Breakfast Clubbing #47
W/C 17th March: BC is ON in PDX, Paris MIA, Hamptons, Wmsburg, CDMX, SF, Vienna, Lugano, DTBK, Manhattan, Boston, Cincy, SOMa, and Los Angeles (West)
Hi all.
Last week I got tagged on a Linkedin post from Nicole Gull McElroy that represented a BC first: a chapter started totally organically (ie without connecting with BC here first). To wit:
Thanks to my old Inc. pal Cara Cannella I learned about Breakfast Club a la Ben Dietz, which led me to meet Julie Gerstein at Philly's outpost. Now, my pal Sarah Stark and I are hoping to get one going here in the sleepy Philly burbs. Everyone's invited, especially you.
To be clear, I’m stoked about this. Very much in keeping with our Esprit de Corps, independent and entrepreneurial. And it was followed shortly by inquiries from Montreal, Tokyo and a couple other places. The movement continues moving….
Speaking of the amazing loose connections, I found this post from Miami BC regular Walshy Fire (of the legendary Major Lazer, among other endeavors):
Breakfast clubbers I announced my book today. Big respect for any support and shares. Huge for me.
Congrats Walshy - and thanks for your support, BC Miami. Stoked to make it down there one day.
Last thing: Paris, Vienna, Lugano and Boston are back this week. Atlanta is up and running for its debut. And all the regulars are meeting as usual. Come hang. And if not this week, another one soon.
Ben
[PLUG FROM BEN]: I organized and am moderating a panel on April 2 in NYC at the inaugural US edition of the Brands & Culture conference.
Come for me, Chris, Daisy, Casey and Erica - stay for a gang of other smart, accomplished folks.
Day Long Passes are here - expense one for yourself of save on multiple tix. Oh, and since you’re coming for me, employ the code ‘Ben25’ at checkout for a 25% discount. See you there!
The Breakfast Club Esprit de Corps:
* Everyone’s invited - especially you.
* Feel free to share, bring friends, colleagues, family, anyone.
* No agenda, no required buy-in, no need to RSVP. And no pitches.
* Everyone pays their own way.
* Everyone is welcome to subscribe.
Join the Linkedin group here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14449223/Breakfast Club Editions Around the World (cities added regularly):
Weekly:
Portland, OR [Tuesday]
Mexico City [Wednesday]
Williamsburg Brooklyn [Wednesday]
Miami [Wednesday]
The Hamptons [Wednesday]
San Francisco [Wednesday]
Downtown Brooklyn [Thursdays]
Manhattan [Thursdays]
SOMa, NJ [Fridays] Bi-Weekly:
Washington, DC [Thursdays]
Melbourne [Fridays, alternating between Fitzroy and Richmond]
Amsterdam [Fridays, alternating between locations East and West)
Monthly:
Barcelona[First Wednesdays]
London[First Thursday]
Burlington, VT [Second Mondays]
LA (West) [Third Fridays]
Berlin
Ibiza
Vienna
Paris
Milan
Lugano
Philadelphia
Boston
Portland, Maine
Panama City
Seattle
Denver
Brighton
Boulder
Bassano del Grappa
Toronto
Atlanta Breakfast Club This Week:
PDX, Paris MIA, Hamptons, Wmsburg, CDMX, SF, Vienna, Lugano, DTBK, Manhattan, Boston, Cincy, SOMa, and Los Angeles (West)
Tuesday, March 18th
Portland, OR
Co-hosted by Nina Sers
9a @ Proud Mary
Wednesday, March 19th
Paris
Co-Hosted by Lisa Ono, Karla Rodriguez C and Sarah Garcia Delporte
9am @ Cult Cafe
Mexico City
Co-Hosted by Steve Bryant
8:30am @ Mendl
Miami
Co-Hosted by Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum
8:30a @ Novella Cafe Social
Brooklyn (Williamsburg)
Hosted by me and a gang of regulars
8:30a @ Le Crocodile at The Wythe Hotel
The Hamptons
Co-hosted by Mike Kilcoyne
8:30a @ Tutto Cafe
Atlanta
Co-hosted by Stephanie Nelson and Ailie Birchfield
8:30a @ Inman Perk
San Francisco
Co-Hosted by Eve Lewis and Chris M. Gillespie
8:30am @ Terreene in the 1 Hotel
Thursday,March 20th
Vienna
Co-Hosted by Carla Moss and Laura M. Pana
9am @ Cafe Francais
Lugano
Co-Hosted by Elettra Fiumi and Camilla Andrea
9am @ Strand and Sunset
Downtown Brooklyn
Co-Hosted by Kat Popiel, Marina Garcia-Vasquez and Lynn Juang
8:30am @ Ace Hotel Brooklyn (Lobby)
Manhattan
Co-Hosted by Heidi Hartwig
9am @ Eva’s Kitchen on Grand
Boston
Co-Hosted by Kevin Johanessen, Lizzie Millstein and Cass Andrea Taylor
9am @ Elephant & Castle
Cincinnati
Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones
8:30am @ Mom and Em Coffee
Friday, March 21st
New Jersey (SOMa)
Co-Hosted by James Friedman
9:15a @ Arties
Los Angeles (West)
Co-hosted by Scott Donaton, Kirsten Ludwig and Anita Schillhorn van Veen
Upcoming Breakfast Club Events
3.25: Portland OR3.26: Toronto, Miami, Hamptons, Williamsburg, CDMX, SF 3.27: Downtown Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bucks County, PA, Washington DC3.28: SOMa (New Jersey)4.2: Barcelona4.3: Portland, ME, MilanBreakfast Club Event Recaps [Last Week]:
Burlington, MIA, Wmsburg, CDMX, SF, Bassano del Grappa, DTBK, Manhattan, DC, Cincy, Amsterdam & SOMa
Breakfast Club Burlington Report 3.10.25
Per Zach’s note: “The Burlington, VT Breakfast Club community met as usual on the 2nd Monday of the month at Deep City in Burlington. It was a beautiful morning with an overnight dusting of powdery snow on everything and the sun peaked out while we drank cup after cup (after cup!) of coffee. We talked about how Spring Break is not really a break for parents, how no new app will ever be the solution for Instagram fatigue, which towns in rural Vermont have cheap parcels of land, and much more! We meet once a month to chat and hang and eat biscuits with gravy (or...new menu item: yogurt and granola!). Everyone's invited. Hit me up with any Q's zachary.pollakoff@gmail.com
Breakfast Club PDX Report 3.11.25
Per Nina’s Post: Fun (big) crew this week with SO many intersecting conversations and connections. We chatted about cancelled documentaries (Prince), global and local company dynamics, starting agencies, closing agencies, launching new websites (and creative projects) and how many talented people live in Portland.
So happy to meet Todd Ames Pi Ware, ACE Nicole Fitzhugh and always happy to see Julie Scherr Jessica Brandes Kingrey Robinson Wood Joseph Soutullo Padraic O'Meara Roland Gauthier. Missing our other regulars Kara Place Chelsea Place Mikhael Romain Lizy Gershenzon Marjorie Skinner Jesse Champlin Brian Mark shannon holt Vivek Bellore Justin Davis Sara Ravid - See you next week!
We are at Proud Mary every Tuesday at 9am.
Everyone who likes coffee and/or breakfast is welcome. No ice breakers, no agenda, just good conversations.
The info for all the Breakfast Clubs around the world is here: https://lnkd.in/eyvtRq7Z
You can join the LinkedIn group here: https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n
Thank you to Ben Dietz for starting this community and bringing us together in so many places each week.
Breakfast Club MEXICO CITY Report 3.12.25
Per Steve’s Post: "We had cows and, one time, this cow wouldn't feed her calf? So my dad took the calf back from our farm to our apartment in town and put her on the roof of our building. This was in Venezuela. Don't worry, she totally had shade!"
"You weren't worried about the cow falling through the ceiling?"
"In Latin America we make our buildings out of concrete."
"That reminds me of that John Mulaney bit where he's like 'this guy being president, it's like there's a horse loose in a hospital—nobody knows what the horse is going to do next, least of all the horse!'"
"Ha did you see what Bill Burr said? 'I refuse to believe that wasn't a nazi salute, you did the seig part twice!'"
"People put him in the conversation for, like, the liberal Joe Rogan or whatever."
"That whole conversation makes no sense! All these people saying 'we need a liberal Joe Rogan', what does that even mean! That's like your boss saying ten years ago 'make it go viral'. That's not how it works! Yes yes yes everybody wants the output, but nobody understands it's about investing in the process that gets to the output."
"Oh I looked at that geopolitics guy you sent me. Peter Zeihan? That was a little much for 10pm."
***
Today we were a more attractive than average five, including Brando, Mark Holthusen, Maru M. Iglesias, and Kharin
Breakfast Club Miami Report 3.5.25
Breakfast Club Classic (Williamsburg) Report 3.5.25
Per my post: At my table we talked Dog grooming, regimented small businesses, 16 year old canines, AI supporting artists, fancy looking drinks, "cold lattes," being a tea guy for your stomach, being a coffee nerd vs. being a coffee user, making Cafe Bustelo for the streetwear set, getting fired, new doors opening after old ones close, making a new podcast, editors as durable business, raising kids in the city, the origins of breakfast club, the old Williamsburg, NORMAL NEW YORK, corporate ephemera at estate sales, being into cars, the car-guy-members-club-gym-workspace in Manhattan, becoming a breakfast fry convert, 3D printing architectural models, birthdays in the club, drum & bass nights, kids understanding they “can’t get off screens” where to dance in NYC when out of your 20s, 25 year olds hanging out with 45 year olds hanging out with 65 year olds in same venue, chess kids, Nanette Lepore and Daryl Kerrigan, firing clients, starting new ventures, connecting artists to brands, spring cycles, elevator pitches, mood enhancing omelettes, the platform Gondola, the NYC to Berkshires little red glasses corridor, dressing for the cult you want, indie sleaze night, making Manhattan weird again, Breakfast Club Spring Equinox Happy Hour and lots more
This week it was Diane Patrone, Robb Nanus, Nick Bodor, Alexis Reiner, Jose Castillo, Eason Yang, Marc Weissman, Zaira Stefani Vallejo, Joanna Blieden, Kalil Greenberg, Paul Greenberg, Randy Paul, Zachary Mallard, Anna Wiesen, Claire Anderson, Charles Bane III, Aydan Sarikaya, Eva McCloskey, Freya the hashtag#SupportLabradoodle and me.
We do this every Wednesday at 8:30a at Le Crocodile Restaurant. It's open to any/everyone, everybody pays their own way, and there are always fries. No downside, in other words. Next week, it could be you.
And if you're the joining type: https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n
Or, subscribe for ALL the BC news worldwide (35+ cities): https://lnkd.in/eZi3f42n
Breakfast Club Downtown Brooklyn Report 3.13.25
Per Marina’s Post: Beautiful intergenerational Breakfast Club vibes this am. We discussed supportive work environments that are accepting of children (shout out to our youngest visitor yet), getting remarried to your spouse at Luna Luna, wearable tech to straighten your posture, the subversive approach to wearing a blazer in the workplace, identifying a specific aesthetic and movement to create a personal style uniform, the ongoing sperm apocalypse manufactured by the drug industry, micro villages within Brooklyn, how a mother started a ceramics practice to build a more creative environment for her kids in Syracuse, and how magical it is to meet new people offscreen.
This week's crew included Todd Sines, Peter Gaston, Hee Jin Kim, Dave Pinter, Ben Dietz, Jasmyn Peterson, Michael Barth, Jennifer Rusk, Donalee Curtis, Patty Marando, Casey Burry.
Join us myself and Lynn Juang and Kat Popiel every Thursday at 8:30am in the lobby of the Ace Hotel / Atelier Ace in Downtown BK. Everyones invited, no ice breakers or agenda. Come as you are!
All the info lives here: https://lnkd.in/eqhdvxnD
Learn more about the global convening: https://lnkd.in/eGTjrGKX
Breakfast Club DC Report
Per Michael’s post: DC Breakfast Club is part of your well balanced diet!
🥐
Today we talked about the jackass penguin, the need for slower thinking, Abyssomicin C, Smashing Pumpkins as ‘classic rock’, kickball, The 51st, Life Centered Design vs Human Centered Design, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), the basic pillars of fact checking & AI as a tool, not an idea.
🥞
The crew was Maggie Winters, Rebecca Davis, Carmen Drahl, Michael Smith, Jordan Mitchell, Michael Hastings-Black, Jaylen Culp, Jessica Womack, Robyn Swirling, Nina Maturu & Dr. Leigh George
🧇
We do this every other Thursday at The Line Hotel in Adams Morgan.
Next one is March 27th, 830am.
Everyone pays their own way.
No agenda or RSVP needed.
Everyone's invited, especially you!
🥯
CC: Ben Dietz Charla Noel Caponi
Breakfast Club Manhattan Report 3.13.25
Breakfast Club Panama City Report 13.3.25:
Per Karla’s WhatsApp: “Greetings from Panama ! We had 16 attendees, writers, designers, architects, educators, social entrepreneurs and our youngest breakfast clubber to date !”
Breakfast Club Bassano del Grappa Report 13.3.25:
Per Charla’s Post: 🇮🇹 Breakfast Club. Italian Vibes.🇮🇹
Yesterday marked the trial run for Breakfast Club Bassano, a beautiful, quaint community of about 50,000 residents nestled in Northern Italy, which I call home.
An eclectic mix of locals and expats dropped in for coffee and conversation between 8 and 10 a.m.
The primary topic of discussion revolved around the Breakfast Club itself. Questions arose about its viability in our tightly knit town, where everyone knows each other and new ideas often face skepticism. Attendees pondered whether this gathering could truly resonate, emphasizing the importance of location—“Is there parking? How accessible is it?”—coupled with the right frequency. The feedback suggested that I recalibrate my idea of hosting a weekly meetup and take a similar approach to how we run things in Milan.
Beyond the Breakfast Club, I overheard:
💠 The fate of Mod Culture sparked curiosity: Does it still exist, or has it evolved into something new and unrecognizable? Or are we just not up to speed with the cultural zeitgeist? Probably the latter 😆 .
💠 We debated how kids today stumble upon the music we once cherished; platforms like TikTok and the influence of films were credited with introducing them to classic tracks by the likes of The Smiths, etc.
💠 The pros and cons of small-town life were explored, particularly the challenges of securing a job with a limited network and staying relevant in larger cities like Milan.
💠 On a lighter note, the oddity of seeing the same person daily yet never sharing a greeting was a humorous reflection of our “very Bassanese” reality.
💠 Naturally, the name “Trump” came up—though I’ll refrain from delving into political discussions in this recap.
💠 The conversation also turned to Padel, a sport that has captured the interest of nearly everyone we know, as they either take to the courts or aspire to learn. We speculated if the trend would continue to build or level out like many others.
💠 Oh, and we complained about how steep hotel prices are in NYC, even for shitty ones, and we touched upon the allure of the Burning Man Festival.
Grazie to all of those who came out. We hope to see you at the next one.
We'll be doing this monthly, so watch this space.
Everyone is invited. Especially you.
Ben Dietz Amy Rich
Breakfast Club Amsterdam Report 14.3.25
per Sheila’s post: Happy Sunday and hi from AMS ✏️ Forgot the selfie so here’s a video!
Last Friday morning, we gathered at Uncommon bar for our monthly Breakfast Club.
On my side, we discussed about —
Stationery aficionados (s/o local store Cafe Analog Hanny Kusumawati)
A collection of mask and the love for collecting
Friction vs. frictionless (where to add or minus)
Entrepreneurs' hardship and illusions
Routine design and a wide spectrum of mornings
Multi-functionality of modern cafes and spaces
Tough-love
Niche and high-quality workshops in the city
(i.e. check s)centered workshops https://lnkd.in/eAGxeM5S)
The quest of novelty (where to add or minus)
....
We do this on the second Friday of every month.
Everyone's welcome, especially you.
This time it was me Sheila Guo, Shachar Bechor, Christo Thekkel, FRSA, Arielle Tai, Piero Zagami, Michela Nicchiotti, Alba Tiley, Arian Norton, Megan Jamieson, Manasi Rajagopal and Sophie
See you on Friday, April 11th!
Recommend to wink at yourself in the mirror tomorrow;)
Breakfast Club Soma Report 3.14.25
Per James’s Post: BC SOMa was good today. Had a solid 10 folks. 8 dudes for the first half and then a couple women rolled in and joined a wide ranging conversation that touched on LA, magicians, covid, the beauty of buying cheap paperbacks from “book thugs” in Brooklyn, dad bands and lots more
