A movement is taking place. Every Wednesday evening round the world, complete strangers are making plans to meet with five other unknown guests for dinner.
In Paris alone, more than 700 people convene on Wednesdays in roughly 80 different restaurants, with one to three tables booked per venue.
Anyone can book a seat at a table at one of the 14 participating cities in France. Absolutely anyone.
This is Timeleft. The aim: to tackle urban isolation by creating genuine connections, away from a screen.
“The only way to solve loneliness is through friendship, through human connection. You can do every online concept you want. You can try a new app to chat with people online, but it's not going to solve loneliness,” said Maxime Barbier, co-founder and CEO of Timeleft.
What is Timeleft?
“The only way to solve loneliness is to put humans together. I think we are doing a pretty good job at that.”
They are. Internationally, Timeleft is now present in 278 cities across 61 countries and is collectively hosting more than 15,000 strangers on Wednesdays.
“We have almost opened a new city every day since the beginning of the year. And it is working in Bangkok, Seoul, Istanbul, London, the south of France, north of France. There are so, so many different cultures involved and also it's working really well with a lot of different age groups.”
Timeleft reveals that current users in France are aged 25 to 50, with the community made up of 70% local and 30% international users.
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To match individuals with like-minded people, the application process involves taking a personality test of 40 questions.
“We read some studies about the best personality test online and we mixed it up a bit. We took a bit of everything and then along the way we adapted the personality test for the algorithm,” said Mr Barbier.
“What do you consider important to have a good dinner, for example. What language do you want to speak? Do you want to talk about politics or not?
“We ask all these questions in the personality test and use the algorithm to create the best group possible. Since the beginning of the year, we have connected (offline) more than 30,000 people in restaurants. So we kind of know now the magic dinners recipe.”
Timeleft’s journey started when Mr Barbier sold his marketing and social media company in 2019.
“I was 34 at the time and I didn't know what to do with my life, so I challenged myself to have 100 coffees with 100 strangers. And I realised two things. Firstly, that we tend to forget that life is short and we're going to die one day. Which leads to the second consideration: what do you really want to do with your life?”
He embarked on a journey of self-discovery of sorts, moving to Australia as a digital nomad.
When the global pandemic instigated a lockdown, the impact on his friends became apparent. Many were reflecting on their life choices, which inspired a new business focused on dreams and aspirations.
Mr Barbier and his friend and marketing director, Adrien de Oliveira, launched the idea in April 2020.
Some 5,000 dreams were shared in one week and in September 2020, they became co-founders of Timeleft.
“So the first idea of Timeleft is: What do you want to do with the time you have left? And we discovered, yeah, people like the idea, but they don't have a lot of things to say about dreams.
“Then we pivoted to connect strangers with something to do in the city.
Mr Barbier saw a gap in the market for encounters without a ‘dating app’ feel – where the user is not necessarily looking for a romantic relationship.
This could explain its popularity with women. In France, Timeleft users are predominantly female at 60% compared to 40% male, and internationally they are 63% female and 37% male.
However, the business was still missing one vital piece.
“Okay, maybe we can do groups, activities, strangers doing stuff together, but we discovered it was not scalable. It is hard to find a middle ground with people. Some people like to dance, some people like to draw, but food was the most common thing people loved the most.
“And so one year ago, giving it one last shot and almost out of money, we said: ‘Okay, maybe we can connect groups of strangers in a restaurant.’ Super easy to do. Let us see if it works.”
It did. The first official Timeleft dinner was hosted in Lisbon on May 3, 2023, with 24 participants, and it quickly caught on.
Paris, Marseille and Porto joined the movement in September and since then Timeleft has facilitated more than 44,000 dinners, connecting more than 236,000 strangers.
Alongside its core mission, Mr Barbier is also proud of Timeleft’s positive impact on the hospitality industry, with Timeleft booking tables in upwards of 5,100 restaurants worldwide. He estimated that during one Wednesday in September, it potentially accounted for up to €800,000 of hospitality revenue.
He is quick to reassure first-timers that the experience will be enjoyable.
“I think a lot of people get stressed about the idea of eating with strangers, thinking: ‘Oh my God, what am I going to say?’ It's normal to be stressed because it's a new experience, but what's fascinating is as soon as you sit down and say hi, the whole thing goes away and you're like: ‘Wow, okay, I'm not dead. They are cool. Okay, interesting. They are not mean. Okay. Interesting.’
“And then what we want to do with Timeleft is to help people to get back on the social scales – to say hi in the street, to smile at people when you sit down for lunch and someone is eating alone, maybe to offer to join them. All these kinds of things.”
Timeleft is particularly attractive for those wishing to expand their network, including expats, people travelling to different cities for work or an older demographic looking for more social interactions.
“My dad, after a brain injury three years ago, was suffering from severe depression and never left home,” said Mr Barbier.
“I tried everything, you know: ‘Go to the city, go on Facebook groups, just do something. You need to meet people and not stay alone.’
“And then two months ago it was his first Timeleft dinner. I sent him an Uber and said: ‘Dad, I'm going to be there too.’ And the beauty of it was, it was the same restaurant, same concept, same food, but his table had an average age of 70 and had an amazing time, and my table was in the 35-40 years bracket, and we also had an amazing time. So the concept can work for different ages and cultures.”
In fact, it is ideal for anyone who simply wants to make the most of their time left and try a new experience, such as saying hi to five strangers.
For more information visit timeleft.com. The cost for one seat at the table starts at €12.99, or a monthly subscription is from €14.99. Registration is open until midnight on the Monday before the Wednesday dinner.
My Timeleft dinner
“I can’t believe it’s been one week since we met! After you suggested Shōgun [Netflix series] I’ve started watching it… and have nearly finished already! How are you?”
This is a message I sent to a woman that, until one month ago (by the time this goes to print), was a stranger.
Victoria (centre-left) with her new dining friendsVictoria Gibson
Let us take a step back.
I hit the ‘Book a Ticket’ button on my Timeleft app for Wednesday, September 18, at 20:00.
I had completed my personality test which included questions such as: “Are your opinions usually guided by logic and facts or emotions and feelings?’” And I had rated my personality type from one to 10 on statements such as: “I am an introverted person.”
For this, I had marked 10 for ‘strongly agree’, making the prospect of meeting a group of complete strangers at an unknown venue a little daunting.
I submitted my dietary preferences, as well as what language I wanted to speak. As an English person living in France, I marked both French and English.
The pre-journey was fun. “Thank you for joining us on this amazing journey of food, friendship and unforgettable evenings! ” replied my confirmation email.
On Tuesday evening, the restaurant details were unlocked, and while my fellow strangers’ identities remained a mystery, I knew their industries of work (healthcare, retail, business owner and real estate).
I won’t lie. It was a little nerve-racking walking to the table, although from the moment everyone said bonjour, the atmosphere was pleasant and relaxed.
My table consisted of three females (including myself), and three male guests. We started by introducing ourselves, including details of our jobs and current lifestyles, peppered with various digressions.
Throughout the evening, the topics of conversation jumped from snails (only at Christmas), the English and French language (an obvious one as I was the only English native there – they were all very patient with me!), and areas of France that people were from or had visited, to the broader subjects of the current healthcare landscape, travel and other random, but fun, topics including my discovery of Futuroscope.
A recurring theme was how each person had started their Timeleft journey and their experiences in different cities to date.
The guests had varying levels of experience with the app. One regular user revealed that some cities have “after parties” to continue the conversation after the meal and meet with other diners. Some attract up to 500 people in the summer.
One of my main concerns had been conversation running dry, but Timeleft has you covered by suggesting various questions to prompt further conversation.
On this occasion it wasn’t needed, even after three-and-a-half hours, and the app was only opened towards the end of the evening as a fun thing to try.
Another indication of how well the personality test worked was that two people were sporting the exact same type of shoe.
Yes, there is a risk that you may not gel with everyone. After dinner you have the opportunity to “review” your guests through the app, stating whether or not you would like to connect again. The feedback is taken into account when booking your next dinner.
I said yes to all of my table guests, which allows you to message each individual privately through the app.
Hence my message to a stranger-turned-new-connection, and she has already replied.
