’s HQ in Parktown, where we assembled along with other attendees.
On our arrival at this all-white party, we were given baskets containing picnic food, Graham Beck, Steenberg Wine and of course Valpré kept us elegantly hydrated. Fortunately, our table was already set up when we arrived, as other guests had to bring their own white décor.
What I learned about this exclusive event is that elegance is the order of the day. The attendees went all out to showcase their taste for fashion and fine dining that got the bystanders looking. The music was also great as we had a live band entertaining us and in between the DJ blazed some hot local tunes that got us dancing and singing along.
A big Pat on the organisers of Le Dîner en Blanc Johannesburg and Valpré for such an amazing experience.
