“It’s essentially a blind date for six people but pop a menu in front of everyone and the conversation starts flowing”
Jo Guy, from Clifton, has made hundreds of new friends through her ‘blind dates for six people’ as a way of tackling loneliness and helping local independent restaurants(Image: Jo Guy)
A Bristol woman has met hundreds of people over the last five years by booking tables to dine with strangers regularly at local independent restaurants across the city. Jo Guy will book a table for six people each week and then posts messages to social media sites such as the Nextdoor app and Facebook to ask if anyone would like to join her for a nice meal out.
The 49-year-old, who works for a legal tech company, has lived in her flat in Clifton for 27 years after having come to Bristol for university and loving it here so much she never left.
She moved in as she graduated, after having been left some inheritance when her brother died in a car crash when she was just 20 years old.
Jo tells BristolLive that the idea to start the regular get togethers came from the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. She says: “Covid was a lonely time for so many of us. I lived alone, with two cats, and worked from home so as we started to come out of lockdown I was craving actual human interaction (more than the quick chats in Sainsburys!) and wanted to support all the restaurants that had been forced to close for so long.
“I put a message up on the Nextdoor app saying how I’d lived in Clifton for so long but knew very few others in my neighbourhood, how I wanted to meet new people and wanted to enjoy all the local restaurants and cafes again. One lady, a retired nurse, replied and we met at a cafe on Queens Road run by one of my friends.
“It was a couple of hours exchanging our Covid experiences and talking about all the places we wanted to travel to once it was safe again. The following week I suggested a Sunday roast and four of us went out. We laughed like old friends and it was a real endorphin high for all of us.”
A table at an outdoor cafe(Image: encrier/ Getty)
After that, Jo says it quickly morphed into regular meet ups, before finally turning into the format it now runs in. Jo will book a table for six people at independent restaurants across the city before she even knows who will be attending, and places are allocated on a first reply basis.
The bill is split six ways to avoid any awkwardness unless some guests don’t drink alcohol. Jo says: “I try to mix up the price point of the restaurants with a ‘treat’ one popped in every couple of months to splash out.
“I share the dates and venues via a Facebook page called Lionsdrinkbellinis (a name a friend created years ago for the social nights I used to run when I was wearing a pair of lion ears and drinking a bellini) and I also have a Whatsapp group to share last minute availability.”
The Whatsapp group is usually shared with attendees on the night, so they can interact and share any travel problems or late arrivals if they should happen. And, according to Jo and the many new friends she has made through her initiative, it seems to be ever growing in popularity.
She goes on to say: “Since I started I’ve met hundreds of people, some who’ve become good friends. It’s run on a very informal basis – it’s not a club, there is no joining fee, there is no fee to join a dinner. Its simply say you’d like to join a dinner and turn up on the evening.
‘Waiting staff love the concept’
“There’s no requirement to join regularly, although some people come once a month, while others may only come along once a year. Because of my own age, the age group has naturally morphed to 30-50 and appeals to people who are new to Bristol, newly-single or just looking for new friends. People don’t need to be single, though, and couples are welcome to join too.”
When it comes to what the local restaurants think of the idea, Jo adds: “Lots of waiting staff ask what the occasion is when seating us and love the concept of bringing people together over food. It’s essentially a blind date for six people but pop a menu in front of everyone and the conversation starts flowing.”
And when Jo is looking for places to book, she follows a specific but not strict set of rules. “The main criteria is that the restaurant is independent, as those are the ones I want to support and promote,” she says.
“I have coeliac disease, so the menu also has to have a gluten free offering. This means I’ve been able to share with the Bristol Gluten Free community just how accommodating so many of our independent Bristol restaurants are and that they are safe for us to eat at.
“I try to move around the different parts of Bristol – Gloucester Road, Harbourside, Chandos Road, Cotham Hill, Clifton – and I am always looking out for new restaurant openings. I’d like to thank everyone who has come along to a dinner over the last five years, shared it with friends and made new friends along the way!”