Underground dining, above ground

One blogger lays bare the phenomenon

By Kim Carlson

May 1, 2009

A couple of years ago, Twilight Greenaway wrote on this site about underground supper clubs. Her piece wrapped up with the following observation:

They might remain pirate. They might go mainstream. But it’s clear that, along with their fellow adventurers in restauranting, they’ll continue to toss traditional ideas of eating, cooking, and community out the Internet window.

Recently, on her blog “Not Eating Out in New York,” Cathy Erway wrote that in a single week she received six emails about supper clubs in that city. In her words, these clubs are “blowing up.”

More and more supper clubs seem to be cropping up these days than ever. I’m not going to blame solely the recession, which has gotten many folks back into their kitchens (or their friends’), or to their gardens more frequently.

Instead, she credits the social element of supper clubs as being the catalyst for their growth:

At a supper club dinner, you’re automatically geared to chat with your fellow guests, who are, too, even though they may have zero ties to the host or hostess, or to you (as at a regular home dinner party).

Cathy lists more than a dozen places where she eats out in New York — but not really.

What about you? Are underground supper clubs a big thing where you live?