Clubs link diners with good food, drinks and friendship

Our quest began within days of setting foot on campus as hyper college freshmen in Seattle. How quickly, we wondered, could our group sample every restaurant along University Way, better known to Huskies as The Ave?

Exactly how long it took escapes me. What I do recall, aside from eating more teriyaki, gyros, burritos, almond chicken, pho and pad Thai than ever before in my short life, was the pleasure of sharing a happy ritual with my friends.

Similar sentiments are driving co-workers, alumni clubs, recent transplants and others in our region to start dining groups of their own. From brunch spots to bistros, we're gathering to try new food, sprout new friendships, nurture old ones and help others find good places to eat along the way.

"If you don't have something that brings you together on a regular basis, then it gets really difficult to stay in touch," said Jenni Frere. She is a member of two Seattle dining groups to keep close with friends and with fellow alumni from her alma mater, Walla Walla's Whitman College.

Nick Tully and Kevin Neal both love brunch. For months now they've met every Sunday at 10 a.m. with six or more friends on a mission to visit every brunch spot in Seattle.

Tully, 26, works for Google's advertising team. Neal, 26, is a designer for an architecture firm. Both are recent Midwest transplants to the Northwest and say their group, Brunch Matters, is a fun, casual way to get to know new friends, introduce visitors to Seattle hangouts and feel connected.

"We kind of do it in lieu of having family here," Tully said.

They have noshed at more than 40 brunch spots and have a backlog of places they want to check out.

Favorites (based on a criteria of food quality, presentation, service and ambience) include Sunflour Bakery & Café in Seattle's Wedgwood neighborhood, Geraldine's Counter in Columbia City, Dish in Ballard and West Seattle's Luna Park Café.

"Seattle's just got a plethora of awesome places," Tully said.

Seconding that emotion is a group of 12 lawyers and their spouses that took a list of more than 30 bistros from The Seattle Times Sunday magazine, Pacific Northwest, put together a passport with photos of each plus space for comments and attempted to dine at every restaurant before their competitors.

"We took the list and decided to have a bistro challenge," said Kathy Goater, a Seattle lawyer. "You had to prove that you had been there. We all ended up having the chef sign our book. One person got menus from each place. Another had wine corks."

The bistro challenge prompted Goater and her husband, fellow lawyer Donovan Flora, to meet for lunch, brunch and dinner in their quest to complete the list.

Only two couples got to all the places. But in the end, that was beside the point.

"It was the best. It was so much fun. We went to places all over town that otherwise we never would have gone to," said Goater.

On New Year's Eve, the group took a vote. Their faves?

"Ovio was number one, then Dandelion was number two and Voila! got third place," Goater said.

Frere helped organize a dining group for her Whitman alums last year. She felt the alumni club could benefit from a less intellectual pursuit.

"We decided to add a little more of a social activity that's still a good way to network," said Frere, 27.

Since it began in December, more than 40 Whitman alums have joined the group, which has dined at St. Clouds in Madrona, Moxie in lower Queen Anne and Dinette on Capitol Hill. Oftentimes, chefs come out to chat.

The first 12 to 15 who RSVP for the event every other month get to attend. Attendees span several generations and it's proved a good way to network or meet new friends.

"We thought we'd have two tables of 10 but then it turned out that the restaurants were willing to put us all at one table if we stuck to 12," she said. "Sometimes you have new people coming and it's just easier to have everyone at the same table; you meet more people."

Frere, who loves dining out, also belongs to an eight-person dining group that chooses its restaurants in alphabetical order.

The Harvest Vine in Madison Park was the last stop, after Mukilteo's Grouchy Chef and the Frontier Room, Dragonfish, Cedars, Barbacoa and Agua Verde in Seattle.

"We were hoping, well, maybe if we do this all the way through the alphabet we can write to Oprah." Frere said. "It's been really fun. I've really learned that the best way to find great restaurants is to ask the chefs of other restaurants that we like."

A friend in her dining group told Frere that his parents also belonged to a dining group — 30 years ago.

"We laugh about it and wonder if we'll be doing this in 30 years."

Karen Gaudette: 206-515-5618 or kgaudette@seattletimes.com