Come Dine with us, UAE

Dubai - Head organiser of Dine to Gather, Pamela Streit, gives us an insight into her new venture that aims to bring people together through the sharing of food

According to esteemed chef Julia Child, people who love to eat are the best people. If you think about it, what better way to gather people than through the tempting aromas and delicious taste of food? The Dine To Gather crew agrees!
Dine to Gather is an initiative spearheaded by Pamela Streit who came to Dubai with her family, from Germany, seven years ago. According to her, in this high tech and high functioning world she missed the old fashioned way of connecting with people through the most basic medium- food. This inspired her to create the Dine to Gather experience.
As the head organiser and the brain behind Dine to Gather, Pamela was influenced by her grandmother to use food as a catalyst to bring together the community. She says, "My grandma used to be our 'home' chef. I still feel her gleaming smile while she was cooking and her happiness while serving the family and us kids and bringing us all together. I grew up with the value of taking time talking and listening to each other around the dinner table. I do believe in personal connections and I'm feeling sad seeing so many people constantly on their phones rather than socialising face to face."
To sum it up, the aim of Dine to Gather is to persuade people to actually socialise with one another using the age-old tradition of cooking food. "It does not matter what your nationality, religion, colour of skin or background is; the preparation and eating of the food is something that we all have in common with one another." Pamela adds, "Dubai connects more than 190 nationalities, so this variety of people makes Dine to Gather even more exciting and diverse. " She says that she likes to describe the Dine to Gather journey as 'The Tastiest Way To Meet New People!'
When asked who she wouldn't like to have at the dining table she responded that she believes non-committal and unreliable people ruin the experience for everyone.  "For the Dine to Gather concept everything needs to go hand in hand to ensure a positive and memorable experience for all participants."
The Journey
The best thing about Dine to Gather is that participants do not have to be professional chefs. It's about having fun. The contributors will have a full three-course meal at three different locations. They will have to cook and entertain at their own house as well as be guests for the other contestants.
Those interested have to book their spot on the Dine to Gather website five days prior to the event. Tickets are priced at Dhs165 for one participant and Dhs265 for a team. Those who don't have a partner need not fear, you will be given a surprise partner to pair up with and cook away. However, only over 21s can register.
Unlike the famous UK show Come Dine with Me, which the event can be compared to, the participants will not be rated or judged.  According to Pamela, Dubai being a multicultural hub has a lot of newbies and building a social circle in a new country can be intimidating. The event is shown as a sort of icebreaker where 12 individuals get together, chat and become friends. In her own words, Pamela says that she wanted to create something that encourages individuals to socialise in the real world, bring the excitement back to cooking and dining, and recreate that sense of 'home' for expats.
Five people Pamela would like to dine with:
" I'd choose Julia Roberts as I admire her smile and authenticity, Leonardo DiCaprio and Pierce Brosnan as two handsome men knowing how to pamper and host us women, Taylor Swift the countryside girl who became a superstar with her one and only voice which I'd love to hear giving us a private dinner table song and George Clooney to round off the dinner with a perfect cup of coffee."

• Food and Dining
• Dubai