Queer Banquet pairs 22 strangers for a custom Toronto dinner

Toronto designer Clarence Kitt will host a queer edition of Map The Room on Aug. 13 at Konia Kitchen and Bar, using guest questionnaires to shape seating, introductions, maps and games for 22 attendees. The dinner aims to turn a one-night meal into a personalized social experience built around connection, not matchmaking.

Why it matters: - Map The Room: Queer Banquet is built to make a small group of strangers feel familiar fast. - The dinner uses guest-submitted information to surface shared interests, identities and experiences in the room. - The format offers a friendship-focused alternative to large mixers and dating events.

What happened: - Toronto designer, facilitator and data visualization artist Clarence Kitt will host a special queer edition of Map The Room on Thursday, Aug. 13. - The event will bring 22 guests together for a family-style dinner at Konia Kitchen and Bar in Toronto. - Kitt will use pre-event questionnaire responses to create the seating plan, introductions, visual maps, prompts, games and puzzles. - Ang Lee’s and Andrew Ahn’s versions of The Wedding Banquet influenced the tone of this edition.

The details: - The dinner runs from 7 to 10 p.m. at Konia Kitchen and Bar, 403 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto. - Tickets cost $68, plus an approximately $45 share of the meal settled at the table. - Guests can register through event registration. - Kitt said guests will be able to see connections they share with other people in the room as soon as they arrive. - Map The Room started in February 2026 and has hosted four full-capacity dinners. - The most recent edition was presented with the Asian Queer Alliance.

Between the lines: - The event treats dinner as a social design problem, not just a meal. - The personalization is meant to lower the friction of meeting new people by giving guests shared points of reference right away. - The queer edition extends a format that already emphasizes intimacy and group dynamics over scale.

What's next: - Guests who register by noon on Sunday, Aug. 9 are more likely to see their questionnaire responses reflected in the materials created for the room. - Registration will remain open after Aug. 9 if space is still available. - Later registrants will be incorporated wherever possible. - Kitt is continuing Map The Room as an independently produced series centered on tailored social experiences.

The bottom line: - Map The Room: Queer Banquet turns a 22-seat dinner into a customized connection exercise, using data from guests themselves to shape the night.