When David Brown moved from Chicago to Los Angeles this summer, one of the first things he did was download an app aimed at “fighting big-city loneliness.”
The 35-year-old sales director had seen an Instagram ad for Timeleft, which matches users with strangers for dinner through a personality algorithm. Since I only knew a few people in my new city, I decided to give it a try.
On the night of their first dinner, Brown, a self-described introvert, was “very nervous.” That’s because Time Left provides participants with limited details about who they’ll be dining with, including their occupation and zodiac sign. His name and photo have not been released. But Brown’s fears were quickly dispelled when his host showed him to his assigned table and met other diners who were just as concerned.
“It’s hard to meet people in L.A., but I know I’m not the only one, because a lot of people who come to dinners like this have lived in L.A. for 20 years,” Cristina Halaba says.
(Etienne Laurent/For the Times)
“Everyone was enthusiastic about the experience and just open-minded,” said Brown, who lives in West Hollywood. The group then went to a bar hangout sponsored by Time Left, had drinks, and met up with other app users who also went to dinner that night.
“I made at least two of my best friends from that first dinner,” Brown said, adding that one of them is now her roommate. Since then, he’s gone to Time Left dinners almost every week and started an Instagram group for users to stay in touch.
Brown is among the roughly 10,000 Angelenos who have attended Time Left dinners since the platform, which launched in Lisbon last year and now operates in more than 300 cities in 65 countries, expanded to Los Angeles in May. One of us. Los Angeles is the second largest app market in the United States after New York City.
Every Wednesday (excluding some holidays), Time Left hosts more than 400 dinners in the Los Angeles area, from Santa Monica to North Hollywood, for participants to meet new people and potentially make friends. Masu. To combat feelings of loneliness, especially during the holiday season, a 2023 study by Value Penguin found that 61% of Americans expect to feel lonely or sad during the holiday season. Time Left will host dinners on December 25th and January 1st. It falls on Wednesday. Some of the participating restaurants include Butcher’s Daughter, Zinque, and Formosa Cafe, which are open to the public on holidays.
Carly Armstrong, head of Time Left’s West Coast region, said the company is working with people who may have lost a loved one, live far away from family, or may not have a good relationship with their family. He said he wanted to give people an alternative option while on vacation.
“This year has also been a particularly polarizing year, so while many people are probably looking to avoid those interactions and try something new during this time, they can still be together with others. I want to be there,” she says. In a recent American Psychological Association survey of more than 2,000 American adults, nearly 40% of participants said they avoided relatives with whom they disagree politically during the holiday season.
Jonathan Alexander listens to Christina Halaba during a recent Time Left dinner with strangers at Bakari in West Hollywood.
(Etienne Laurent/For the Times)
Each holiday dinner follows the format of a typical Time Left gathering. To attend, purchase a ticket for $16 or sign up for a membership starting at $26 a month and you’ll be asked to select your preferred date for dinner. Users can also specify their dinner budget, as the app works with different types of restaurants (casual, fine dining, etc.). You will receive a brief introduction about other diners on the Tuesday before the event. Meals will be at your own expense.
Before your Timeleft dinner, learn some details about other dinners in the app.
I attended the first Time Left Dinner at Bakari in West Hollywood last month. When I arrived, I showed the hostess the table number provided on the app and the two other people who had come for dinner introduced themselves to me. A staff member then showed us to our table and eventually four other diners (one of whom was celebrating a birthday) trickled in to join us. All members of my group had attended Dinner with Platform at least five times, so I didn’t feel the awkwardness that can occur when meeting a group of strangers for the first time.
Conversation flowed so smoothly at our table that we didn’t even need to use the question game that Time Left offers to break the ice. We talked about jobs, hobbies, hometowns, and upbringings over strong cocktails and delicious shareable plates (one woman moved to Los Angeles from Romania). At one point, I told the group that someone I had previously dated but hadn’t seen in a year walked into the room, and we began a venting session about our dating woes in LA. We were comfortable, to say the least. Anyone passing by would have guessed we had known each other for over two hours.
The restaurant takes a limited number of credit cards, but the staff encouraged us to share plates, so it was a bit of a headache figuring out how to split the bill. Eventually, one person put down their card and we sent them money.
Maxime Barbier, a Parisian, founded TimeLeft in 2023 with the goal of helping people fight loneliness in big cities.
(Etienne Laurent/For the Times)
Christina Halaba, 42, who moved to Los Angeles from London three years ago, is considering attending the app’s holiday dinner because she has no family in the city. Like Brown, she also saw an ad for Time Left on Instagram and decided to go because she was having a hard time making friends.
“It’s hard to meet people in L.A., but I know I’m not the only one, because a lot of the people who come to dinners like this have lived in L.A. for 20 years. Some of them Some of them were born here,” Halaba said, adding that she is used to having a “very rich social life.”
Halava, who is originally from Romania, has attended about six Time Left dinners and made some friends with whom she still keeps in touch. What keeps her coming back, she says, is the opportunity to try new local restaurants and meet interesting people with whom she can explore the city.
TimeLeft founder Maxime Barbier, who lives in Paris, said it was important for him to reach out to people of all ages, including people like his 71-year-old father. Barbier encouraged her father to attend a dinner party after he suffered a serious brain accident that left him less sociable. Barber said he now goes at least once a month.
“What I find disappointing is that every new concept is focused on a new generation, like, ‘This is only for Gen Z,’” Barbier says. “But people my parents’ age know how to use a computer and an iPhone. I think they need help because they can be lonely.” Most Time Left Dinners In , you will be paired with people within the age range of 10 years, but some will be paired with people from other generations.
Mayra Hermosa, 37, grew up in the San Fernando Valley but recently moved back to the area after living in San Diego and North Carolina for several years.
“What was fascinating to me was that there were five people at that dinner table that I would never have met if I was just going about my daily life,” says Mayra Hermosa, 37.
(Etienne Laurent/For the Times)
“When I got back here, I thought, ‘Oh, most of my friends are gone, at least not in the area,'” said Hermosa, who works from home. She says she decided to attend the Time Left dinner for the first time this summer because she “was itching to get out, make friends, and be social again.”
“What was fascinating to me was that there were five people at that dinner table that I would never have met just going about my daily life. And they had their own stories, backgrounds, origins. It was just sharing what we do for a living,” Hermosa said, adding that she met the actress and the veteran. They played Timeleft games within the app, which included self-reflective questions such as “Why did you move to LA?” “What happened that had a big impact on your life?” “I thought how crazy would it be for these five people to sit at a table and actually talk and interact?” That’s cool.”
For those considering joining Time Left for the Holiday Dinner or another Wednesday night, former participants say it’s important to stay open, be yourself, and follow up if you feel like you’re in the mood with someone. That’s what he says.
“Don’t be afraid to be honest,” Brown said, adding that the dinner gave her more confidence. “If you can’t be vulnerable, it’s going to be very difficult for people to empathize with your experience. We’re all at this dinner table for a reason. Most of us… I’m here not just to have dinner with strangers for two and a half hours, but to make more friends.”
