The best way to get to know a culture is to eat with locals, and these days you can just book yourself an invite to a dinner party
Fresh from an autumn downpour, Montmartre’s slopes were wet, glistening and bathed in magical evening light. Cafe terraces were already packed tight, glasses clinking, smoke curling and conversation humming, and on any other evening I would have found it impossible to resist squeezing in to soak up some quintessential Paris buzz. But, tonight, unbelievably, I had somewhere even better to be – a French dinner party.
I’ve been devotedly visiting the city for years, and while I’ve had my fair share of great meals in bistros and creperies, oyster bars and brasseries, I still never feel more like a tourist than when eating out. The food culture is formidable, and understanding it, let alone feeling part of it, has always seemed just out of reach.
I certainly never thought a dinner at home with locals would be on the cards. But apparently, rather than spending years cultivating Parisian friends with fabulous apartments and haute cuisine hobbies, you can just book yourself an invite to one of these hallowed soirees. Who knew?
Open supper clubs are fairly easy to find on social media, and of course there are plenty of platforms that connect tourists and locals. I’d reserved a place at tonight’s event on the culinary experience site Eatwith.com. Dinner would be hosted and prepared by a long-time Montmartre resident at her place and best of all, she would join us for the meal.