Canberra can be a cold place - and we're not talking temperature.
Newcomers to the city can sometimes find it hard to find their tribe, to break into long-established cliques and social groups.
Enter the Wednesday night dinner group.
It was the brainchild of Jeremy Lasek and his wife, Dorte Ekelund, then busy professionals in Canberra who have since retired to Wollongong.
They started the dinner club 20 years and "close enough to 1000 meals" ago.
The 20th anniversary dinner was held this week - on Wednesday - in the upstairs private dining room at The Public Bar in Manuka.
Many of the original members of the group returned to Canberra for the occasion, including Dorte and Jeremy and Magdy and Sue Youssef, who travelled from the Sunshine Coast, as well as Michael Thorn and Sue Roberts from Perth, Andrew Stark from Adelaide and Jayne Johnston from Melbourne.
"Going way back to the beginning, Dorte and I were well aware that Canberra has always had a bit of a reputation for being hard to crack, especially if you're a newcomer to town," Jeremy said.
"So, it seemed to make sense to establish a weekly dining out experience on a hump day and invite along people who were new to town and looking for some company and good conversation."
Jeremy said many in the group had come to Canberra not knowing anyone, working in fields from the arts to health to defence to banking.
"Our weekly get together was a great way to build friendships and to learn more about what made Canberra tick," he said.
The pandemic and lockdowns didn't stop the group. The dinners just moved to Zoom.
"On any one Wednesday night up to 20 of us were chatting over a bite and a glass of wine from most Australian states," Jeremy said.
The Wednesday dinner club is still going strong, with many new members and OGs, such as Dorte and Jeremy, returning to the national capital as often as they can for a mid-week catch-up.
