Dinners with a Difference is a facilitated discussion over a meal that dips beneath the surface of everyday conversations.

Come solo or bring a friend that you'd like to get to know better.

This month's topic is BITTERSWEET.

Bittersweet is a pleasurable experience mixed with suffering or grief. As humans, we have the capacity to hold multiple truths simultaneously. At the height of happiness, we can also feel the grief of what we’ve left behind.

As we cycle through the seasons, we constantly come to terms with renewal and decay. Each decision we make carries both hope and loss—leaving home, changing jobs, moving cities, ending relationships. What major life changes aren’t bittersweet?

In a world that celebrates positivity, discussing the hard stuff can be stigmatised.

This dinner is an opportunity to pause and reflect on how we’ve found joy through sorrow, kept ourselves company in dark times, celebrated triumphs we don’t often speak about, and acknowledged the bitter moments that often accompany the sweetest times of our lives.

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Your ticket includes a selection of entrees and mains, with dietary needs thoughtfully catered for. Drinks will be available for purchase on the night, ensuring a well rounded dining experience. To enrich the conversation, a prerequisite questionnaire will be emailed to attendees the week before the event. We kindly ask that you complete the short form prior to attending.

With the entire restaurant exclusively reserved for our dinner, we'll have the freedom to express ourself authentically and engage in vibrant dialogue without hesitation.

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Feedback from previous participants

"Dive in and give it a go. So worthwhile, stimulating and full of insightful conversation."

"A great night where you get to eat delicious food with a diverse array of interesting people all open to deep conversations. As well as the deep thoughtful conversations, there are always loads of laughs."

"It’s an opportunity to drop your guard - the normalities of day to day, and any roles/responsibilities. It’s quite liberating to discuss meaningful topics as a (relatively) anonymous person and speak truthfully without a filter. How bloody refreshing!"

"Chatting with random strangers was really fun."

"As a young Aussie guy, most of the conversations I have are surface level, sports-based, or just entirely sledging, which I love, but I don't really have the opportunity to philosophically explore topics or share meaningful (and related) anecdotes in a respectful forum where I could be challenged, encouraged and introspective, just for the sake of good conversation.
Finding good chats as an adult gets harder and harder, but this took me back to being freshly 18 and enjoying that good old Aussie tradition of a drunk 'DnM' (Deep and Meaningful). Happy to be philosophical and vulnerable - cracked open emotionally and intellectually - only now a little less drunk and much more comfortable."

"Gretel creates a safe and inclusive space where people can be seen and heard amongst a group of complete strangers! Conversation is gently guided with good humour with a nod to complexity and nuance. Dialogue is liberated and reinvented in a fun and casual atmosphere."

"So, those questions you have about the way the world is right now, and your place in it, and how you would like people you can share that with, and how you are feeling about all that? Bring all of it. That's what Dinners with a Difference is for."

Contact the host of Dinners with a Difference - Bittersweet