Breakfast Clubbing #51
Week of 14th April: BC is ON in PDX, Miami, Hamptons, Wmsburg, CDMX, SF, DTBK, Manhattan and SOMa (NJ)
So apparently Pete Dougherty came to Breakfast Club in Sydney last Friday. Quite a way to kick things off with the city’s first edition. Never mind that he was only there incidentally. Just goes to show you never know who’s coming to breakfast. Which is why it’s better not to miss one in your area. You might meet Pete.
Speaking of repping in your area: Singapore begins next week. Atlanta is back. Ditto Denver. Toronto returns next week. Boulder in two.
So tell your friends. No knowing where this journey to Albion will take us. Just that everyone’s invited. Especially you.
Ben
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:
Boulder [First Tuesdays]
Barcelona[First Wednesdays]
London[First Thursday]
Burlington, VT [Second Mondays]
LA (West) [Third Fridays]
Vienna
Paris
Milan
Lugano
Portland, Maine
Philadelphia
Boston
Panama City
Seattle
Denver
Brighton
Singapore
Sydney
Bassano del Grappa
Toronto
Atlanta
Berlin
IbizaBreakfast Club This Week:
PDX, Paris, Miami, Hamptons, Williamsburg, CDMX, SF, Vienna, DC, DTBK, Manhattan, Sydney, Melbourne (Richmond) and SOMa (NJ)
Tuesday, April 15th
Portland, OR
Co-hosted by Nina Sers
9a @ Proud Mary
Wednesday, April 16th
Mexico City
Co-Hosted by Steve Bryant
8:30am @ TBC (DM Steve)
Miami
Co-Hosted by Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum
8:30a @ Novela 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
San Francisco
Co-Hosted by Eve Lewis and Chris M. Gillespie
8:30am @ Terreene in the 1 Hotel
Thursday, April 17th
Boston
Co-Hosted by Cass Andrea Taylor, Lizzie Millstein and Kevin Johannesen
9am @ Elephant & Castle
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
Cincinnati
Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones
8:30am @ Mom and Em Coffee
Las Vegas
Co-Hosted by Steph Balzer
9am @ Urth Caffe, Henderson
Friday, April 18th
Amsterdam
Co-Hosted by Sheila Guo
9:00a @ Little Collins
New Jersey (SOMa)
Co-Hosted by James Friedman
9:15a @ Arties
Upcoming Breakfast Club Gatherings
4.21: Denver, CO4.22: Singapore, Portland OR 
4.23: Atlanta, Miami, Hamptons, Williamsburg, CDMX, SF 
4.24: Downtown Brooklyn, Manhattan, Vegas4.25: SOMa (New Jersey)4.30: Toronto
5.6: Boulder 5.7: Barcelona 5.15: Portland ME 
Breakfast Clubbing Happened Last Week In:
PDX, Paris, Miami, Hamptons, Hudson, Wmsburg, CDMX, SF, Vienna, DC, DTBK, Manhattan, Sydney, Melbourne (Richmond) and SOMa (NJ)
Breakfast Club Paris Report 10.4.25
Per Lisa’s Post: An energizing and thoughtful morning spent in great company with professionals from across industries and cultures. ☕🌍. This edition of The Breakfast Club 📍Paris, brought together a dynamic group with backgrounds in culture, fintech, consulting, creative strategy, and beyond—each bringing their unique perspectives to the conversation.
Our discussion flowed naturally from the excitement of Paris Blockchain Week, to a deep appreciation for the craftsmanship behind Black Forest horn glasses—which led us to reflect on the importance of prioritizing not more clients, but the right ones, especially in creative human-driven fields.
We also dove into the topic of placemaking within the EU, and how it can evolve in line with sustainability goals to shape smarter, more connected urban futures.
The exchange was candid, spontaneous, and rich with insight—made all the better by the open-hearted presence of Charla Noel Caponi Stefania Boschetti, Suzanne Pergal, Jonas Schwär, Hossein Haddadi, Andrei Fagarasan, Karla Rodríguez C. and Lisa Ono
Grateful for mornings like this that recharge your creative spirit.⚡️💌
Let’s keep the conversations flowing.
Breakfast Club Hamptons Report 4.9.25
per Mike’s WhatsApp Messge: “Great Crew Yesterday @ East Hampton! )
Breakfast Club Hudson Report 4.9.25
Per Peter’s Post: We had a great Breakfast Club Hudson this morning!
Meg Murnane, Jed Heuer, Kris Mae, Marley Jay, Galen Beebe, Dn Djeulin, Melissa Hoagland, Ivy Dane, Kate Sullivan, Sam Margolius, Spencer Berge-Thielmann, Jenise Morgan, Karl Frederick, Alexandra Lustig, Brenda Nielson, Kirin Buckley Jennifer Belton, Kellen Henry, Jill Cozza-Turner, Justin Goldman.
Thanks to Kitty's for being an amazing host and to co-host Mark DePace
Breakfast Club Williamsburg Report 4.9.25
Per my post: We went even broader than normal this week and it was really fun.
From my spot bang in the middle we talked: matters of taste, terrible bands, the 20th anniversary of Garden State, the screenwriter Scott Neustadter, biking in Brooklyn, houseplant care (houseplantcore), art installations, being cajoled into going upstate, being surrounded by acres and acres of nothing, starting an "avant-garde clown scene," specifying ‘cow’s milk’, the human biome, engineered gelato, going to Rome, customized dog sweaters, the brand STAUD’s pet collection, Bode , being the sun’s bitch, @andthebandwashere, the youths don’t know Aaliyah, the Brands&Culture conference, the Future Commerce conference in June, the agencies Small World and Tracksuit, every job now requiring either 20 interviews or none at all, compensation ranges being so wide as to be useless, all the good news lately, Mobland, Guy Ritchie, Tom Hardy as a ‘muscular actor,’ Trainspotting, the opening night at Webster Hall, living next to a nightclub, peeing next to Peter Gabriel, The Hip Replacement podcast, fourth spaces, the Bon Iver basketball tournament, the Vacation Inc. Miami Walk Club, Pioneer Works Second Sundays, MoMA PS1 Warmup, banana bread not being enough of a treat, impulse control, never turning down a potato, the steak fries at Superiority Burger, mashed potatoes to go from popeyes, Jollibee Group, getting a run in before breakfast, Korean Fried Chicken, Orange Julius, what malls are like these days, DICK'S Sporting Goods Sporting Goods, Morir Sonando, the French spin on Italian soda, what a dry cappuccino is, chefs as cortado influencers, the definition of Third Wave, the new ‘nuke-u-lar’ family, Savannah GA, 8 month roadtrips, Dark Sky Communities, Big Bend National Park, having beers and chips in Mexico, never riding the elevator, being the only elevator operator in Montana, founding a boutique elevator company, ‘big’ elevator, the power of unions, regulated capitalism, the new Carhartt WIP (Work In Progress) store in Brooklyn and lots more.
The crew was me, Nick Bodor, Christopher Miller, Zaira Stefani Vallejo, Leonardo Olafsson, Leann Abad, Rebecca Davison, Ben Jenkins, Aydan Sarikaya, Sam Boardman, Julie Stein, Paul Greenberg, Peter Droste, Ariel Abramov, Ian Edgar, Zachary Mallard, Marc Weissman, Diane Patrone, Eva McCloskey and Nick Cogan.
We do this every Wednesday at Le Crocodile Restaurant in the Wythe Hotel.
Everyone pays their own way. And everyone's invited, especially you.
The Breakfast Club International group (https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n) has all the info, as does the Monday newsletter I send, Breakfastindustries.substack.
Breakfast Club Miami Report 4.9.25
Per Jeff’s Post: Many Breakfast Club tourists coming in from as far as Australia these last weeks. Lots of NYC and BK representation as well. Travel and visiting other Breakfast Club events around the world makes it more than a meetup but a place that is always welcoming.
This week we were Danielle Salzedo, Teejay Hughes, Sarween Salih, Bill Spector, Rachelle Elbaz, Arnel San Pedro, MBA, Duncan Harriss, Rene Pereda, JN Silva, Brenda Schamy, Steven Pollakov, Natasha Elias, and Chris Love.
cc: Jesse Kirshbaum, Ben Dietz
ps: shoutout to the guy in the right corner with earbuds. For three hours, this man did not move. Raw.
Breakfast Club CDMX (Mexico City) Report 4.9.25
per Steve’s post: “Yeah so I’m buying a place—“
“—oh yeah how’s that going?”
“Taking an eternity. You know there’s no escrow here? And you pay the owner directly. And that’s—“
“Oof so nervous-making!”
“So nervous-making! And there’s so much fraud. We found the place I’m buying for sale somewhere else, on Mercado Libre. And we showed the cops and they’re like yeah there’s nothing we can do about that.”
“Yeah the cops here do not care.”
“I know two people who bought coke in a club here once, somebody OD’d, cops came, didn’t care about the drugs at all.”
“Do people here still do coke? Like nobody does coke in NY anymore, it’s all fentanyl.”
“Ha yeah they’re like that’s a you guys problem, our shit's great.”
“Man clubs in New York used to be so big. There was this one place, it was open for like a year and a half, Club USA. Giuliani shut it down. But it was three floors. Bottom floor was the dance floor. Middle floor was booths. Top floor was VIP. And on the top floor they had this slide called the K Hole. One time I went, and they gave me K right, and then they put me down this slide, and the slide spit me out in the middle of the dance floor, and I was just laying there with my face melting off while people danced around me and there was this giant screen with a geisha on it like something out of Blade Runner.”
“Woah.”
“Hey how was the anniversary party?’
“Oh it was great we didn’t get home until like 10am.”
“I could never I’m *so* old.”
***
Today we were four, including Liz, Miller, and Michael!
We do this every week, and sometimes even talk about things that aren't drugs and the 90s! Everybody's invited, especially you!
No pic today because there was coffee coming out of my nose. Please accept these photos of Stephen Tyler, Joan Rivers, and Club USA's infamous K Hole Slide instead. See you next Wednesday!
Breakfast Club San Francisco Report 4.9.25
Per Chris’s post: Overheard today at breakfast club:
AGI. Themed dinners. The joy of working with people who know you. The Brutalist. Adolescence—both the topic and the long shots. Language constrains our thinking. The necessity of bandanas at Coachella. Love, tenderness, and other powerful things. "Manly tariffs." Let Them Theory. Intimacy deserts. Banning counterfeit people. Catching counterfeit job candidates. Deel and Rippling. We only have numbered generations because of a fiction book titled "Gen X" and it's been all alphanumerics since then. Looking ahead and pouring one out to you, Gen "Beta." That's going to be rough.
With the incomparable Magali Charmot, Heavenly Johnson, Ocean MacAdams, and Eve Lewis
Breakfast Club Vienna Report 10.4.25
Per Carla’s Post: 💫 Great crowd today at the Breakfast Club in Vienna, and our largest gathering yet!
☕ We talked about everything from classic rock to psychedelic rock, from immersive AI to saving the planet, hike-and-ride snowboarding competitions, morning routines, co-living and space sharing, biggest line-ups of the upcoming summer and stadium concerts, the freelance life, moving countries and growing roots, and many more exciting topics.
The word *tariff* wasn't mentioned once! 👏
Thanks for coming Georgiana Galbinasu, Sabrina Kusternik, Patrik Suenwoldt, Henning Bauschulte, Andreas Niedermayer, Eugene Quinn, Theresa Kerschner, Doron Nadav, Axel Dietrich, Florian Schleicher, Florentina Olareanu, Astrid Reiter, Aaron Windfield, Maja Markovic
Thanks to my lovely co-host Laura M. Pana and as always, to Ben Dietz for creating this simple yet great concept.
We meet every second Thursday of the month - next one is May 8th, 9am at Cafe Francais (Votivkirche). RSVP by dropping me or Laura a line.
Breakfast Club DC Report 4.10.25
Per Michael’s Post: DC Breakfast Club gets up to get down!
🥐
This morning we talked about lasers, Norm MacDonald & Flikshop.
Agentic tools in medicine and canoeing.
The Pitch Place.
The renewed viability of (analog) direct mail.
Design thinking from Day 1 & DEI.
Trying to understand why so many Americans ‘hate’ government and the great myth of libertarian bootstraps.
.
We do this every other Thursday at The Line Hotel in Adams Morgan.
The next one is April 24 @ 830am.
Everyone pays their own way
No agenda or RSVP necessary.
Everyone's invited, especially you!
.
The crew today was Robyn Swirling Maxwell Ballenger Shane Hoffman Atin Moridian Maggie Winters Quinnton Harris Mark Pollard, Strategy Friend Michael Hastings-Black Robin Diamond Safae El Yaaqoubi Carmen Drahl Ted Steyer, M.M.C. Michael Smith & Yohana Zecarias
🥐
Breakfast Club Manhattan Report 4.10.25
Per Heidi’s Post: Another amazing Breakfast Club and another awesome interview on our creative community via Substack.
See you Thursdays 9am!
And see you on the dance floor in LA May 9TH!
Breakfast Club gang: John Lee Nick Bodor Carlos Chiossone Christine Olivas Tim Griffin Ian Mitchell Nick Cogan Elijah Torn Mizuo Peck Ben Dietz Henry Lee Jodi Rosenblum Heidi Hartwig and a few more cats in there.
Breakfast Club Downtown Brooklyn Report 4.10.25
Per Kat’s Post: Late to share an update on last week’s Breakfast Club - we talked about: Indian food in NYC (Dishoom is coming!), velour tracksuits and the return of 90s fashion, “appropriate” styles of resistance, the nostalgia of Matthew Perpetua’s Flexblog playlists, the Elevator Music series on YouTube, Imelda Marcos’ shoe collection, Fat Boy Slim, the Turkish riveriea and small towns only available by boat, and more + a special shout out to our favorite topic - the Breakfast Club chicken farm in Connecticut (manifesting this one still)
Thanks to Peter Gaston Nicole Nejati Sanaa Rahman Dave Pinter Berton Ridley Matt Cohen Sam Epstein Epstein
Join myself Lynn Juang and Marina Garcia-Vasquez every Thursday at 8:30am in the lobby inside of the Ace Hotel / Atelier Ace. Everyones invited, no ice breakers or agenda. A forever thank you to Ben Dietz
for sparking this community.
For anyone in Singapore - our first Breakfast Club kicks off there on next week Tuesday, April 22nd, hosted by Seraphina Woon!
Breakfast Club Cincy Report 4.10.25
Per Theo’s post: Breakfast Club Cincy 04/10. We talked about Brutalism, film noir, Frank Gehry, decisions by committee, Swell Cafe, Joy Harjo, Jazz, a fragmented world, Russian childhood, bourbon, Joan Crawford, Bluegrass, Pedro the Lion, The Golden Filter, medical photography, Careless People, Penelope Trappes, art and the environment.
Art Hasinski, Calcagno Cullen, Emmit Jones, Erika NJ Allen, Jason Zwolinski, Jeff Kobberdahl, , Edward Wright , Luba, Paul Krone, Ben Dietz, The Rare Beast, Theo Erasmus
Breakfast Club Seattle 4.10.25
Per Mike’s Post: Third time's a charm. 🍳 🍳 🍳
This week ten of us (!!) proved once again that the best ideas (and conversation) happen over coffee and eggs. And maybe a croissant.
My highlights:
⭐ Met a WhatsApp friend IRL finally: great to meet you, Ekta Tandon
⭐ Reconnected with a former Amazon colleague: looking forward to coffee, Amy Sellers
⭐ Caught up with Seattle Breakfast Club veterans: David Rosenberg, Robin Burrowes, Brian Caffarello - I expect your streaks to continue!
⭐ Compared notes on returning to Seattle after years away: pleasure to chat, Kiersten Roy
Great news: 📅 The next Seattle Breakfast Club is already scheduled for May 8th. Sign-up link in the comments.
👋🏼 You're invited. Also, get notified when we schedule new breakfasts by signing up to our Luma calendar here: https://lnkd.in/grERkAps
All are welcomed.
Breakfast Club Melbourne (Richmond) 11.4.25
Per Steph’s post: Breakfast Club Richmond was buzzing this morning.
A few of the topics in the corners I found myself in…
Comedy festival picks, working UK hours from Australia, sea changes, pun names, male friendship, the Scott Galloway and Logan Ury episode of DOAC, men’s circles, the different types of listening material for different types of driving, grief, twin parenting, when friends with kids invite you to stay, growing up on a steady diet of UK tv, kiwis being made of something different, Melbourne winters, religion and queerness, ceo’s following playbooks is like them pissing on a tree, learning as a hobby, fairphone, circular economy, status quo as a strategy, kitchen renos, human error, double opt in as a rule for introductions, making a personal FAQs document, balancing fun work and boring work, comedians getting sued, all the different types of police in Victoria, self identifying as a low performer.
There was so much conversation though, hopefully someone else can enlighten me on what else I missed.
Jess Price, Nathan Bailey, Rod Szigeter GAICD, Megan Flamer, Penelope Barr, Leeat Bosco, Ben Nicholson, Edel Madden, Gabrielle Hicks, Virginia Scully
Breakfast Club Sydney Report 11.4.25
Per Elisha’s Post Friday morning, we made space at Ace Hotel / Atelier Ace
A listening hour with a small circle - sharing, building a conversation rooted in curiosity and inclusivity.
We opened with postcodes and passports. The “why-we’re-heres,” the “I-used-to-live-theres.” We spoke of the slow burn of relocation and how Sydney reshapes you. Forces you to take a step back from the 24-hour cities you used to know. Of shifting cultures and identities. Of seeking connection beyond the routine.
Why we came to BC - to break pattern. To find communion in unexpected people and places.
LA’s overstimulated party circuit. New York’s edge. London’s underbelly. Pete Doherty, Carl Barat & the Libertines.Yes - they walked in!!
We nodded to 2012. Indie Sleaze. Disco pants. An era, an attitude and how we dressed. We talked creators. How Brands tap into music. The difference between using culture and actually holding it.
Start-ups. The art of the sneaky photo. (Trying to get photos of Carl Barat in his beret)
Mostly it was about it was about sharp minds and a shared table and the space to be. No agenda. No egos and hopefully a circle we want to return to.
Keep a watch out for May’s round-two!
Niki Beeston Tara Iwamoto Jess Hope Kiki Dunlaevy Nikky Cronk
Breakfast Club SOMa Report 4.11.25
Per James’s Post: A couple days late but never a dollar short, Breakfast Club SOMa was a warm and alive on a cold and rainy Friday morning...
Some of what I heard being discussed around the table:
Chasing perfection and losing the race, living off the land, brand strategy, competitive tennis, coaching, spring break 2025, pool hangs in the summertime, the trials and travails of camp, is sleepaway camp an East Coast thing?, the nanny industrial complex, secret social clubs, the Get Up Kids, online dating, IRL breakups, hosting a Passover Seder for both Jews and Gentiles, the logic of moving further and farther away, is fitness a personality trait?, the invisible or unnoticed communities we live amongst, doomsday fridges, and what ever happened to Mario Batali after his orange ass got cancelled?
oh, and tariffs.
We do this every Friday morning at 9:15 at Artie's in Maplewood.
Everyone is invited. Even you.
