Patrick Nordstjærne, a 39-year old finance manager from Denmark has introduced a new dating concept in Romania, based on the Running Dinner concept, which has become popular abroad. Nordstjærne (in picture), together with another Danish partner and two Romanians, have recently launched Let's Meet, Romania-Insider.com has learned. The site currently runs in the English version, but will soon have a Romanian version as well, catering to the local audience.

It aims to introduce a new concept for Romanian singles: Let’s Meet will organize different events in Bucharest, which will allow singles over 26 to meet, talk and have fun. People can sign up for free on letsmeet.ro and from then on, they will be paired based on age, education, height and several other criteria, and then sent out on a date. The first such event will take place on April 30 and will send couples to three different Bucharest restaurants on a Saturday evening, together with 18 other people within their age range.

The concept stems from something similar which has been around at international level. “The general idea is called Running Dinner and it takes people around for dinner in other people's homes. It is popular in my home country Denmark,” Nordstjærne tells Romania-Insider.com. However, he didn't see the 'dinner-at-home' concept fit for the Romanian market, where the most widespread type of housing for the singles is the studio and where people don't seem to invite friends over that much. So he shifted the concept so as to include dinner in restaurants.

“We'll send four pairs to the first restaurant for the starter course, they would spend one hour there and get to know each other, introduce one another to the other couples at the table. Then they would go to the second restaurant for dinner and to the third, for desert; after 23,00 hours, an afterparty would follow” Patrick explains. “Let's Meet is not a match-making site,” he adds. The idea is to create the right environment for people to get to know each other, as first dates can be hard, Patrick says.

The first two such events in Bucharest will be free of charge and participants will only pay for the cost of food. In the future, Let's Meet plans to introduce a small sign-up fee.

For Patrick, this is a hobby project, as he plans to pursue something in finance, his main area of expertise. The daily operations of Let's Meet will be taken over by others in the project. Before coming to Romania last year, Patrick has worked as a group finance manager for Danish firm Firstline Estates' office in Bulgaria. Prior to that, he has been an audit manager, most recently with KPMG.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com