This month’s Dinners with a Difference is extra special. Their favourite celebrity chef, Gill Dinh, invites us to Lu Mare on the Wollongong harbour for an extraordinary one-night-only shared feast.

Celebrating the true Italian style of dining, Gill brings her signature Southeast Asian flavours to Lu Mare’s refined, yet traditional Italian menu, creating a unique and memorable evening around the table.

Gill, a local favourite and MasterChef alum, has been delighting Wollongong with her fresh, vibrant pop-up dining experiences.

Lu Mare is designed to bring people together. A relaxed coastal restaurant overlooking Belmore Basin Harbour, it serves exceptional Italian food made with heart. Some dishes stay close to tradition, while others reinterpret familiar flavours, every plate speaking to place and season, finished with a thoughtful modern touch.

Together, Chef Gill Dinh with Chefs Giada Ciccoli and Keana Lufe of Lu Mare create a dining experience that perfectly complements our theme for the evening: belonging.

Dinners with a Difference is a facilitated conversation over a shared meal, designed to dip beneath the surface of everyday conversation. This special dinner is an invitation to bring our experience, share, reflect, and create a genuine sense of connection around the table.

Come solo, or bring someone you’d like to get to know better.

Secure your tickets now here

Shared Set Menu

This exclusive menu, available for one night only, brings Chef Gill Dinh’s vibrant Southeast Asian flavours into conversation with Chef Giada Ciccoli and Chef Keana Lufe classic, yet refined Italian dishes at Lu Mare. An unexpected, generous fusion designed to be shared. The true Italian way!

Entree

Pomodoro e Stracciatella  (V, GF available)

Confit Heirloom Tomatoes, Stracciatella Cheese, Fried Vietnamese Mint, Housemade Chilli Crisp Oil, Pane

Calamari (DF)

Semolina Fried Baby Calamari, Lime, Vietnamese Green Sauce (Herbs, Green Chilli, Lime, Condensed Milk)

Main

Spiced Pork Ragu Rigatoni (DF, GF available)

Rigatoni, Slow Cooked Pork Ragu, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Fennel, Fish Sauce, Soy Sauce, Lemongrass, Ginger

Thai Basil Pesto Lumache (GF available)

Lumache, Thai Basil, Vietnamese Mint, Parsley, Pine Nuts, Garlic, Pecorino, Olive Oil

*Please note any dietary restrictions upon ticket purchase

About Dinners with a Difference

Dinners with a Difference is a facilitated conversation over a shared meal, designed to dip beneath the surface of everyday conversation.

This month’s theme is BELONGING.

You know that feeling, where everything clicks and your body relaxes. It can be a place, a group of people, or in a quiet moment within yourself.

Sometimes we find ourselves in spaces where we don’t quite fit. Other times, we’re lucky enough to feel at home wherever we land. Let’s explore that together.

Our desire to belong is deeply human — yet often unspoken. Loneliness is as harmful to our health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, and yet it quietly affects people of all ages. When we don’t talk about our longing for connection, it can begin to feel like something we should hide.

Let’s talk about our desire for belonging. Loneliness is worse for our health than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, but it is rife across all age groups. We often feel alone in our desire to belong and it’s the unspoken nature of this desire that makes it feel shameful. Let's bring that out into the light and create a shared experience of belonging and connection over dinner.

This dinner is an invitation to bring our experience, share, reflect, and create a genuine sense of connection around the table.

We'll bring our curiosity to questions like:

• When do you feel most at home, no matter where you are?
• Who or what makes you feel like you truly belong?
• Can you remember a time when you felt out of place? What helped you through it?
• What little things make a space or a group feel welcoming to you?
• How do you know when you’ve found a sense of belonging?

What your ticket includes

• A glass of sparkling on arrival
• Shared Set Menu, with a selection of entrees and mains (see above), with dietary needs thoughtfully catered for.
• Drinks will be available to purchase separately on the night.

To help spark meaningful conversation, you'll receive a short pre-event questionnaire the week before.

With the entire restaurant exclusively reserved for our dinner, we’ll have the space to speak freely and engage in vibrant dialogue as a community.

Feedback from previous dinner guests

"Gretel creates a safe and inclusive space where people can be seen and heard amongst a group of complete strangers! Conversation is gently guided with good humour with a nod to complexity and nuance. Dialogue is liberated and reinvented in a fun and casual atmosphere."

"A great night where you get to eat delicious food with a diverse array of interesting people all open to deep conversations. As well as the deep thoughtful conversations, there are always loads of laughs."

"It’s an opportunity to drop your guard - the normalities of day to day, and any roles/responsibilities. It’s quite liberating to discuss meaningful topics as a (relatively) anonymous person and speak truthfully without a filter. How bloody refreshing!"

"Chatting with random strangers was really fun."

"As a young Aussie guy, most of the conversations I have are surface level, sports-based, or just entirely sledging, which I love, but I don't really have the opportunity to philosophically explore topics or share meaningful (and related) anecdotes in a respectful forum where I could be challenged, encouraged and introspective, just for the sake of good conversation."

"Dive in and give it a go. So worthwhile, stimulating and full of insightful conversation."

"So, those questions you have about the way the world is right now, and your place in it, and how you would like people you can share that with, and how you are feeling about all that? Bring all of it. That's what Dinners with a Difference is for."