Despite there being numerous social platforms for keeping in touch, meeting, or dating, loneliness remains prevalent in cities. In response, one company is creating a platform to bring together strangers one dinner at a time.
It took almost four years for Timeleft to develop its app into its current form. "The first idea was to connect people who had the same dream," explained Maxime Barbier (39), one of the company's founders. "Timeleft [...] what do you want to do with the time you have left?"
But when Barbier tried to launch the concept in Paris it failed to gain momentum. He then tried it in Lisbon at the suggestion of Timeleft's co-founder Adrien de Oliveira. The Portuguese capital served as the testing ground, with the concept undergoing multiple reiterations but with a constant theme of making connections.
"People are on social media all the time. When they go out in the streets they don't say 'Hi' because they have become so disconnected. I think we as a human species need [human interaction]," Barbier told The Brussels Times.
In May 2023, Timeleft refined its offer to focus on what Barbier believes is one of the company's successes: simplicity. "We decided to do something simple and to connect a group of strangers in restaurants."
Since its first dinner in Lisbon, the company has expanded to over 150 cities and over 30 countries. Last February it reached Antwerp and Brussels, piquing the interest of hundreds of internationals and locals.
'The opposite of dating apps'
Participating in a Timeleft dinner always comes with a degree of mystery. "We discovered that the more information you give, the more people don't show up." Barbier attributes this to the expectations people build up before meeting for the first time.
To overcome this, Timeleft only reveals minor details of the six guests the day before the dinner: their nationality, their field of work, and their zodiac sign. The restaurant itself is only revealed on the morning of the dinner. "We do the opposite of dating apps," said Timeleft's Benelux manager Aya Tohme.
It was this aspect of the experience that intrigued Sébastien (28), a Belgian civil servant in Brussels. Though a local, Sébastien found himself wanting to meet new people after he became newly single and several friends moved abroad. "It's an interesting concept, meeting complete strangers. I was curious about the restaurants they would choose and what kind of people would show up."
The composition of the group of diners is mostly decided by an algorithm, which matches people based on a questionnaire completed by each user. Tohme says that this is constantly improved using user feedback: "After the experience, [users] can select who they do and don’t want to see again, rate the restaurant, the food, and the service."
Dinners in Belgium are always held at 20:00 on Wednesdays, the day of the week when local restaurants tend to be emptier and when, according to Tohme, "you want to go out, but you don't know with whom or where."
Brussels has no shortage of spots to eat out, but finding company isn't always so easy. Credit: Belga
During the dinner, Timeleft also invites guests, via their app, to go to a nearby bar after their meal. This "last drink" option applies to everyone in the city who was participating in Timeleft dinners, so groups can be quite large after the more intimate dinner.
The Timeleft experience does come with a fee that does not cover the costs of the dinner. A ticket for one dinner costs €12.99, but the app also offers options for monthly subscriptions for those committed to meeting new people weekly while eating their way through the city.
In addition to the ticket fees, Timeleft generates revenue through partnerships: "When a restaurant has a good score, not just one time, but say four or five times, we start a partnership. We tell them that we are going to guarantee a booking of two tables of six or more every month but you pay us a fee of x amount," Tohme explained.
Lowering expectations
Like any social app, the dinner experiences vary as they are dependent on the people who join the Timeleft community.
Though Sébastien kept in touch with one person from his dinner, he feels that the algorithm could be adjusted to develop better matches. Nonetheless, the civil servant said he would be willing to give the experience another go, but with lower expectations: "I don't expect to make a best friend, but just to go for a fun evening and see what happens."
Similarly, Rayan Rahal (33), a Lebanese student in Brussels who has participated in a Timeleft dinner, says that he would be willing to repeat the experience. For him, one of the greatest appeals is knowing that everyone at the table was brought together with the exact same goal: "to meet new people."
