Secret Supper Clubs. Underground Restaurants. Pop Up Supper Clubs. Different words to describe the same thing. It’s the new it thing in the restaurant scene. It is a restaurant not at a restaurant. It is a phenomenon that came out of Argentina 30 years ago and it is now taking the foodie scene by storm.
Secret Supper Clubs are run by Chefs, but they use non-restaurant venues: people’s homes are most frequent but they have also found some other unusual and very cool venues to host their dinners. A Chef comes up with a theme for a dinner and gets the word out usually via email or social media and announces a date, a theme and a cost and an approximate location and offers diners a chance to sign up. Then, a few days before the date, the actual location is given. It is different, it is interesting and it is a lot of fun. And based upon the two that we attended, it is very good food!
Swallow Tail is one of Vancouver’s better known Secret Supper Clubs. It was created by Chef Robin Kort. Robin grew up in Vancouver and has worked at a number of local restaurants. She created Swallow Tail several years ago as a way to combine her love of food and nature. Interesting combination? You bet it is! Robin loves to forage, a talent that she first learned from her father. She loves the outdoors, loves hiking and loves food. Foraging is a natural! She tells us that greater Vancouver is a foragers mecca. Mushrooms, chutes, leaves, tubers, even truffles; they are all right here in our own city. Robin even offers courses on how to forage safely.
Why secret supper clubs? There are several reasons. First, they allow the Chef to create a more unique experience, one that is out of the ordinary and therefore more exciting. The “secret” is a big part of it. Unlike going to a traditional restaurant where you know everything about it beforehand, with a secret supper club you know very little and that makes it more of an adventure. They also allow Chef’s to experiment. Many of Swallow Tail’s secret suppers feature Chefs from other restaurants who want to experiment and try out new dishes before they hit the menus of their traditional restaurants. And they are more intimate: you are dining with a small number of other guests in someone’s home. It all adds up to a more fun dining experience.
One thing about secret supper clubs is that being under the radar they are not regulated or inspected by Coastal Health the way traditional restaurants are. We have dined at two Swallow Tail secret suppers and took comfort in knowing that Robin is a trained chef and that her guest chefs have worked at some of Vancouver’s finest traditional restaurants: Hawksworth, Wildebeest to name two we are aware of.
Prices at Swallow Tail depend on the dinner being offered and would be comparable to a high end Bistro. They don’t serve any type of liquor but you can bring your own wine and there is no corkage charge. It is terrific value for money.
In addition to holding secret suppers in people’s homes, Swallow Tail has put on secret suppers in the skywalk at Holt Renfrew above Dunsmuir Street, at the Bloedell Conservatory, at Jericho Beach, and in the forest in Lynn Canyon!
What about the food? We have been twice and each meal was delicious. Dinners consist of several well-portioned small plates. Dishes feature unusual combinations of fresh, local, seasonal ingredients that offer up intense flavours and wonderful textures. We loved the food and the whole experience and we will definitely be attending more of Robin Kort’s secret suppers.
More information about Swallow Tail can be found at: http://www.swallowtail.ca/
For an interesting and quick overview of secret supper clubs in Vancouver (Robin is interviewed) see the trailer to the documentary Secret Supper of Vancouver https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-T4fL10mD1U
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