Where should the next Diner en Blanc be?

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A 1,000-person dinner party took place Wednesday night on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Attendees brought their own food, chairs, tables and linens and dressed in white for the feast. The event was started by a French couple, and this is the first time it has taken place in Southern California. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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People set up their tables. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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There was plenty of wine on attendee’s tables. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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A live band and a DJ provided music. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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The event lasted well into the evening. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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People brought a variety of decorations. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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The Diner en Blanc crew provided balloons. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Some people brought quiche. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Other’s opted for a Monsieur Marcel prepared meal. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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And many brought cheese, crackers and charcuterie. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

By Betty Hallock

Aug. 23, 2013 6:16 PM PT

Those who attended Wednesday night’s Diner en Blanc, a global pop-up picnic, were bussed to a secret location for a plein-air dinner on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. But until the moment buses arrived at the destination, diners were kept in the dark about the exact location, part of the tradition of the French-originated flash mob dinner to which everyone wears white and brings their own dinner, tables and chairs.

Buses picked up attendees at stops around the city. En route to the famed Beverly Hills shopping street from downtown, guests guessed where they might be headed: The Getty Center? Dodger Stadium? Griffith Park? As the bus made its way down 7th Street ... uh, MacArthur Park?

PHOTOS: Diner en Blanc on Rodeo Drive

Organizers of Diner en Blanc, which is now an international group that throws white parties in dozens of cities, aims to choose iconic locales. Former locations have included Lincoln Center in New York and in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The locations are meant to be spectacular but also say something about each city.

“I think Rodeo Drive is an appropriate location,” said Aymeric Pasquier, co-founder of Diner en Blanc International. “I’m not from Los Angeles so to me this is what is elegant and in a way the heart of Los Angeles.”

Where would you have thrown a white party for more than 1,200 people from across Los Angeles?

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