Le Diner en Blanc Is Back

Seriously huge dinner party returns to Dallas still veiled in secrecy

Last year's Le Dîner en Blanc drew 1,600 people.

Photo by Sarah Winsted

The massive dinner party Le Dîner en Blanc is returning to Dallas for a second year, giving us an excuse to wear white after Labor Day. It's been revealed that this year's date is September 30, but the location is still TBA.

That's part of the fun, actually, as guests don their fanciest white togs, load up their fine food for a posh picnic-style dinner, and await instructions on where to meet before being bussed to the secret location. Last year it was the pedestrian area of the Continental Avenue Bridge. But this year, who knows?

The 2016 announcement promises that Dallasites will “invade one of the most prestigious public locations of the city,” and that the number of guests will increase to 2,200. An estimated 1,600 people attended last year.

Registration for this year's event will happen in three stages. Phase one is for members who attended the previous year, phase two is for new members who are referred by phase one attendees, and phase three is for people who signed up on the waiting list via the official website.

“One of the best parts about buying tickets to a Dîner en Blanc event in any city is becoming a member, and with that automatically getting an invitation the following year,” explains Rachael Kissel, co-host of Diner en Blanc Dallas.

The posh picnic originated in Paris and now has dinners in 70 cities in more than 25 countries. Last year's announcement that it was coming to Dallas caused a frenzy, with the guest list filling up almost immediately.

Those who attended ate, drank, and danced long into the night, with the lit-up Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge and skyline of downtown Dallas in the background. Then they disassembled their decorated tables, leaving no trace they had even been there.

“A key element of the original Parisian concept is the mystery surrounding the location of the event,” explains Dîner en Blanc Dallas co-host Karen Raehpour.

If lugging fancy food (no takeout or paper plates allowed) along with extensive decor in your white duds is too much, caterer Food Glorious Food will this year be selling meals onsite. Dancing follows, capped off by a Pyrotex fireworks show.

dinner event-planner

Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

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