By Lori Fredrich Senior Food Writer, Dining Editor, Podcast Host Published Apr 14, 2016 at 1:39 PM

We brought you the news of Dinner Lab, an innovative dinner club concept utilizing unexpected spaces and experimental menus, when it launched its presence in Milwaukee in 2014.

The premise behind Dinner Lab was to offer consumers an opportunity to experience dining beyond their comfort zones, while providing a platform to assist chefs in exercising their creativity and advancing their careers.

Earlier this year, Dinner Lab stretched its boundaries further by acquiring Dish Crawl, another national concept which attempted to launch a presence in the Cream City.

But, despite its unique approach to fine dining and impressive expansion over the past few years, it looks as if the company may have overextended its resources.

Today, the company has announced today via email that it has suspended operations. 

Three-and-a half years ago a few of us came up with a novel idea; bring together random people, in an unconventional location, and give an up-and-coming chef a chance. The idea was meant to be pretty simple - give a newcomer, an underdog, someone that no one else believed in yet, a platform to showcase their culinary talent to the world. We have always wanted to be an organization that rolled the dice on people and innovative concepts before the rest of the world took them seriously.

We thought that the restaurant industry often took safe bets. We wanted to up the ante, and bet hard on experimentation, iteration, data and the fact that there should be an open dialogue between diner and chef. We tried to blur the lines, push the envelope, and propel an industry that we loved forward. We did this not for the sake of being novel, but because we thought that guests should be a part of the culinary process; not as receivers of a finished product, but part of the development.

It is with a very heavy heart that we have to tell you, but effective immediately, Dinner Lab will be suspending operations and halting events.

We put every ounce of our energy into developing a product that you wanted to engage with regularly, but we weren't able to turn the corner on creating a profitable enough enterprise to support our ambitions. We have been fortunate to attend countless dinners in cities all over the United States, and engage with thousands of our diners, chefs and staff who have worked tirelessly for us over the years. We are proud of the work that we have done, and am saddened by the fact that we no longer get to make our living on providing you all the experiences that we love so dearly. We have always considered ourselves to be part of the fortunate few that get to make their living on great food and drinks.

We have always believed in three very simple ingredients for the perfect night:

People - One of the things that we’re the proudest of is the fact that so many of you have formed new friendships along different age, race, and cultural lines that don’t typically exist in the real world. For those of you that e-mailed us that you met your husband/wife, best friend, colleague, business partner, etc. at our events, it will be one of the memories that we will take with us for the rest our lives.

Places - So many of you opened your doors to us, and allowed our company and guests the opportunity to interact with your businesses and homes. You were able to imagine a different usage of your space, and invited 120 complete strangers into your world, and we were able to get a glimpse, and if only for a little bit, shift our perspective on what can/should happen where.

Chefs - So many of you poured your hearts and souls into our company and members and shared deeply personal, experimental, and progressive ideas with the world. Some of these ideas worked and others were huge learning experiences. For those of you that have moved on from our ranks and are opening new restaurants and running other organizations, we are proud to have touched your life in some way.

We hope that you all continue to break bread with random strangers, and thank you all deeply for being a part of something special.

Dinner Lab

Lori Fredrich Senior Food Writer, Dining Editor, Podcast Host

Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with each and every dish. She’s had the privilege of chronicling these tales via numerous media, including OnMilwaukee and in her book “Milwaukee Food.” Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. 

When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or recording the FoodCrush podcast, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.