Picture this — it's another evening alone in Seattle. You answer a brief questionnaire then give the rest up to the algorithm.

👋 City Editor Madeline, here. Don't worry, this isn't an episode of "Black Mirror" (I know how it sounds). It's a new initiative in big cities across the world that intends to help curb modern-day isolation — and Seattle is one of its new soft launch locations.

Each Wednesday at 7 p.m., Timeleft pairs six strangers together based on survey answers, books a local dinner reservation, and then sends you the info via email on an as-needed basis.

The process

The initial survey asks questions about things like diet, religious beliefs, age, interests, career field, and more to help narrow down who gets a seat at your table Wednesday night.

The day before your platonic-blind-group-date meal, you'll receive a breakdown on your fellow guests — career fields, zodiac signs, etc. — plus some safety tips for the excursion.

The morning of, you'll finally find out where you're eating. (When you initially sign up, you can choose between a few specific Seattle neighborhoods to keep it close by.)

Sully's hosts bingo every Wednesday from 8-10 p.m., but the theme switches up each time. | Photo by SEAtoday staff

Madeline's experience

I selected Queen Anne (we love her) and ended up eating at Grappa with five new friends.

In fact, we had so much fun answering Timeleft's guided conversation questions and sharing about our interests that we decided the party couldn't stop there.

After dinner, we hopped on over to Sully's Irish pub for a round of music bingo and some drinks.

While we each added each other on socials to keep in touch, the nice thing about Timeleft is that you can connect another (and potentially safer) way through its post-dinner feedback.

Select the specific people you enjoyed in the meet-up. If the feeling is mutual, you'll be sent to a private chat to reconnect (no exchange of socials or phone numbers needed).