Introducing our latest Mesure Muse: Samantha Wolfson, founder of & the Table. Born and raised in the USA, Samantha moved to Amsterdam in 2017. To connect with new people, she started "Sam's Dinners," bringing together six women in her home who didn’t know each other over a shared theme. After the pandemic, in 2022, the concept took off and was renamed "& the Table." Its core remained the same—six women, all coming solo, gathered around a table, enjoying delicious food and connecting through a theme and a question. Today, & the Table has flourished into a full platform for building new connections, with over 160 hosts across eight countries in Europe and North America. Samantha is pictured here in her home, where it all began, preparing for an & the Table dinner in her dark brown Mesure suit and white shirt, effortlessly transitioning from day to night.
Can you tell us about the moment you first thought of starting & the Table?
It was one of those ideas that truly marinated over time and involved a lot of trial and error. When I moved to Amsterdam in 2017, I started them purely as a way to meet new women in the city. There aren’t many women who would say no to a free dinner at someone’s home they’ve just met. I would invite someone from my workplace, a girl in my Pilates class, or someone I struck up a conversation with at a café. Finding someone to invite to a table could happen anywhere. What I love the most is that even today, the concept has stayed the same—six women, all coming solo, gathered around a table with a theme, a question, delicious food, and meaningful conversation.
What inspired you to create a space exclusively for women with & the Table?
Initially, & the Table started this way because I wanted to create a space where women felt they could be their most vulnerable. To be able to go into someone’s home and speak candidly and openly about a topic, I wanted to create as much ease as possible, especially since the themes can get very heavy at some tables. Personally, I’ve always felt that I could do this more easily when it was just women, and that experience became the foundation for how it all began.
When we expanded and brought on Official Hosts around the world, there was also the issue of safety. Since Official Tables often happen in a host’s home, I wasn’t comfortable sending men to women’s homes. That’s another reason why the concept has remained women-only today.
How do you envision the platform growing or evolving to connect women worldwide?
We’ve worked hard to define what we do—and what we don’t do. At its core, our mission is about fostering connection at any age, around a table.
We do this through our unique concept: six women, gathered around a table, all coming solo, with a theme, a question, delicious food, and meaningful conversation.
We execute this concept through three types of tables, which allow women to connect in different ways: Official Tables, Community Tables, and Collective Tables.
Through these offerings, we aim to ensure that women can connect in diverse settings. Whether it’s in someone’s home, an upscale restaurant, or a casual café, there are endless possibilities. Our goal is to ensure that connecting with other women on meaningful topics isn’t a barrier.
What’s the difference between the three types of tables?
Alright, so each caters to different vibes and needs, but all centered around making these meaningful connections around a table
Official Tables are where it all started and the concept to the core. These are intimate, in an Official Host’s home (more often than not), and always limited to just six women. They are always live on the platform and you can go request your seat for one today.
Community Tables take the hosting concept and open it up to a broader setting - where you can take hosting into your own hands. Any woman that’s joined us in our community can host a Community Table anywhere in the world, outside their homes—think cafés, cocktail bars, or restaurants. They still follow the core structure: a theme, a question, and meaningful conversation. As a host, you get an event page and access to our request system. Anyone can join or host one today.
Collective Tables are our little restaurant club. Still the intimacy of tables of 3-6 women, still a theme and a question for the night, but they're set in a delicious restaurant and you’re surrounded by 30+ women in that restaurant. We started these in Amsterdam and are launching soon in Lisbon, London, Austin, Los Angeles, and more cities by January! When we launch in a city, we commit to hosting these at least four times a year.
What do you look for in an outfit to wear to a dinner party?
First and foremost, I need to feel comfortable. For me, that means classic pieces: a button-down and great pants, a well-structured dress, or a tailored suit. I gravitate toward neutrals and earthy tones—black, white, brown, cream, dark blue, and sometimes red. I prefer versatile pieces that I can dress up or down, so they aren’t just worn once and forgotten. I also love pairing my outfits with vintage or fine gold jewelry, keeping it effortless but polished.
On top of that, the outfit needs to handle a bit of mess. I’m often spilling something while preparing or during the dinner itself!
Could you tell us more about your look, and what drew you to create it?
I’ve been wanting to create a brown suit for a while now, and being able to choose from all the different brown fabrics really allowed me to shape exactly what I was looking for. It's elegant, practical, and classic enough to make a statement without trying too hard. I designed it to be a go-to piece for almost any occasion, easily breaking it down into parts when I need something less formal. It's all about achieving that perfect balance of comfort and style, which is exactly what you need when you're hosting or attending a dinner party
Looking to create your one-of-a-kind item? Book an appointment at our store in Amsterdam.