Supper Clubs: Professionals NOT Welcome
By: Amy Holwerda
Published: May 1, 2011

Supper clubs, the eating-out trend of visiting a stranger’s home and paying for a meal cooked by them, are allegedly being threatened.
Supper clubs have swept Britain and parts of the United States since their inception two years ago, but now, James Ramsey, owner of the Secret Larder supper club in North London claims the grassroots movement is being highjacked by the very people it sought to avoid: professional chefs.
Ramsey’s supper club, like most in the movement, began as a substitute for often pricy and sometimes disappointing restaurants in the city. Running from his apartment in north London, the Secret Larder opens every other Thursday for 20 people – booked well in advance – who pay £30 ($50) for a three-course set meal. In flashy celebrity versions, however, organizers hire well-known chefs – they’ve even hired some who run Michelin starred restaurants – and charge each guest up to £100 ($167), while the chefs use the events for low-cost self-promotion.
“Ours is unashamedly a platform to boost chefs,” Richard Massey, who organizes The Loft Project in east London, recently told The Sunday Times. The Loft Project, which charges guests £120 ($200) for a nine-course tasting menu, hires Nuno Mendes (pictured), a chef trained at El Bulli, the thrice Michelin starred restaurant in northeastern Spain  In response to allegations that hiring professional chefs threatens the grassroots social movement, Massey said, “Yes, it’s high-end food but it’s social, too. You can walk into the kitchen to chat to our chef, which you can’t do in restaurants.”
Photo Source: Aidan Brooks