The Boston Globe has an article today about an underground dining club in the area, one of apparently a handful operating. According to the story, the idea kicked off in Portland, OR a few years ago and has spread around among foodie communities everywhere. Indeed, on the Food Network cooking competition show “Chopped”, they’ve had at least one “underground chef” that I can recall, who was from New York (as most of the Chopped contestants are). The idea, if you don’t bother to read the link, is that people find their way through their personal networks onto an e-mail notification list that invites them to a location (usually in someone’s home) for a dinner party. The chef prepares dinner for the 15-20 invited guests, who are expected to show up with a bottle of wine and $50 as a “suggested donation”.
Back when I was cooking, this was an idea I was very much intrigued by, but I didn’t realize at the time that it was as well-established as it seems to be. For the person doing the cooking, whether they’re a professional chef doing little gigs on the side, or a serious amateur, it offers the cooking experience reduced to its best elemental nature of doing one’s best work without the repetitiveness of banging out the same five entrees forty-seven times a night. And for the amateur chef in particular, the “suggested donations” ease the burden of the expense of simply throwing a dinner party. The guests get the reward of being able to enjoy fine cooking without the overhead of inflated restaurant prices, and probably get better food than they would in all but the really top places. The “underground” element has some implications with regards to food safety and the burden of adequate health inspection, not to mention the obvious avoidance of the Tax Man, but, hey, it’s a recession, baby.
I have two questions after reading this article: 1. how many of these supper clubs are there in the area and 2. how do I get on a mailing list?
