HWN Suggests

Supper Clubs Without Depravity

Ever been to a supper club? If this were London a century ago, your response might have been: “Hey! I’m not that kind of girl!”

“Supper clubs” back then, you see, were what a Chicago Tribune article from October 20, 1899 defined as “where the pampered sons of fortune meet Bohemians upon a common level and engage in revelry—where fools are duped and criminals are bred.” Places that advertised themselves as where “both ladies and gentlemen of the theatrical and kindred professions could find rest and recreation after their evening’s exertions.”

Ah. “Kindred professions.” Got it.

Such clubs sprang up in the late 19th century to skirt a new law that set a closing time of…

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Featured

 These Sisters Want to Make Supper Clubs More Inclusive

It might be minus-one degree Celsius outside, but in the warmth of a brightly lit studio space in North London, 30 complete strangers are clinking glasses of Prosecco. I step inside, shake the snowflakes from my coat, and help myself to a glass. I’m at The Sister Table, the first in a series of monthly brunch clubs held by sisters Bonita, a graphic designer, and Benjamina Ebuehi, a baker and food stylist who appeared on The Great British Bake Off.

Articles of Interest

How to Start Your Own Supper Club

The general concept is always the same: A specific number of people (usually a number that most hosts can accommodate for dining) are invited, a host or designee provides the location and the food, and everyone has a great time.

Intrigue is served too

The concept of the secretive supper club is driven by their exclusivity and intimacy, with nights that might involve a much-lauded chef or an unusual or surreptitious location. Some are centered on a theme (vegetarian Indian food) or a gimmick (make your own meals). These culinary speak-easies have spread beyond the uber-trendy Westside and the tri-hipster area to places like Palm Springs, where residents hope to get a taste of some fine dining. If that means driving to a dark, seemingly uninhabited location in a quest for a singular experience, then so be it.

Reason for Not Eating Out #31: Because Supper Clubs are Blowing Up

Supper clubs, at-home speakeasies, underground restaurants or whatever you want to call them, have always had an aura of mystery surrounding them. Okay, it’s illegal to charge people for food that you’re cooking out of your home, unless it’s been inspected by the city/gotten its proper permits. That’s why most supper clubs call their dinner prices “contributions,” and operate on a somewhat hush-hush level (email dinner announcements only, dinners only when announced).

Supper clubs are great. Here's how to start your own

Don't let the supper become the focus of your supper club. The focus is hanging out with your club members.

The Secret Supper Club

The invitation is the new reservation.

Who’s Coming to Dinner?

‘I’ve joined too many clubs,’ cried one of my friends, ‘I have to watch two films a month, read two books and see two exhibitions’. It’s apparently a common problem. The clubs in question are supper clubs. They’re everywhere.

Why Southerners Will Never Quit Supper Clubs

Food matters to supper clubs, but abiding friendship and consistent fellowship matter most. These close-knit cooks and eaters may get together around a table with one another more often than they do with their extended families. It’s as though each member swears an amiable allegiance to just show up, time and again, carrying a bowl or a bottle and a readiness to share.

Resources

Find a Supper Club

This site has been created by me to showcase all the supper club and pop up events in the UK and worldwide. This site is open to supper clubs, home restaurants, underground restaurants, pop ups and their guests

Supper Club App

Whether you’re already in a Supper Club group or are looking for one, SupperClub helps you get connected.

A Razor, a Shiny Knife

A razor, a shiny knife is an educational, social and theatrical culinary experience. We host events around the world...

Cuisine en Locale

Cuisine en Locale is dedicated to assisting in the creation of sustainble food systems by putting your dollars directly into the hands of local farmers. Every time you purchase a ONCE a Week share or hire us to cater an event, a third of your dollar goes straight back to support local agriculture. The farmers, butchers, regional producers, and food crafters rely on you, and you are helping to build a new network of food distribution that sets a precedent for a sustainable food industry.

Hush

Where supper and storytelling meet. Founder and organizer, Geeta, acts both as chef and storyteller for her authentic vegetarian Indian meals.

PS UNDERGROUND

PS UNDERGROUND is a wandering supper club!!! We host dinner parties and special events in art galleries, warehouses, shuttered restaurants, private homes and just about anywhere in the Palm Springs area where we can fit our table. We only reveal the location at the last minute and only to those who have reserved a seat. It's all part of the mystique.

RoomForty

Our winemaker dinners are truly a celebration of food, wine, art, architecture and community and have become one of our favorite bohemian gatherings. These evenings target what we affectionately label ‘adventurous aficionados’ as menus and locations are not pre-published, and only disclosed to ticket holders the week of the event.

Sunday Dinner Club

Sunday Dinner is a Chicago-based food business devoted to seasonal cooking & locally/sustainably grown ingredients. And yes, we are the people behind Sunday Dinner Club.

Taste of Pace

Executive Chef and Lifestyle Expert Pace Webb is one of the most sought after chefs on the Los Angeles food scene. Her catering company, Taste of Pace, is renowned for their monthly underground, invite-only Supper Club as well as being tapped to cater high-end celebrity and charity events for clients like the Breast Cancer Fund, Charlie Sheen, Shepard Fairey, and Acura.

The Sister Table

Both believe that a shared dining experience encourages inclusion and a real sense of belonging. The Sister Table was born in the hopes that millennial women would have a space to regularly meet, eat and share.

The Supper Club

The Supper Club is a member’s only social association bringing together talented and likeminded individuals for exclusive salon-style soirees in alluring locales across the globe. Reviving the traditional ways of entertaining in a fresh, unconventional way, we host multiple private events each month at the newest restaurants in the city and gorgeous estates and residencies, and least likely of places to charm the charismatic and connected crowd that makes up our membership base.

The Supper Club Book

The phenomenon of the supper club–as unique to the Upper Midwest as great lakes, cheese curds, and Curly Lambeau–is explored for the first time in this attractive and engaging book. Revealing the rich history behind these time-honored establishments, it defines the experience for the uninitiated and reacquaints those in the know with a cherished institution.

The Whaling Club

Originally an invite-only cocktail party, The Whaling Club has hit the road so you and your guests can enjoy some of the finest cocktails in Southern California. The Whaling Club offers an extensive menu featuring adaptations of classics as well as signature cocktails, using seasonal ingredients and hand cut ice.

Wolfsmouth

It’s not a restaurant. It's a dinner party. it’s the intersection between food, music and art. it’s an exploration in social dynamics. it’s friends, old and new. it’s fleeting and always changing. no menus. no dress code. no pretense.