CHENNAI: Try to strike a conversation with the nearest stranger at your favourite restaurant. That’s right, you will either be greeted with a creeped-out stare or a suspicious forced conversation. Not at The Supper Club though. A concept that originated in the US in 1930s, this phenomenon of the culinary culture has birthed unconventional dining premises that also function as a social club. They are usually advertised by word of mouth, and these days, via social media.
The benefits for the guests are, more value for money, since not much of the cost goes into maintaining the establishment and an opportunity to socialise while trying out new cuisines. The hosts benefit from the fact that they needn’t invest in an establishment to offer their culinary talents to the people. Since there are no rules, they take time to carefully plan every detail to make the customer experience unique.
Bringing this phenomenon to the city is the cheerful duo — Arundhati Balachandran and Suneethi Raj, co-founders of Localxo, which curates a series of one-of-a-kind experiences ranging from food and drinks, arts, fitness, master classes and according to Suneethi, possibly anything under the sun. “The Supper Club is covered by the food and drink category of Localxo. Our endeavour is to introduce this worldwide phenomenon to the city to showcase passionate chefs to people who want a different dining experience,” says Arundhati. Concurs Suneethi, who adds: “We try to cover cuisines that are not usually available locally and also open Chennai’s palette to new flavours.”
They have conducted two rounds of French cuisine supper clubs and are gearing up for the second round of Peruvian cuisine with The Supper club: Peruvian nights by Namrata Sundaresan, a passionate cook and the owner of Kase cheese. Namrata was discovered by the duo at one of the French cuisine supper clubs.
Says Namrata, "There are some similar elements in Peruvian and Indian cuisines like the use of rice, tubers and gravies. Although the Peruvian cuisine extensively uses chilli peppers, it is a balance that brings out the flavours without scalding your tongue. Peruvian cuisine is very light and earthy, and emphasises on slow cooking."
The menu has options for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. You have the Peruvian minestrone soup, which is different from the Italian version due to the use of herbs, along with spinach, quinoa, cassava and artichokes. The appetisers include ceviche with fish for non vegetarians and slow grilled potatoes seasoned with sea salt and served with chilli pepper sauce and olives for vegetarians. The main course will offer a choice between chicken, shrimp or vegetarian.
So head out to the Peruvian nights and get a taste of the authentic flavours of Peru. And who knows, who you might meet!
For details, call 9841177748, 9840337822