Nov12Thu
Round of Eight
Round of Eight #3: Mediterranean Night
Mezze, grilled fish and good conversation. Table Sparks on the theme of home.
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Beta: we're trying out the new site with a few friends. The quotes and events on this page are samples for now.
Eight at a Table is for people who love food, conversation and meeting new people. Share your recipes and the stories behind them, make your own recipe books, and come to small gatherings where you can try new foods and make new friends.
Real Conversations. New Perspectives.
Welcome to the table
Eight at a Table brings curious people together around food. Online, members share the recipes they love and the stories that come with them. In person, we gather in small groups to share a meal, trade stories, hear new perspectives and, more often than not, leave with a new friend.
You may know one or two people at the table, or no one at all. That's part of the fun.
Upload family favorites from a card, a photo or a web page. Keep the story with your family, and share the recipe with everyone.
Dinners, cooking lessons and Rounds of Eight: small gatherings of six to eight people around one table.
Taste dishes from other kitchens and other cultures, and bring one of your own to share.
Recipes & Stories
Two nutmeg-scented butter cakes split into four layers and stacked with strawberry-rhubarb compote and whipped cream.
See the recipe →
A four-bean chili simmered with fresh tomatoes, dark beer, chipotle, cocoa and cinnamon.
See the recipe →Events
Huntsville, Alabama. Everyone pays their own way; each event shows about what it costs.
Mezze, grilled fish and good conversation. Table Sparks on the theme of home.
Roll, cut and cook fresh pasta together, then sit down to eat what we made.
Bring your best Thanksgiving leftover, dressed up or as is, and the story of the family dish you always make.
Two soups, crusty bread and a long table on a cold night.
Bring two dozen cookies and the recipe; leave with a plate of everyone else’s.
Members will soon sign up for events right here. Until then, they're also on Meetup.
Our gatherings are dinners, cooking lessons and Rounds of Eight: six to eight people at one table, with a Table Tender to welcome everyone and keep the conversation going. Come curious, bring a story, and be ready to listen.
You can bring a guest to most events; just say so when you sign up.
From our Tablemates
I came knowing one person and left with seven new friends and a recipe for lamb kofta I make every week now.
My grandmother’s cards were falling apart in a shoebox. Now they’re typed up, with her stories, for the whole family.
The Table Sparks got us talking about things I never talk about with strangers. I didn’t want the night to end.
I was nervous to go alone. By dessert we were planning the next dinner.
How we treat each other
Eight at a Table isn't networking, dating, a debate club or a sales pitch. It's simply a table where people can meet, listen, laugh, learn, and maybe make a new friend.
Your hosts
Jay started Eight at a Table to bring together people who might never otherwise share a table. Jay hosts Rounds of Eight around Huntsville, keeps a pocketful of Table Sparks ready for a quiet moment, and built this site so the family's recipes, and now everyone's, have a home. Jay's own contributions to the recipe box lean toward the famous five-minute breakfast.
Pam is the cook behind most of the recipes that started this collection: pies, soups, holiday sides and cakes, many from handwritten cards. Pam co-organizes our gatherings, tends tables, and loves trying a dish from someone else's kitchen, then asking for the story behind it.
Join us
Members must be 18 or older. Questions first? Contact us.