A friend of ours recently came to London to do a course at Le Cordon Bleu, and got involved in the supper club circuit. Supper clubs are an interesting development in the food culture of London, being part of a larger movement of ephemeral, underground "experiences". Like pop-up shops, pop-up cinemas, and pop-up cafes, etc. Some are marketing campaigns selling niche or limited edition products, some are anti-establishment, and some are just people having some fun. In our friend's case, it's a combination of having fun and practising for her course :)
They had their first supper club just last weekend, and we figured we'll join in the fun. It is called La Cuisine Cachee (the hidden kitchen), and was held at the house of one of the organizers' up in Haringey. The concept was simple---basically a dinner party with a French bistro theme. We started with champagne in the living room, getting to know each other and admiring the nice decor and garden, then moved over to the dining room where dinner consisted of an amuse-bouch, appetizer, main course and dessert. This time around it was all french classics, tasty and simple, though it was a lot of work preparing so many dishes for like 10 of us. Our friend spent the whole of the day prior to the supper club prepping, and half the day itself cooking. The company was great fun and very amusing and boisterous (perhaps due to the alcohol :) It was a great evening.
We are looking forward to our next supper club (perhaps La Cuisine Cachee, or a vegan one that one of the guests was considering starting). Unfortunately the next La Cuisine Cachee is going to be over the Jubilee weekend in June, when we will be off camping, so it will have to be the next next one.
We've had a few experiences of these underground restaurants now. Back over Christmas we had a great time at a pop-up art installation/restaurant/pantomime called the Pale Blue Door, while just yesterday we tried Bonnington Cafe, which used to be a squatter's cafe but is now a community-operated cafe. All very interesting and fits well with our sensibilities of local businesses.
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