Dinners with a Difference - Comfort

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

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

This month's topic is COMFORT.

Comfort is the experience of ease, safety, and relief. It’s the soft landing after a hard day, the familiar rhythm of routine, the warmth of connection, or the absence of pain. At its best, comfort soothes and restores us. It allows space for healing, reflection, and deep rest.

But comfort is a paradox. It can be both nourishing and numbing. While it plays a vital role in our wellbeing, staying too long in comfort can leave us stagnant. It can keep us from taking risks, from growing, or from engaging more deeply with ourselves and others. So how do we find a healthy balance between seeking comfort and embracing discomfort?

In today’s world, comfort is more accessible than ever—through screens, food, habits, and distractions. Yet many of us still feel tired, disconnected, or restless. Perhaps the question isn’t whether we have enough comfort, but whether we’re finding the right kind — the kind that truly replenishes rather than dulls.

The opposite of comfort is discomfort — the state of physical, emotional, or psychological unease. Discomfort can be stretching into unfamiliar territory, having a hard conversation, sitting with uncertainty, or even taking an ice bath. It can be painful or energising, unwanted or intentional, but it’s also where growth, insight, and transformation often begin.

We’re often told to “get outside our comfort zone,” and there’s truth in that. Many of life’s most meaningful shifts happen in moments of discomfort. But constant discomfort isn’t the answer either. A life of relentless challenge, without time to rest and replenish, can lead to burnout and disconnection. Discomfort may be a teacher, but comfort is what allows us to integrate the lessons.

So how do we hold both? How do we recognise when comfort is supporting us, and when it’s quietly holding us back?

In a world full of convenience and instant gratification, this dinner invites you to reflect on a powerful question: 

This dinner invites you to reflect on how comfort shows up in your life: where it supports you, where it holds you back, and how it shapes your choices.

• What are we losing by always pursuing comfort?

• What does comfort mean to you?

• When does comfort feel nourishing, and when does it feel limiting?

• What’s the difference between rest and avoidance?

• Where are you being called to stretch — even just a little?

Join us for a night of deep conversation, reflection, and connection.

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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 ourselves authentically and engage in vibrant dialogue without hesitation. 

PLEASE NOTE: Our monthly dinners have moved to The Living Room, Keira St, Wollongong.

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Feedback from previous dinner guests

"Great concept, with an excellent facilitator leading a group of strangers down unexpected paths. It’s a safe space for discussion of everything from the personal to the whimsical."

"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."

"An incredibly positive experience of new people and new ideas - without pressure to be anything but oneself."

"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."