Food, fun, friendship focus of DuPage County singles group

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By Claudia Thomas    Warrenville Editor

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Becky Wright chats with Bob Hren at a recent Delightful Dining event. (Staff photo by Claudia Thomas)

While red roses are often used to represent romance, in the case of Delightful Dining, Inc., a social group for single professionals that incorporates the red rose into its logo, the flower is more a symbol of conviviality. Most of the singles who attended the group's events say they are not necessarily there to find the love of their life, but rather to meet people of both sexes with whom they can share quality conversation, delicious food and, perhaps, a friendship.

"It's hard to find a place to meet other single people, male and female," explained Becky Wright of Winfield at a recent Delightful Dining event at Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery in Warrenville. "With the club, I have an opportunity to get out of the house and get a good meal. I also get to try different restaurants, something that's hard to do if you're on your own. Going in a group solves that."

Charyl Kavner, who recently moved to Glen Ellyn from St. Louis, agrees. "I didn't know very many people, and I like trying new restaurants. This was an opportunity to do both."

The club, which will soon celebrate its first anniversary, is the brainchild of a recently married couple, David Bugniazet and Bonnie Lewis. It grew, they said, out of the frustration they experienced as single people living in the suburbs and trying to meet people with similar interests.

'I feel like I'm going out with a group of friends. It makes it a very comfortable situation.'
-Charyl Kavner, Delightful Dining member

"Given the busy schedules and heavy time demands of our professional careers, it was hard to also find the time to patch together a social life," explained Lewis, who is a marketing communications manager for ITT and who lived in Warrenville prior to her marriage last September.

Delightful Dining members pay an annual fee of $98. Then they sign up and prepay for individual outings of their choice such as dinners, brunches, plays and dances, which are held, on average, two times a month. A bi-monthly newsletter keeps everyone apprised of the calendar and all particulars.

Everyone who joins must be a single or divorced professional. People who are only separated from a spouse do not qualify.

"In essence, we do the prescreening for our clients. They know everyone present at our events is of similar status," Bugniazet, a sales executive for Pitney Bowes, explains. He says he and his wife met at a singles dinner, but adds that they had to travel into the city to find a professionals' singles group and each other.

"It's hard and time-consuming to be driving into the city all the time, especially on week nights," he stated. "We decided DuPage County needed its own quality group for single professionals, for people who wanted something different than just going to the bar scene."

Thus, the couple began Delightful Dining, marketing the club through newspapers, the Internet and other means before holding its first event at The Clubhouse in Oak Brook in April 1998.

"We told ourselves if we could have 100 members after the first year, we'd be a success," related Bugniazet.

As Delightful Dining members prepare to return to The Clubhouse on April 10 to celebrate the venture's one-year milestone, group membership is over 200, more than twice its founders' definition of ascendancy, proving their belief correct that single professionals in the western suburbs have need of such an organization.

Kavner credits Bugniazet and Lewis for making Delightful Dining a fun, low-pressure environment.

"I really like them. They're friendly, and they make it comfortable to go there. I feel like I'm going out with a group of friends. It makes it a very comfortable situation."

Another club member, Laura Smith of Warrenville, agreed. "It's really convenient, and I always have a really good time at the event," she said, claiming to have missed only three outings since she joined last July.

Bonnie Lewis and David Bugniazet, founders of Delightful Dining, greet guests at a recent singles' event.

Smith says that while "no really serious dating opportunities" have arisen out of her club membership, she has made a number of good friends and found people to do things with. "It's a group of really nice people, and it's just nice to talk about something other than work," she noted.

An original club member, Bob Hren, a 30-year resident of Wheaton, attends events less frequently but is no less enthusiastic about what the singles group has to offer. "I probably go to every third dinner," he reported. "It's been nice. You see familiar faces, but you also meet different people at different dinners."

Gerry Adams of Warrenville, who has never belonged to a singles group before, joined Delightful Dining, Inc. last August soon after he was transferred here from California. He hoped to make friends, but he also had another reason for signing up.

"Since I just moved here and didn't know my way around, let alone any people, I thought the group could help me get situated, not just from the standpoint of meeting someone, but also to show me what places are around the area and where they are," he explained.

The 33-year-old says he likes the group a lot. "They have good events. They are well-organized, and Bonnie and David are really accessible," he stated. "They really get involved with the events and make you feel comfortable."

Indeed, at Rock Bottom the couple worked non-stop to make certain everyone was having a good time. Guests were introduced and encouraged to mingle during pre-dinner socializing, with special attention given to new attendees, each of whom had a chocolate rose to welcome them at their assigned seat for dinner.

The preassigned dinner seating is one of the club's unique features. Lewis gives great thought to placing people of similar ages and interests at the same table, and as guests arrive, there is a great deal of curiosity exhibited as to just where everyone might be seated tonight and with whom.

"Each week, I try to match people who I think would enjoy talking to one another," she stated between forays into the crowd to introduce newcomers into various conversation groups. "Of course, that means I need to be sure to be very familiar with the backgrounds, jobs, personalities and hobbies of all of our guests."

She seems to have a system that works, for at Rock Bottom, the mostly 30-, 40- and 50-year old guests all appeared to be relaxed and having a good time, each having a number of peers with whom to chat.

"What's heartwarming is that it's become like an extended family," said Bugniazet, surveying the room. "You get to know everyone, and it's nice to look around the room and hear the laughter and feel the excitement. Then Bonnie and I look at each other and we know we have done our job."

More information about Delightful Dining, Inc. is available by calling 268-8007 or by visiting its Internet site at www.delightfuldining.com.

(Article re-printed from the Glen Ellyn News, April 2, 1999)


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