Fine Diners Over 40™ is a social dining club for singles and couples who enjoy dining at highly-rated restaurants and sharing the experience with contemporaries who delight in all things epicurean. We appreciate food as art, as cultural adventure, as scientific experiment, and best of all — food as an opportunity to take pleasure in the company of others. We invite you to join us for culinary and social adventures in New York and Seattle.

Come for the food, stay for the friends!
Food may be the main attraction at our events, but it is our friendly and interesting members who carry the day. Join us for an evening of fine dining, fun, and stimulating conversation. While enjoying innovative dishes by accomplished chefs, we’ll talk movies, theater, pets, sports, travel, and more.

The tasting menu is our preferred menu format. It gives talented chefs the chance to craft a multicourse dining experience in a harmonious parade of flavors and gastronomic ingenuity. With a tasting menu, there’s no need to mull over tough choices from a delectable array. Fine Diners Over 40 like to sit back and let the experts do what they do best.

The annual membership fee entitles you to attend regularly-scheduled dinners and special events; event fees are paid when you reserve. We also welcome businesspeople and tourists to join us at an event that coincides with your stay in town. Non-member guests pay a $15 service fee in addition to the event fee.

Dinner event fees range from $75 to $350 prepaid for a fixed price or tasting menu (including tax, tip, and administrative fees but excluding alcoholic and other beverages). Our average group size is eight; larger groups can be accommodated based on demand and venue. If there is interest, we rotate seats during the dessert course so you get a chance to mingle with guests from the other end of the table.

Art or science?
Although many in the chef community wince at the term “molecular gastronomy” — this rose also goes by another name. Many accomplished culinary artists happily describe their menus as “modernist.” And after all, what respectable foodie wouldn’t be up for trying the different ways temperatures and air infusions affect the viscosity and surface tension of eggs? As for food as art, we’ll leave the debate to the essayists and academics. In our world, the innovation and creativity and attendant sensory delights are high art, indeed. Add cultural and social experience to the mix and you have a gastronome’s dream come true.

Genesis
The concept was inspired by our desire to meet new dining companions interested in exploring the array of first-rate culinary adventures on offer in New York. Twelve years ago we started out on Craigslist with a little apprehension: Dining with strangers? What if the group doesn’t jell? Well, we were amazed at how effortless it was. The conviviality seemed made-to-order nearly every time. We learned that gathering self-described foodies is a natural exercise in community — and you’re invited to join us.

Questions? Email or text or call us at 212-353-1301.