WHO'S BEEN EATING IN MY DINING ROOM?

     Have you ever wanted to have a dinner party in a house that wasn't yours? Of course, you did. How about a house that belongs to a total stranger? That's what PlaceInvaders does for you. They are an underground dinner club that started this past summer by two New Yorkers who wanted to throw parties in cool Manhattan apartments all over town. 

      35-year-old co-founder, Katie Smith -Adair from Clinton Hill, Brooklyn said, "New Yorkers like to feel like they are living more interesting lives than the average person in other places. We're all looking for experiences that are more unique than going out to a movie or a bar." PlaceInvaders is said to be that experience. The idea is to "invade" unique domiciles and hold dinner parties there. The catch is that owners of these apartments are not home, hence the "invaders" part. 

     One recent dinner was held in celebrity gym founder David Barton's apartment, where dozens of candles lined the walls and he had two dining room chairs shaped like a giant human skeleton, which was the talk of the evening. Another dinner last month featured a cocktail hour in an abandoned penthouse featuring an epic 1970s-era shag carpet and flocked wallpaper. 35-year-old co-founder from the West Village, Hagan Blount said, "It's something different and not the kind of thing you would see in Dwell magazine. People want to show other people how cool their space is. Even if they're not home."

     Prospective guests request an invitation online. For those show are accepted, the $100 ticket includes dinner, cocktails, and boxed wine. The dinner itself is a first-rate, five-course meal. A recent event opened with a Peruvian-style ceviche followed by multicolored shot glasses of gazpacho, beef tenderloin, a South American cheese plate and a dessert of brigadeiros, Brazilian bonbons. Now, neither Smith-Adair nor Blount is a professional chef, but hell...I would eat this. 

     So far, most people who have requested a PlaceInvaders invitation have received one. Guests don't know where the party will be until the day of. It could be a loft on the Lower East Side or a tiny studio in the West Village. In exchange for the use of the apartments, PlaceInvaders hosts cook a free meal for the owner and their friends the night before, both as a thank you and as a test run to make sure the everything runs smoothly. 

The next meals are on October 18 and 19 at an undisclosed Manhattan location. You can request an invitation at x.placeinvaders.co. I'm not sure that I would allow this in my home because if something went missing, who do you blame? Would I go to one of these? I doubt it. Why would I want to eat someone else's house. The whole idea is just strange to me. But that's just me.