Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

'Invaders' To Host Dinner Parties in Mystery SoHo Loft This Weekend

By Danielle Tcholakian | November 18, 2015 7:00pm
 PlaceInvaders, named for the 1970s Atari video game, hosts dinner parties in other people's homes while they're away. Their logo is the Space Invader character wearing a chef's hat and holding a glass of wine and a fork.
PlaceInvaders, named for the 1970s Atari video game, hosts dinner parties in other people's homes while they're away. Their logo is the Space Invader character wearing a chef's hat and holding a glass of wine and a fork.
View Full Caption
PlaceInvaders

SOHO — A couple is "invading" a SoHo loft this weekend to throw a five-course dinner party with unlimited wine — and these culinary trespassers are repeat offenders.

PlaceInvaders co-founders Katie Smith-Adair and Hagan Blount, both 36, throw dinner parties in other people's luxury homes, when the homeowners are away.

Curious guests can purchase tickets for dinner or brunch, but they're not given an address until the day of the event — or told the menu — until they show up.

This weekend, Smith-Adair and Blount are taking over a SoHo loft, which Smith-Adair described as "the quintessential SoHo loft residence."

"It's a big, airy, beautiful space," she said.

The exact location is a secret, but she revealed that it's in a building that used to house Robert Mapplethorpe's photography studio and was where The Police recorded their first album.

Smith-Adair, who hails from Portland, Ore., has a background in marketing for start-ups and Blount, who's from Portland, Maine, worked in graphic design "and has always been a really good cook," Smith-Adair said.

"Whenever we travel, he's the guy who's like, "Where's the one thing we have to eat here?'"

The pair, who live in Clinton Hill, started the company relatively early in their relationship, about six months in.

"We just backed into the idea of, 'How can we travel for our jobs, not get locked into one location, do something that's interesting a fun, and meet interesting people?'" Smith-Adair explained.

Their first attempt "was a total mess," she said. "We had to run to the store every two minutes."

"But everyone who came had a good time, so we were like, 'OK, we have something here.'"

A year and a half later, they are thriving and still having fun, Smith-Adair said.

They don't have set roles in the company, though Blount generally comes up with the menus and mans the kitchen during the events, while Smith-Adair handles hosting duties, concocts a signature cocktail, and does a lot of the planning work, like setting up partnerships with vineyards or property owners.

"You think if you start a business as a couple, you should probably designate who's doing what," Smith-Adair said with a laugh. "But we haven't been very good about that."

It works for them. This year, they took their show on the road in a graffiti-covered trailer painted with their logo, and threw dinner parties in seven new cities

The SoHo party this weekend is their first since returning to New York City after a seven-month road trip spent "invading" homes in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.

There are still a few tickets left for brunch on Saturday or Sunday ($85 per person) and Friday night dinner ($140 per person). Tickets include five courses and unlimited wine from Bridge Lane Wine, PlaceInvaders' partner for this event.