People,drinks, and lots of food; the perfect mix to spark conversations.
2018 was one for the books, wasn’t it? Between world events, twitter fights, and life in general, we may have ended up feeling a bit depleted of social energy, especially when it comes to gathering around people you’ve never met before. It’s pretty common to feel a bit of social anxiety in this type of situation; but there’s an easy way to solve this: talk about food!
If you think about it, food is one of the few things that stand in a neutral ground in terms of social interactions, and no matter where you come from, the food of your country has been greatly influenced by the world heritage, so really, it’s a no brainer to get people talking.
This theme in specific was the topic of Uber’s latest event organized by Los Ubers (their Latinx-focused employee resource group), this dinner party was all about celebrating our Latin heritage, our food, and meeting new people in the community along the way.
Little did we know that the event had so many layers integrated, not only was this a super fun event, but also the food happened to be prepared by a very special group of people, the chef of restaurant El Buen Comer in conjunction with La Cocina, a non-profit incubator that empowers food entrepreneurs.
Being able to connect with complete strangers over dinner speaks volumes about the importance of being part of a community where you can interact and bond with people, sharing your own heritage and at the same time celebrate the differences that make us unique. In a way, it’s the same principle that Los Ubers is using to elevate the sense of community at their offices.
It was awesome to meet other Latinx creatives and chat about which dishes sparked memories of the holidays, our childhood, etc. I especially loved how even though we all liked a dish in specific (e.g. flan!) there were tiny nuances in the way it was served or prepared by our families and those little details made it so much more memorable.
So there you have it, next time you are in a situation where you feel it may be tricky to start a conversation, just talk about your favourite food and go from there. You’ll see the magic unfold before your eyes as you pass around a plate of tamales :P
Post created in partnership with Uber, all views my own.