Once a month, Eddy Cruz ’17 invites ten strangers into his South Bronx apartment for a supper party. On one occasion, the guests were handed a menu resembling a couch. On another, a vinyl record. Since Cruz’s first dinner in October, they’ve amassed a waitlist of around 10,000 people, been featured in The New York Times, and in May, Cruz is scheduled to give a TedX talk.
Cruz and his boyfriend Pedro Paredes started the Nine26 supper club in September, after videos of Cruz preparing dinner parties for his friends gained social media attention.
“Strangers were asking me if I could invite them to my house,” Cruz said. “I thought it was funny, but took it as a compliment, until I got so many inquiries that I was like: Oh, wait, this is no longer a joke.”
Cruz convinced his mother and boyfriend to host these strangers, and thus began Nine26, a monthly supper club that invites ten complete strangers to get to know one another.
The couple leads the front of the house while Cruz’s mother Yuderka and sister Edileni manage the cooking.
Every dinner has a theme inspired by Cruz’s childhood at 926 Southern Boulevard, the Bronx apartment where the Nine26 supper club gets its name.
“I see [Nine26] sort of as a love letter to a place that gave so much to [the family],” Cruz said.
These dinner parties are a labor of love for Cruz and his loved ones.
“There's a story that we want to share, which is a story of family, community, culture and love, where people, yes, are interested in the food, because ultimately, without food, we're not a supper club, but we are also in a time where people are craving connection,” Cruz said.
During these dinners, the ten strangers sit around the table and open up about their lives, whether that be sharing about a divorce or a birthday.
“It's always grounding to me when people share these things, because it speaks to not only the story, but also the environment that we're creating where people feel safe to share such intimate things about their lives,” Cruz said.
Before Cruz hosted supper parties, he attended the Nolan School of Hotel Administration. Although Cruz originally enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, working at the Statler Hotel drew him to pursue hospitality. While employed at Statler’s front desk, Cruz became involved with events hosted at the Statler.
“I was interested in who organized these events, and what was behind-the-scenes and who determined the theme and the decor,” Cruz said.
Cruz reflected on his experiences at the hotel school, noting how it gave him foundational skills that he was later able to apply to his work with Nine26.
“At the hotel school, I learned the basics of how to serve wine, how to clear plates, how to basically manage a table from a service perspective, in the kitchen as well,” he said. “[Nine26] allows me to revisit the skills that I learned at the hotel school when it came to menu creation, when it came to managing a kitchen, when it came to managing the overall flow of how to service the front of house in a way that feels elevated.”
After graduating from the hotel school, Cruz worked in marketing at Goldman Sachs, where he combined his desire for a corporate career with his love for hospitality by planning themed events.
“The way we brought the theme to life was through the decor...That was done through the linens, that was done through the flowers, it was done through signage,” Cruz said. “And that was when I realized: Oh, wow. Design shapes the experience.”
After leaving his role at Goldman Sachs in 2022, Cruz missed “thinking about design, and thinking about linens and serving glasses.” This drove him to begin hosting dinner parties with his friends in the spring of 2025.
“What we are truly passionate about is always what's going to pull us in, regardless of how we start our career or where we start our career,” Cruz said.
Despite his sustained love for creativity and hospitality, Cruz did not anticipate Nine26’s success.
“I never thought that I would be in The New York Times like that. I didn't think that the TED Talk would happen. I didn't think that brands would reach out, now I'm getting brand deals and people want to showcase their product at Nine26, that was never my intention,” Cruz said. “Strangers were in my DMs asking for a spot at my dinner table. So I listened, and now we took it to another level.”
One expansion for Nine26 is that they began hosting events beyond dinners with strangers. In January, they held one such dinner for New York Mets co-owners Alex and Steve Cohen. For now, though, the next steps for Nine26 are small. Cruz just purchased a new table that seats 12 people rather than ten.
“While I'm not entirely sure where this will lead me, I do feel I am on the right path, because every time I'm doing things like this, I feel good, I feel happy,” Cruz said. “I feel aligned with my purpose.”
Caroline McHugh is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a contributor for the News department and can be reached at cjm444@cornell.edu.
