Giant Pop-Up Party Diner en Blanc Adds Vegan Options This Year

Diner en Blanc, the massive annual outdoor dinner party held at a secret location disclosed right before the event, is expanding its catering menu this year, adding vegan and gluten-free meals for those who want to order food in advance and pick it up at the event. There’s also a cheese board option — based on the past six Diner en Blancs in Philly, cheese boards are the way to go. The event happens August 16 this year.

As a refresher: Diner en Blanc is a pop-up party that takes over a public space for one night every summer, eliciting a wide range of reactions here in Philly. Past locations include Broad Street in Center City, Franklin Square, the Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Logan Circle. Party-goers — all 5,500 of them — dress head to toe in white and bring their own food and drink to the event, along with their own tables, chairs, and table decorations.

Justin Blasi

For those who scored an invite, either after signing up for the waiting list or by having attended previously, but don’t want to cook — or arrange a cheese board or pick up cheesesteaks or hoagies — Feast Your Eyes Catering sells preset meals priced at $38 to $70 for two people (that’s another Diner en Blanc quirk: You can’t come alone). Tickets to the event are $51 a head.

The gluten-free meals are themed around Barcelona, Vietnam, and Paris, the city that first started hosting Diner en Blanc 30 years ago. There’s also a Southern-ish All-American menu with fried chicken and sweet potatoes.

Vegans can go for the all-veggie Antipasto menu or the Morocco option, with medfouna (a stuffed-bread dish), artichoke salad, couscous, olives, and other Mediterranean bites.

Diner en Blancers who were able to buy event tickets during the first phase can place food orders now. Those waiting for the next phases can start ordering food when they buy their tickets.

Johanna Austin