Notes from the table
on gathering, and on the people who do it well.
- Habibi City Told New York We Exist. The Harder Part Is Making Room.New York magazine says the city’s Arab, Iranian and Muslim diasporas finally gather in public. We read the Habibi City issue and ask what comes next: who the new scene still leaves out, and how to make room at the table.read
- Seen, Without the ApologyBeing tolerated is not being understood. On the tiredness of translating yourself all day, why a room with no disclaimers feels like rest, and how belonging gets built one table at a time.read
- The Quiet Weight of "Passing"If people read you as white, every small-talk question about your last name is a quiet decision. On passing, the cost of staying silent or speaking up, and why neither side of visibility is the easy one.read
- What a Room Full of Strangers Taught Us About CommunityWe set up a table at Habibi Tech Summit and heard the same three words all day: I need this. What a room of accomplished, well-connected people taught us about community, and why a table beats a feed.read
- The Best Way to Make New Friends in NYC in 2026 (No Swiping Required)Making friends as an adult in New York is its own problem. Why small curated dinners are replacing swiping, how Finjani matches you into a group and books the table, and who it is built for.read
- Finding Your Village After You've Already Found Each OtherYou found your person, and somewhere after the wedding and the kids your social life went quiet. Finjani matches couples with couples and families with families, for a village rather than a date.read
- The Table Doesn't Care Why You CameNew to the city, dragged along by a friend, or testing a theory about dating apps: everyone arrives with a reason and the table never asks for it. Why showing up matters more than why you came.read
- Friendship Isn't the Consolation PrizeFriendship gets treated as the runner-up to dating. We think that is backwards. The hiking buddy, the co-founder and the midnight call do more for a life than most first dates, and they are the point.read
- What Nobody Tells You About Moving Somewhere Your Family Isn'tNot the dramatic loneliness people warn you about. The quiet 7pm kind, when there is no one to call about the extra food. On moving away from family, and finding people who already get it.read
- Two Worlds, One Table: What It Actually Means to Grow Up Between CulturesTwo versions of your name, Thanksgiving then Eid, fully yourself in both rooms and not quite home in either. Finjani is built for the overlap, from campus clubs to city tables, without asking you to pick a side.read
- Fill Your Cup. The Idea Behind FinjaniWe didn't build Finjani to help you match with someone. We built it to do something a lot older and, we'd argue, a lot more useful: put the right people in a room together and let the room do the rest.read
- Past, Present, FutureWhy Finjani exists.read