The carefully curated dinner party: Provocative conversation and high-caliber cuisine

Lee works on No. 68 full-time (and unpaid), working on marketing the events and coming up with the themes and finding collaborators, who will include Derek Beres, a self-described yogi, writer, and deejay; Ogi Ogas, cognitive neuroscientist and former contestant on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”; Amanda Hesser, food columnist and writer for the New York Times; and NPR correspondent Michele Norris. (The cultural collaborators are not paid, but No. 68 extends them and a guest a comp.)

On Feb. 27, to riff off the theme of fear, ABC foreign correspondent Martha Raddatz was invited to speak about reporting in war zones — specifically Iraq and Afghanistan — and how fear manifested itself while she was on assignment.

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( Linda Davidson / THE WASHINGTON POST ) - Cameron and Conti listen to one of the special guests who keep the evening’s conversation rolling

The idea is to get the guests to grab the conversational ball and run with it, and some do.

“To get the conversation going, I asked people if they liked scary movies, since it was Oscar night,” said Victoria Lai, 31, a government lawyer. “It led us into a conversation about “Silence of the Lambs.” Maybe our conversation wasn’t as deep as talking about one’s experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it was relevant to the theme.”

The chefs and mixologists also work off the week’s theme. Mixologist Jared Boller, who works at Lani Kai in New York City, infused ice with cicadas and froze ice over cocktails for guests to break through to get over “fear of drowning,” he said.

Eating bugs and mini-lectures over dinner — what is this, exactly?

“The evening is really a cross between a dinner party at your house and a smaller, more intimate TED Conference filled with smart, interesting people who dress well,” Weiner said.

Lai said the concept reminds her of a “19th century literary salon,” but one that serves beef cheek and mackerel.

But it appears the food is still the primary reason people pony up for a ticket. Over the next several Sundays, D.C.-based chefs Peter Smith of PS 7’s, Jaime Montes de Oca Jr. of Zentan, Justin Bittner from Bar Pilar and Todd Gray from Equinox, among others, will be preparing six-course meals. Richmond is asking the chefs to veer away from safe, traditional cuisine.

“The chefs will be doing real tip-to-tail dining,” Richmond said, referring to the method of cooking with every part of an animal.

The promise of a more intrepid menu is what encouraged entrepreneur John Stubbs, to attend the Feb. 20 dinner. “I was looking for an alternative to the predictable gridlocked dining scene in D.C,” he said.

What might the future hold for No. 68?

Richmond and Lee have thought about taking No. 68 to other cities on the East Coast. But although the women have invested several thousand in the venture thus far, they say they haven’t decided whether to focus on making money.

For now, they just want the dinner parties to be fun.

Well-choreographed fun, that is.

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