When David Brown moved from Chicago to Los Angeles this summer, one of the first things he did was download an app that aims to “fight big-city loneliness.”
The 35-year-old sales director had seen an ad on Instagram for Timeleft, which matches users with strangers for dinner using a personality algorithm. Since he only knew a handful of people in his new city, he decided to give it a try.
The night of his first dinner, Brown, a self-described introvert, was “super nervous” when Timeleft provides participants with limited details about who they will be dining with, including their line of work and their zodiac sign. No names or photographs are revealed. But Brown's fears were quickly allayed once the host led him to his assigned table and he met the other diners, who were just as anxious as he was.
“It's hard to meet people in Los Angeles and I know it's not just me because many of the people who have come to these dinners have been living in Los Angeles for 20 years,” says Cristina Haraba.
(Étienne Laurent / For The Times)
“Everyone was invested in the experience and open-minded,” says Brown, who lives in West Hollywood. The group then went to a bar, also provided by Timeleft, to have a few drinks and meet other users of the app who also went to dinner that night.
“I made at least two best friends at that first dinner,” Brown says, adding that one of them is now his roommate. Since then, he has attended Timeleft dinners almost every week and started an Instagram group for users to stay in touch.
Brown is one of nearly 10,000 Angelenos who have attended a Timeleft dinner since the platform, which started in Lisbon last year and is now in more than 300 cities in 65 countries, expanded to Los Angeles in May. Los Angeles is the app's second-largest market in the United States, behind New York City.
Every Wednesday (except some holidays), Timeleft hosts more than 400 dinners in neighborhoods across Los Angeles, from Santa Monica to North Hollywood, with the goal of helping attendees meet new people and, hopefully, make friends. In an effort to combat loneliness, particularly during the holiday season, a 2023 Survey by ValuePenguin found that 61% of Americans expected to feel lonely or sad during the season. Remaining time will host dinners on December 25 and January 1, both of which fall on a Wednesday. Participating restaurants, which are open to the public during the holidays, include Butcher's Daughter, Zinque and Formosa Café.
Carlie Armstrong, who runs Timeleft's west coast region, says the company wanted to offer an alternative option during the holidays for people who may have lost loved ones, live far from their families or don't have a good life. relationship with them.
“This is also a particularly polarizing year, so there are a lot of people who are maybe avoiding those interactions and maybe want to try something new during this time, but still be with other people,” she says. A recent American Psychological Association survey of more than 2,000 American adults found that nearly 40% of participants said they avoid family members with whom they disagree politically during the holiday season.
Jonathan Alexander listens to Cristina Haraba speak during a recent Timeleft dinner with strangers at Bacari in West Hollywood.
(Étienne Laurent / For The Times)
Each of the Christmas dinners will follow the format of a typical Timeleft gathering. To join, you can purchase a ticket for $16 or sign up for a membership starting at $26 per month, then you will be asked to select your preferred dining date. Users can also indicate their budget for dinner, as the app works with various types of restaurants (casual, fine dining, etc.). On the Tuesday before the event, you will receive a brief introduction to your fellow diners. Guests are responsible for paying for their own meals.
Before your dinner at Timeleft, you'll learn a few details about your dining companions on the app.
I attended my first Timeleft dinner last month at Bacari in West Hollywood. Upon arrival, I showed the hostess my table number, which was given to me by the app, and two other people who were there for dinner introduced themselves to me. We were then guided to our table by a member of staff and eventually four other diners, one of whom was celebrating his birthday, arrived to join us. Everyone in my group had attended at least five platform dinners, so they were already over the awkwardness one would think would arise when meeting a group of strangers for the first time.
Conversation flowed effortlessly at our table, to the point that we didn't even break out the trivia game that Timeleft offers to help break the ice. Over strong cocktails and nibbling on delicious share plates, we talked about our jobs, hobbies, hometowns, and upbringing (one woman had moved to Los Angeles from Romania). At one point, I told the group that someone I used to date, but hadn't seen in a year, had walked into the room, which started a venting session about the problems of dating in Los Angeles. We were comfortable, to say the least, and anyone passing by would have thought we had known each other for well over two hours.
The restaurant only accepted a limited number of credit cards, although the staff encouraged us to share plates, so we had a bit of a headache trying to figure out how to split the bill. In the end, one person left their card and we sent them money.
Maxime Barbier, who lives in Paris, founded Timeleft in 2023 because he wanted to help people combat loneliness in big cities.
(Étienne Laurent / For The Times)
Cristina Haraba, 42, who moved to Los Angeles from London three years ago, is considering attending one of the app's Christmas dinners because she has no family in town. Like Brown, she came across a Timeleft ad on Instagram and decided to go because she was having a hard time making friends.
“It's hard to meet people in Los Angeles and I know it's not just me because many of the people who have come to these dinners have been living in Los Angeles for 20 years. Some of them were born here,” says Haraba, who said she is used to having a “very rich social life.”
Haraba, who is originally from Romania, has attended about six Timeleft dinners so far and has made some friends who she still keeps in touch with. What keeps her coming back is the opportunity to try new restaurants in her area and meet interesting people with whom she can explore the city, she says.
Timeleft founder Maxime Barbier, who lives in Paris, says it was important to him to target the app at people of different ages, including people like his 71-year-old father. Barbier encouraged his father to attend a dinner after he suffered a serious stroke that made him less sociable. Now he goes at least once a month, Barber says.
“One thing I find sad is that all the new concepts are really focused on the new generation, like 'This is only for Generation Z,'” Barbier says. “But people who are the same age as my parents know how to use a computer or an iPhone and I think they need help because [can get] solitary.” At most Timeleft dinners, people are paired with people who are under 10 years old, but some people have also been paired with people from other generations.
Myra Hermosa, 37, grew up in the San Fernando Valley, but recently returned to the area after living in San Diego and North Carolina for a few years.
“What convinced me was that you have five people at that table who you would never have met if you had gone about your daily life,” says Myra Hermosa, 37.
(Étienne Laurent / For The Times)
“When I came back here, I thought, ‘Well, most of my friends are gone, or at least not in the area,’” says Hermosa, who works from home. She decided to attend her first Timeleft dinner this summer because she was “looking forward to going out, making friends and socializing again,” she says.
“What convinced me was that you have five people at that table who you would never have met if you had gone about your daily life. And they were just sharing their stories, their backgrounds, where they come from and what they do,” Hermosa says, adding that she met an actress and an Army veteran. They played the Timeleft game on the app, which included thoughtful questions like “Why did you move to Los Angeles?” and “What is an event that had a significant impact on your life?” “I realized how crazy it is that these five people are sitting at a table and actually talking and interacting. “This is something great.”
For those thinking about attending one of Timeleft's Christmas dinners or another Wednesday night, former attendees say it's essential to stay open, be yourself, and follow up if you vibe with someone.
“Don't be afraid to be honest,” Brown says, adding that the dinners have helped him gain confidence. “If you can't be vulnerable, it will be very difficult for people to identify with you in your experience. We are all at this table for a reason. “Most of us are here to make more friends, not just sit at dinner with a stranger for two and a half hours.”
