The text message said to meet at the parking lot of Mill and Parliament for 6pm.

So here I am in my car, dressed completely in white, feeling like Mr. Roarke making his morning commute to Fantasy Island. The weather had glowered all day and the forecast was nothing but rain making me more than a little nervous about dining al fresco.

I’m here for Dîner en Blanc – a dining flashmob of white-clad picnickers that began in 1988 in Paris. That at least sounds better than me trying to explain why I’m going to a white rally. Toronto’s first unofficial Dîner, this was to be a modest affair of about 400. Pulled off by a handful of GTA foodies in about 6 weeks, the event was spurred on by the August Niagara on the Lake DEB.

Waiting in the parking lot I took consolation in the fact that participants were easy to spot. Head to toe white after labor day isn’t exactly a common sight down in the Toronto Quay. Obviously this was not a sanctioned event as I spotted hints of ivory and, horrors, what was clearly a cream outfit. (I later found out the official society had sent an overseer to see if we were up to snuff for official sanction)

We were finally ushered to our location. Organizers had spent the day setting up tables, chairs and linens in the cobbled streets of the Distillery district. The clouds, though still hovering, had lightened up while attendees began setting their tables up. This was a foodie event, – a veritable who’s who of GTA food bloggers loaded for bear. Kitchen torches to crisp up entrees, tureens of decadent soup, homemade breads, charcuterie plates and more. There was probably just as many photos taken of the food as the people in attendance and here I was with soggy containers of pasta from Vincenzo’s proffered up in a dollar store white bag. Noob.

At least I could rely on the kindness of strangers. The ladies from Richmond Hill (including the lovely Julie Sartori featured in the Toronto Star photoset) had brought 3 crates worth of wares for their table of six. Lily centrepieces, silver cookie trays, champagne flutes, candles aplenty and equally gorgeous fare. @kalofagas brought some melitzanosalata and homemade bread (natch) that was just mindblowing and @pancancooks brought the fire with homemade hot sauce for everyone.

The evening is a blur – until I found myself standing with a cigar in hand and a glass of wine watching the assembled throng wave their sparklers under the night sky like some grand Gatsbyesque affair cheering their good fortune. Magic. I can’t thank you enough Paula for the invite.