As Sartre correctly said, "Hell is [eating with] other people [you don't already know and like]." Now you can have the horror of communal seating* at restaurants where you would normally sit with persons of your own choosing (or even alone). Behold!

Grubwith.us [is] a company that offers affordable prix fixe dinners at quality restaurants with a little twist. These dinners usually have between 6-10 people who have never met. People can reserve a spot at dinner with friends, but it is definitely a interesting experience when everyone at the table is a stranger.

Over here, the Huffington Post is unaccountably neutral-to-slightly-enthused about the worst idea ever**, which is coming to Seattle soon.

*The last time I sat at a communal table, the people next to me talked loudly and pretentiously about THEIR TRIP TO NAPA the entire time, which was approximately 2.5 hours [stabs fork into ear].

**You may say I am a misanthrope. You may say most people wouldn't ever want to have dinner with me, either. I bet you will! Thanks for that! But can you imagine what kind of misfit too-much-money-having "foodie" freaks do this communal-dinner-to-make-new-friends thing? I hope they're all swingers. At least that would make sense.