Don't Talk to Strangers. Host Them Instead | Eddy Cruz | TEDxRiverdale
Eddy Cruz shares how he started 926 Supper Club, a monthly dinner party for strangers in his Bronx apartment featuring Dominican-inspired cuisine, which grew to a 13,000-person waitlist. Through hosting these intimate gatherings, he discovered that sharing meals creates profound human connection and helps people feel seen, valued, and less alone in an increasingly disconnected world.
Summary
Eddy Cruz describes his journey from working in corporate event planning at Goldman Sachs to founding 926 Supper Club in September 2025. After graduating from Cornell University's hospitality program in 2017, he began hosting themed dinner parties in his apartment in April 2025, which he documented on social media. When strangers began requesting to attend these dinners, he partnered with his mother (an untrained but experienced home cook) and his hesitant partner to launch a formal supper club. The name '926' was inspired by his grandmother's address in the South Bronx, chosen because it embodied the values they wanted guests to feel: grateful, special, celebrated, and at home. At their first dinner in October 2025, Cruz observed guests sharing vulnerabilities and personal stories—from a recently divorced person exploring a new life, to a parent of a newborn seeking respite, to an English-learning college student seeking friendship. He realized that people fundamentally crave deep connection and intimacy. Cruz argues that what people are truly hungry for is not another restaurant reservation but genuine human connection—a place to sit longer, speak more honestly, and be known beyond digital usernames. He concludes that while food sets the table, conversations fill it, and the exchange between strangers transforms them into something more than strangers.
Key Insights
- Cruz's mother, despite lacking formal culinary training or restaurant experience, succeeded at executing multiple courses with proper pacing because she compensated with heart, flavor, and decades of lived kitchen experience
- After posting social media content about dinner parties, Cruz received so many inquiries from strangers asking to attend that it evolved from a personal hobby into a business opportunity
- At the first 926 dinner, when guests were asked to share their name and one thing they were grateful for, Cruz realized people actively crave intimate connection and vulnerability with others
- Cruz observed that strangers at his dinners were not just sharing meals but sharing vulnerabilities, asking questions to understand rather than reply, and seeing each other as human beings experiencing life together
- Cruz argues that in a city of millions, what people actually crave is not restaurant reservations but genuine connection—a place to sit longer, speak honestly, and be known beyond email or username
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] It was a late afternoon of August 2025 and my mom and I are standing outside of her house talking about [snorts] interest, hobbies, and ideas. And it was at that moment that I thought of an idea that most people would never consider. I want to host dinner for strangers in my home. And while the thought of having someone you have never met in your home may give you anxiety or you just think that's weird, you're not alone because I thought the same until I realized that [0:30] when we share a meal with a stranger, something human and magical happens. I'm Eddie. I'm the co-founder of 926 Supper Club, a monthly dinner party hosted for…
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