Welcome
You’ve been expected.
The French Dining Society invites you to slow down,
gather around one table,
and rediscover the beauty of sharing an evening together.
More than just dinners
The French Dining Society creates intimate dining experiences and larger events where French gastronomy meets the finest local produce, remarkable venues and the creative spirit of Northern Ireland.
Each evening is thoughtfully designed to bring people together around one table, where food becomes conversation, strangers become friends, and every detail is chosen to create something worth remembering.
Only a limited number of seats are available at each event.
Every evening is carefully composed
Every French Dining Society evening is carefully composed, bringing together French gastronomy, seasonal local ingredients, live music, art and beautifully considered surroundings.
Our table travels between some of Belfast and Northern Ireland’s most remarkable venues, with new places and experiences still waiting to be discovered. Whether twelve guests gather around one intimate table or a larger celebration fills the room, each evening offers an opportunity to slow down, share meaningful conversations and form connections that continue long after the final course has been served.
Upcoming Intimate dinners
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Sat. 26th Sept
6:30-10 PM
The Malone Hotel
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Sat 10th Oct
6:30-10 PM
The Harrison Hotel
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Sat. 24th Oct
6:30-10 PM
The Harrison Hotel
From the guest book
Our Events
An evening
Chez Maxim’s
Monday 9th of November
6:30 pm
The Dark Horse, Belfast
An intimate journey to 1920s Paris, inspired by the legendary Maxim's. Candlelight, French gastronomy, live music and art come together for an unforgettable evening where you will savour the magic of the Golden Age of Chez Maxim’s.
A French Christmas
Monday 7th of December 6:30 pm
The Malone Hotel, Belfast
Celebrate the magic of Christmas with an evening of French hospitality at The Malone Hotel. Begin with a glass of Champagne, enjoy a festive three-course dinner, live music, a silent auction in support of a children's charity, and dance the night away as we toast the season together.
Everything we create begins with the belief that beauty, conversation and generosity are worth protecting.
Every invitation is a promise: to create a place where people can slow down, feel truly welcomed and become present with one another.
Because some of life’s most meaningful moments happen around a table and the rest belongs to the evening.
Our Story
Everything we create begins with a simple belief: that gathering beautifully still matters. Through food, atmosphere and thoughtful hospitality, we make space for people to slow down, connect and feel truly present. Because some of life’s most meaningful moments happen around a table.
A meal has the power to slow us down. To bring strangers together. To spark conversations that linger long after the last glass has been emptied. To remind us that, in a world that moves ever faster, there is still beauty in simply sharing an evening.
The French Dining Society was born from that belief.
Not simply to serve French food, but to create experiences that stay with people long after they leave. Evenings where every detail has a purpose. Where candlelight, music, art, beautiful venues and carefully crafted food come together to create something that cannot be recreated twice.
Each dinner is inspired by the traditions of French hospitality while celebrating the remarkable produce, talent and places found here in Northern Ireland. Every menu tells a story. Every venue becomes part of the experience. Every artist, musician and producer helps shape the evening in their own way.
Around our table, there are no strangers for long.
Guests arrive from different walks of life, often knowing nobody else in the room. Yet, by the end of the evening, conversations flow as easily as the wine, laughter fills the space, and new friendships are quietly formed.
That is the true purpose of the French Dining Society.
The food is only one part of the story.
Meet the founder
The French Dining Society was founded by Marion Lancial, a French chef born and raised in Normandy, where food was never simply something to eat, it was a way of bringing people together.
After beginning her career in France, Marion spent several years in Washington D.C., cooking for private clients and embassies before settling in Belfast, a city she now proudly calls home.
Today, her cooking brings together French technique and tradition with the exceptional seasonal produce of Northern Ireland. But beyond the plate, her greatest passion is creating moments of genuine connection.
Inspired by the generosity of French hospitality and the warmth she found in Northern Ireland, she imagined a different kind of dining experience.
One where guests would press pause on busy lives, share stories with people they had never met before, and leave carrying more than the memory of a beautiful meal.
The French Dining Society is that invitation.
An invitation to gather.
To slow down.
To celebrate craftsmanship, conversation and community.
Because some evenings feed far more than our appetite.
They nourish something we too often forget to make time for: each other.
Follow Our Journey
