A fascinating new company, Dinner 4 Four designs and markets culinary events across Canada. These include "Welcome to Soirée", which is a star-studded dinner with live music in the mountains of Vancouver Island; Récolte: Fall Harvest where they harvest fresh produce at farms from September through December for your consumption! 

A fascinating new company, Dinner 4 Four designs and markets culinary events across Canada. These include "Welcome to Soirée", which is a star-studded dinner with live music in the mountains of Vancouver Island; Récolte: Fall Harvest where they harvest fresh produce at farms from September through December for your consumption! 

Why is it important for such a company to exist? Because it is the service industry that drives our economy forward. It provides jobs, services and most importantly, a place for people to unwind with others, perhaps new others. In this article, I'll explore why Canadians seem to be so cold - because it's not about the weather - and how Dinner 4 Four helps combat this problem.

Kimberley Laframboise, president of Dinner 4 Four agrees with me in saying that Canadians are perceived as cold.

"We're not really, but we do live in a colder climate - it's something that people deal with for much of the year so they have to be more reserved."

"It's one thing to come here and a whole other to live here - you have to be more reserved because you don't really know people at first."

"It's important to make the effort, especially when it comes to food. Food is a great social tool and can really open up to someone."

I was lucky enough to eat some amazing cuisine at Dinner 4 Four's lastevent. I brought a friend along and we were both pleased with the quality of the food. And this is what Laframboise believes as well:

"We strive to make everything from scratch because it's important to me that people get a really good experience".

In terms of background, Laframboise is no stranger to the service industry:

"I was a server for nine years and I loved it, but after serving you tend to appreciate people more".

Laframboise has spent time working with Fortune 500 companies, many of which are relocating their headquarters here. She also worked as an account manager at Windsor House where she met her husband, who is French and an entrepreneur. And that's when it clicked:

"We realized we wanted to start a business and do something like this together!".

About two years ago, the couple decided to open Dinner 4 For Which started out as simple idea:

"The premise was to bring people together in a unique way".

This is the story of howDinner 4 Four started:

"We won money at the best online casino in Canada . It was not very hard to do, all we did was bet small amounts on different slots and won money, nothing very special. But the fun part was when we converted our money to a cashier's check in Canada and got it sent straight to us without any problems. Then we found the chef, rented the location. And just like that we had our first event".

Initially their clientele was mostly American, but now there are more Canadians interested in Dinner 4 Four events - which is great because Laframboise feels that it's this way because of client word-of-mouth:

"It's because Canadians are more reserved and they rely on reviews - but word-of-mouth is great for us and we're getting a lot of business from that".

"And we're not just about dinners. We do all kinds of events: wine tasting, cooking classes, cooking classes with kids and private chef parties". She mentioned that the company has been growing steadily:

"The business is doing well because we've had a lot of return clients and word-of-mouth referrals".

Laframboise's advice to Canadians living in Calgary:

"Get out there, be open and try new things - meet people who do different things than you, because you never know when it's going to be beneficial".

"And just because someone was raised another way doesn't mean that their experiences are the same. Take the time to get out of your shell, meet people and socialize!".

It is interesting how Dinner 4 Four has made a name for itself with word-of-mouth; perhaps they should consider utilizing online marketing methods in order to grow their clientele even further!

As my article comes to an end I'd like to thank Kimberley Laframboise again for her generosity - thanks very much for speaking with me! If you would like more information about Dinner 4 Four please visit this link or check them out on Facebook!

Thanks again Kimberley!