Four hundred white-clad Torontonians are expected to gather next Tuesday for the city’s first flash-mob picnic.

While the details of Dîner en Blanc are secret and in flux, a few things are known.

The dinner is invite only.

Around 6 p.m. Sept. 27, a text message will tell people where to gather for dinner. It will be somewhere central that’s about a 15-minute walk from the nearest subway stop.

People will bring their own food. Organizers will provide a cash wine bar and DJ.

“The idea was to essentially bring the flash mob event to Toronto, but to do it in some legal capacity,” Suresh Doss, one of the organizers, said in an email.

Dîner en Blanc was born in a public park in Paris in 1988 and now draws almost 10,000 people. It has prompted offshoots around the world.

Canada’s first pop-up dinner was in Montreal in 2009.

Ontario’s first was in Niagara-on-the-Lake on Aug. 11. Quebec City launched its own Aug. 18. New York City got in on the movement with an Aug. 25 dinner in front of the World Financial Center. Guests brought their own folding tables and chairs.

The pop-up dinner has three basic rules: Everyone wears their most elegant whites, the event happens rain or shine (or snow?), and the location stays secret until the last minute.

“The Niagara event tweaked the rules a bit and we’re doing the same,” acknowledged Doss.

The Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Chamber of Commerce hosted its Dîner en Blanc for 400 people divided into 50 tables of eight, legally with a special occasion permit.

Executive director Janice Thomson said they invited the chamber’s 520 members to go online and register. People paid $10 each and could preorder wine from 22 area wineries.

“In other countries you bring your own table and chair,” noted Thomson. “People brought their own food to ours. We thought that was enough.”

The chamber provided tables, chairs, peaches and live music.

People gathered at restaurants, bars and private cocktail parties near Niagara-on-the-Lake to await the text message telling them where to go.

The dinner was held on a closed section of the street underneath the clock tower.

“Frankly it was perfect and everyone said it was a magical night,” said Thomson. “We had a full moon and beautiful weather. By 8:30, it was beautiful. People brought tablecloths, linen, china, crystal and flowers. There were lots of feather boas and tiaras.”

While the Niagara event had perfect summer weather, who know what will happen next Tuesday in Toronto.

“If it rains, you’re supposed to just bring a black umbrella,” advised Thomson.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Doss wasn’t the only Torontonian thinking about bringing Dîner en Blanc here.

Dick Snyder, editor of City Bites, and CBC journalists Carole Ito and Lara O’Brien from The Current, came up with the same idea Monday night at Sweaty Betty’s bar and started putting out feelers.

“We said `How will be know if anybody else is doing this?’” laughed Snyder when told about next week’s event. “The first thing I said is we’ve got to get Suresh (Doss) on board.”

jbain@thestar.ca

www.twitter.com/thesaucylady

Where will it be?

Grass or concrete?

The big question is whether Toronto’s Dîner en Blanc will go the park route or set up on concrete.

If the organizers want something bucolic, they’d do well to congregate at the lovely Evergreen Brick Works. But the location, off Bayview Ave. south of Pottery Rd., is awkward to get to on foot.

It makes more sense to book a corner of a city park, like Riverdale, Trinity Bellwoods or Sorauren. Preferably with a view of the CN Tower.

If organizers want a grittier vibe, Nathan Phillips Square is ideal. Hey, maybe Rob and/or Doug Ford will wander by. And there’s always underutilized Yonge-Dundas Square, too.

Either way, noise complaints shouldn’t be a problem. This flash-mob picnic for 400 (complete with DJ) promises to be over by 9 p.m.