We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danielle Rubin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danielle below.

Alright, Danielle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

It began with a goal to improve my skills in the kitchen and strengthen my community, simple as that. I had been living in Charlotte, a new city where I knew no one, for about 6 months. I had pushed myself to meet people and attend networking events, which were working; however, it still felt like my relationships were siloed and less of a connected community. At the same time, I was cooking the same thing over and over again (pasta and avocado toast daily), and I knew that the only way I’d cook for real would be if I was cooking for someone else

So I decided I would challenge myself, and once a month, I would host my friends for a Friday night dinner (aka Shabbat).

I invited about 10 friends over for dinner in July of 2024. I got into my figuring-out mode with cooking and hosting, and all the things. I ran out to Habitat for Humanity to buy extra dishes and cups because I had completely forgotten I was a 24-year-old who only owned 4 of everything. I made it BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair) so we would have enough seats. I set the table and got into host mode, and we were off.

After that first time, I realized how much I loved it – all of it. I loved cooking and dancing in the kitchen all day, I loved sharing my food with others, I loved curating and decorating my space, I loved connecting people with new friends – it felt like the truest expression of my creativity.

And everyone else loved it too! I didn’t realize how rare it was these days for people to sit together at a table, dining family style, with no phones and no other reason other than to connect.

After about 6 dinners, I had gone from 10 guests to 12, to 15, to 23, to 32 people crammed into my apartment. It was still so fun and so wonderful. I was sharpening up my skills in the kitchen, people were loving it, and it was great all around. I had also slowly started iterating and trying new things and seeing what worked and what didn’t. What happened when I assigned seats vs not? What happened when I asked for people to contribute to groceries – how could I pitch that?

By March of 2025, I decided it was time to take the experiment to the next level. I couldn’t keep paying for groceries for these dinners on my own. I was also looking for a way to advance my career in Charlotte. I am a creative thinking facilitator and had been trying to get my foot in the door with corporate clients to facilitate team building workshops, retreats, etc. I quickly realized that without the 20+ years of corporate experience or the Ivy League degree, I would not be able to get in through the front door, so I’d have to make a side door. Maybe these dinners could be it? I mean, if once a month I’m able to get in front of a room of 30-50 people, eventually someone would want to work with me, right?

So I decided to take this fun passion project experiment to the next level. What if I could open this up to the public, to help other people connect and have a good time on a Friday night, while also giving myself and other creatives the platform to showcase their work.

In May of 2025, I had the first open-to-the-public dinner. I sold tickets, I rented a space, and my dad flew in to help with the cooking. I had invited my friend Carla, a local artist, to be our Spotlight Creative. I had another local entrepreneur who had his own wine line to provide the alcohol and be our Spotlight Entrepreneur.

It was spectacular, and it gave me the momentum, motivation, and proof of concept to keep iterating, playing, and seeing where it could go.

When I first hosted that dinner last July, I had no intention of this being my business. Now, over a year later, I am preparing to quit my day job and go all in on a project that has so many opportunities, I am so excited to see where it takes me.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am the host and founder of The Friday Table. We curate family-style dinners to help communities and teams connect.

While I didn’t start this business with this clear vision and intention, it certainly is one of those creative projects that secretly builds in the background until it’s ready to come to fruition.

For context, I grew up in an Israeli household, so food and hosting have always been a huge part of my life.
Specifically, Friday night dinners.

My mom or dad would spend the day cooking in the kitchen with music blasting all day. I’d help set the table, being particular about the plate layout and the napkin folding design. We’d invite anyone and everyone – my friends, my sister’s friends, my family – anyone. We would all sit at the same time, kick off with a toast or blessing, and then get into it. I would help my parents bring the food out from the ovens and microwaves, setting it all down in the middle of the table so everyone could dig in – family style. It was always a table overflowing with food (my friends would usually be shocked, referring to the dinner as Thanksgiving-level). We’d spend the rest of the night pouring each other drinks, everyone laughing, passing plates, and enjoying a Friday night. That’s what I knew.

So when I moved out of state for college, away from my family for the first time, food became my cure for homesickness. I taught myself how to cook my family’s recipes so that I could smell the smells and taste the familiar flavors. That cooking evolved into my tool for building my friendships. I’d host in my college apartment or in the backyards of friends.

The hosting became my tool for connection. After college, when I lived in Hawaii all alone, I hosted my coworkers for dinners. So naturally, when I moved to Charlotte, I did the same thing, only this time it’s grown into not only my tool for connection, but others across the city as well.

Now, I host once a month community dinners here in Charlotte, NC. Once a month, we are in a new spot in Charlotte (usually a space that feels like you shouldn’t be dining there). Every month, we have about 50 strangers who come to enjoy a Friday night dinner together. Each guest fills out a personality form, which I use to intentionally curate the seating. We bring in a local spotlight chef who cooks their cuisine on the spot and has full freedom to share their craft. I also bring in a spotlight creative to showcase their work in a unique way at the table.

In addition to our community dinners, we also do private dinners. Whether it’s a nonprofit looking to connect its patrons or a corporate team looking for a team building activity, or a brand looking to do an experiential brand activation. Overall, the concept is simple – to connect over a shared meal.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I went the grassroots route all the way. To this day, I have not paid for a single social media ad; it has all been organic growth. The growth has been a combination of utilizing my community and getting creative with spreading the word to gain followers.

Starting with my own community, every post I made in the beginning, I made my personal account a collaborator. This, I believe, gave me a good kick off, since all of my personal connections followed my new business account. I also focused on quantity and consistency in the beginning, so I was posting 3x a week minimum, with lots of pushes for extra engagement – liking comments, reposting, posting on stories, etc.

Then, I ran a handful of in-person campaigns, which also helped significantly with early growth. I put flyers up all over the city, and I printed out simple QR code stickers and put them wherever I thought they’d be seen and not taken down – bar bathrooms, restaurant patio tables, corners of windows, etc. I also did a campaign where I tied balloons with a QR code tag to cars parked at a local creative event. I went to pitch wherever I could – creative mornings, pitch breakfast, etc. I was talking about it with everyone, everywhere, all the time.

The combination of constantly spreading the word, posting consistently, and leaning on my already built network helped me grow fast and organically.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The main thing that’s helped me build my reputation is my connections and my high standards when working with partners. Everyone and anyone I work with, I strive to make such an enjoyable experience that they will not only want to do it again, but also will talk to everyone about how great it was to work with me.

So every space I use, I leave better than we found it, and I don’t stay longer than was promised. Every collaborator I work with, I overcommunicate and ensure that I am supporting them the best I can and that they have everything they need. Every guest that dines at the table, I treat with gratitude and respect, and work hard to ensure they are enjoying their time with us.

Overall, I work above and beyond, but especially when it comes to my working relationships, since those are the people who can build up or tear down your reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.danielle-rubin.com/thefridaytable
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.friday.table/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-rubin-01/

Image Credits

Corine Olarte

Nisha Carroll