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Secret Supper clubs
| 2009-12-01 By Nikki Spencer Opening a ‘pop-up’ restaurant in your own home is the latest dining trend to hit the UK and keen cooks, foodies, and even rock star’s estranged wives, are getting a taste for it.  © N. Spencer Chef Gavin Billenness and his wife Ali, both 32, would love to run their own restaurant one day but, in the meantime, they are making the most of the lounge in their one-bedroom flat in Blackheath, South East London. Three or four times a month they shift their sofa into the bedroom, set up two additional dining tables, and welcome 15 paying guests into their home for a £37-a-head “multi-course feast of fabulous locally-sourced food”. The couple set up the Savoy Truffle Supper club (www.savoytrufflesupperclub.com) earlier this year after hearing about people opening ‘pop-up’ restaurants in Paris and New York. The couple had always enjoyed hosting big dinner parties for friends using fresh food from their allotment, so when they were looking for ways to dig themselves out of negative equity - they bought their ground-floor flat back in July 2007 at the top of the market - it seemed the perfect solution. They registered their home with the local authority as a food business, got an Environmental Health certificate and hosted their first supper earlier this year. Gavin, who currently works at Acorn House, the award-winning eco-friendly training restaurant in King’s Cross, does all the cooking while Ali waitresses.  Chef Gavin Billenness © Savoy Truffle The couple admit that the idea of inviting strangers into their home was quite daunting at first but say that guests love the informality of it all. “It’s all very laid back and people seem to particularly like that,” Ali explains. “You can see Gavin working away in the kitchen and when he’s finished he comes out and chats to everyone.” Gavin adds that it’s all good experience for the future. “It’s a great way of finding out what it would be like to run a restaurant but without the massive risk. This gives me a blank canvas where I am in charge of everything from sourcing ingredients to writing menus.” Recent suppers have included dishes such as Kent cauliflower veloute with chilli almond praline and caramelised onion arancini, pan-roasted fillet of sea bass with scallops and beetroot salsa and espresso poached pear and vanilla and orange panna cotta. And it’s proving very popular. Savoy Truffle events are currently booked up weeks in advance.  © Nuno Mendes Since the beginning of the year dozens of supper clubs have sprung up offering everything from £15-a-head meals to £100 plus blow-outs and all sorts of options in between. While the current economic climate obviously has a major part to play, everyone has their own particular reasons for opening up their homes to the paying public. In June, Cordon Bleu-trained chef, 29-year old Louise Barnard, started her monthly £25-a-head Secret Service Supper Club in Bristol as a way of making the most of the fabulous former 18th century Quaker meeting house that she and her partner are house-sitting on a semi-permanent basis. In East London Portuguese-born chef Nuno Mendes (www.numomendes.co.uk), who trained at world famous El Bulli in Spain, has opened a £100-a-head private dining club in his loft apartment in Dalston as a “personal test kitchen” while he prepares for his next venture, the Viajante restaurant which is scheduled to open in Bethnal Green early next year. And even celebrities are getting in on the act. This summer Jo Wood, who split from Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie last year, set up a temporary organic eatery offering £120 per person meals in her lavish Surrey home during Wimbledon with profits going to The Soil Association. The venture (www.mrspaisleyslashings.com) has been so successful she’s repeating it this Christmas. So how do supper clubs work?*Supper clubs don¹t advertise so you have to rely on word-of-mouth or search the internet. Some have websites and many, such as Bristol’s Secret Service Supper Club, have a public page on Facebook. * Most are communal affairs where everyone tucks into a set menu at the same time. *Supper clubs can’t sell alcohol so guests bring their own wine. *While some clubs are registered with their local authority many more prefer to operate underground so there is an element of trust on both sides. * Booking is essential and such is the current buzz surrounding supper clubs that many are full weeks ahead. Savoy Truffle takes payment on-line while more informal clubs rely on guests to leave a ‘donation’ at the end of the evening. |
