Organiser profile: Clémence Wambergue (Ne pleure plus)
When Clémence moved to Denmark, she quickly realised that the social dining experience here is very different from the one in France where she grew up: inviting over 10 friends for dinner is not easy for everyone, friends don’t tend to get together at a table to experience different food and simply let go.
That’s how the Ne pleure plus (Don’t cry anymore) concept came to life. A group of 10-12 people gets together to experience a 5-course French meal prepared by Clémence and to socialise around the table.
We spoke to her to find out just how she made these events work.
You mentioned that you didn’t have any cooking experience before you started with the events?
I have always been very curious and have always liked to eat. That’s why I like being involved in the cooking process. I have to make sure that everything tastes as I like it, but I don’t have any experience. It’s all mostly about trying to make things work.
Where did you come up with the idea for this event?
I came up with the idea when I was still living in Paris. I had a few friends doing this for tourists, and I thought it was a great concept. But it didn’t make any sense for me to do it in France. When I moved to Denmark, I thought that I should use my French identity as a food lover to cook and invite people over. I’m French, they're Danish, and it’s something new.
I grew up on a big farm with sisters, and my parents also had a lot of brothers and sister, so there were always a lot of people coming over to the house. If there suddenly were two more, we would just put two more plates on the table, and there was always enough food. I guess I wanted to extend this idea here.
I’m not cooking anything fancy: it’s more like a grandmother Sunday lunch with the family, but we still have aperitif, a starter, the main dish, cheese, dessert and a coffee.
We also have this concept in France - mostly in the countryside - where people have a big house with a lot of extra rooms they often rent to tourists as a B & B. The tourists get to sleep in the house and eat dinner with the owner who likes to cook. The whole idea is about introducing local regional dishes to people from the outside.
How did you decide to use Billetto for your events?
I got to know about Billetto through some friends who are also using it for their events. Otherwise, I have used it before to get tickets for some concerts myself. I just looked at it and found it very easy to use. It’s super simple. I haven't even tried anything else. It was easy, free, and then I just kept on using it.
Before Billetto, I couldn’t really control how my events were organised. I just asked people to send me MobilePay or give me cash. But with Billetto, I could make sure that people buy the ticket and I would know how many people were coming. There’s a really nice thing with the list on Billetto where you can see exactly who bought a ticket. With MobilePay I can see who paid, but with Billetto I get everything in one place.
What’s your favourite part of the event?
It’s when everyone is eating the dessert, or maybe just drinking coffee while one of the guests is making coffee in the kitchen: when the guest feels like home and I get to see the whole ambiance that the night has created. And meeting new people. The idea is that people buy tickets on Billetto, but I don’t have control of who’s coming to the dinner. So, it’s often just small groups of people that don’t know each other and get to eat at the same table.
I like when I can see that everybody had a really nice time and when they just thank me for the night - that gives me a lot of energy. I feel really good the day after.