Meet your new best friends at this gigantic Miami potluck dinner
Can a shared meal with strangers in the shadow of The Underline cure loneliness?
Maybe not. But the creators of The Longest Table project are hoping to make a dent in what the World Health Organization has identified as a significant public health issue when the free public community event rolls into Miami on Friday.
A national program that aims to foster community spirit, The Longest Table hosted a private, invitation-only dinner earlier this year in February, but Friday marks its first public appearance.
The idea is simple: You sign up to bring a shareable dish. You don’t even have to cook it yourself — order it from your favorite local restaurant, if you want. Does the bakery around the corner make perfect pastelitos? Are the patties at the Jamaican shop better than any you’ve ever tasted? Is the pizza at your local spot better than what’s touted on social media? Buy a bunch and bring them to share.
The only rule is you must show up with something, and if it reflects your culture or who you are, all the better.
You can sign up solo or with a spouse, with your kids or a group of friends. Then you head to The Underline Inter Grove Gallery, set your table (or not), share your dish and prepare to wander from table to table, trying whatever you want and getting to know your neighbors.
Originally launched in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, The Longest Table has become a national movement, designed to get neighbors talking to each other and meeting new friends. Timed to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month, and the kick-off event for 10 Days of Connection, a movement to bring communities closer, The Longest Table will also welcome as a guest Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former U.S. Surgeon General who called loneliness a health crisis.
Joan Godoy, CEO of Radical Partners, one of the community groups partnering for the event along with The Underline, Elevate Cities and Knight Foundation, says that dining swiftly opens the pathway to connection.
“When you eat, you feel nurtured. That quick connection of rapport allows us to have deeper conversations,” she said. “Good food allows us to break the ice while we’re breaking bread.”
Cheryl Overton, who moved to Miami a few years ago from New York and has participated in The Longest Table events there, will be acting as one of the table captains, volunteers who invite friends and set the theme for a table.
Though this is the first public event in Miami, she anticipates a lively turnout.
“You have people who come solo and people who come with a group, but the spirit is very much people walking from table to table,” she says. “It’s not unusual to see people walking down the table. Your table is your home base, but people are mingling.”
She has cooked for the event before and once ordered takeout from one of her favorite restaurants in Harlem in hopes of boosting the restaurant’s profile. She has seen people show up with everything from pizzas to charcuterie boards and plans on sharing her favorite medianoche and Cuban sandwiches on Friday, with sides of fruit, cheese and charcuterie and a special spritz drink.
The key, she says, is having fun.
“Nobody should come suffering from PTSD because they spent the day working in the kitchen,” she jokes. “All of our social media feeds are filled with divisiveness. This is something that brings people together where they’re organically mixing and mingling, with kids and pets and people of all ages.”
“I moved here as an adult, and I own my own business and don’t go to an office. I don’t do a lot of the things that you do to meet new people. Finding community here has been more important than I realized.”
The Longest Table
When: 6:30-8:30 p.m. May 1
Where: The Underline Inter Grove Gallery, 2771 SW 27th Ave., Miami
Cost: Free
RSVP and for more information on 10 Days of Connection events: events.10daysofconnection.org