Under the Table
Inside the hush-hush world of secret supper clubs
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL For Food's Sake dinner held at Whitespace Gallery
© KITTY RAY SWAIN
I’m sitting on the floor of a stranger’s home. Indian music plays softly, tiny candles fl icker and shoes lie piled in the corner. In front of me, a banana leaf stretches out like a placemat, and a tall man wearing a tunic dishes gingered pickles onto it. I glance at the 11 others sitting around me, eating with their hands (there’s nary a piece of silverware in sight). Everything about my surroundings is unfamiliar, but it’s an underground supper club — what did I expect?
In Atlanta, the whispers about underground supper clubs have risen to a dim roar. Organizers announce a date and time for dinner on their websites, and people sign up without knowing where the meal will be held, who’s cooking or what will be served. The mystery is an attraction, not a deterrent: Dinner Party Atlanta typically fields 3,000 requests for 40 spots, and the Souper Secret Underground Supper Club has taken to reviewing letters from hopeful guests that detail why they should be included. The last event attracted 200 letters, and all but 20 wound up in the trash.
Why the extreme interest? “A lot of folks are interested in experiences that go a little further than a sit-down meal with a check,” says a local who goes by the name of Lady Rogue and organizes rogueApron dinners, which sell out within 10 minutes of being announced.
Though Atlanta’s supper clubs all share an aura of intrigue, they differ on just about everything else. Some are quiet and educational, others are raucous and irreverent. Some recruit popular chefs, others showcase the talents of nonprofessionals.
You might find one staging a dinner on the roof of an abandoned building, while another erects tables in a historic graveyard.
Are they legal? Er — not exactly (there’s that pesky alcohol-license requirement to contend with). Do they care? Not a bit. “We fly under the radar,” says Darren Carr, organizer of Dinner Party Atlanta. “We show up one afternoon and are gone by 2am.”
In my case at Spice Route Supper Club, I’m gone by 10pm, having devoured homemade Indian food and listened to my hosts talk about their balmy, river-filled homeland. I may never enter the house again, but the people who live there are no longer strangers.
Dinner Party Atlanta
Intended for the young, hip and adventurous, this supper club boasts nouveau-American cuisine and a speakeasy environment staged in unusual locations like a jet hangar. $75 to $95, including wine; www.dinnerpartyatlanta.com
For Food’s Sake
The talents of emerging and established chefs and farmers are showcased in themed dinners that range from olive-oil explorations to Southern celebrations. Venues have included graveyards and private hunting lodges. $60 to $80, BYOB; www.forfoodssake.org
rogueApron
This club embraces quirky themes, like an Alice in Wonderland garden dinner or a robot-inspired lunch. $20 to $40, including alcohol; www.rogueapron.com
Souper Secret Underground Supper Club
Some of Atlanta’s most popular chefs have been lured by this club to cook for small groups of die-hard foodies. $150, including alcohol; www.souperjennyatl.com
Spice Route Supper Club
This club — the brainchild of Chef Asha Gomez — introduces diners to the cuisine of Kerala, India, with a few modern twists. Upcoming dates: March 5, 19, April 2, 16 and 30; $65 to $85, including wine; www.spiceroutesupperclub.com
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