You text us.
No form to start with. You text the concierge, and that conversation is your application.
- typing…
We learn what matters.
A concierge asks a few real questions: what you’re hoping to find, what you’re into right now, how to find you online. Your answers are yours; we’re only listening.
- what are you hoping to find?
- people who are building something. dinner where the conversation isn't small talk
- What's your Instagram or LinkedIn?
- sure, instagram's easiest. fair warning, it's mostly food
By application only.
We read every application ourselves. We accept the best of the city, and the Founding Circle is 111 seats. An application isn’t an invitation. Acceptance is.
see if you’re in
Your first night.
This is where your standing circle begins: six to eight people and a table chosen to fit the group. We handle the reservation, the details, and the next date before you arrive.
claim your seatThen we bring everyone back.
Text the concierge after the night and tell us who you’d like to see again. Your answer helps us plan what comes next.
- so — how was last night? is there someone from the table you'd want to see again?
- honestly great. the chef. if she's at the next one, I'm in
Then we get you to 200.
It takes about 200 hours to turn a stranger into a real friend. ILAQA is built to get you there: one good night, then the next.
Hours add up into dinners.
request your seatThe whole idea, in four parts
How ILAQA thinks about getting you out of the house and into a room that becomes yours.
We fix the who
There’s no shortage of things to do. ILAQA handles the part that stops you: who to go with.
An ilaqa, not a crowd
A handful of locals chosen to be in the room with you. Small enough that everyone actually meets.
Built for 200 hours
About 200 hours together makes a real friend. We’re built to get you there, one good night at a time.
Small on purpose
Six to eight people by design. The same circle returns twice a month, so everyone has time to become known.
The room has a few rules. Each one has a reason.
We keep ilaqas small.
You don’t make real friends in a crowd. A handful means everyone actually knows everyone, and remembers your name the second time. That’s the design, not a limitation.
The same six to eight come back.
A remarkable first dinner is only the beginning. Bringing the same people back twice a month gives the room time to become yours.
It’s built around 200 hours.
That’s roughly how long it takes to turn a stranger into a real friend. Most of us never get there as adults. We never make it past the first night. Same people, again and again, is how you do.
Some nights are on us.
Now and then, one of our partners picks up the tab. You get the night; the attention stays where it belongs — on the table and the people around it.