30 September, 2014
I've had quite a few questions from people about what a supper club is, and we're planning on running another one at the end of October so I thought I'd use this opportunity to clarify what a supper club is and what's involved.
1. A supper club is essentially an underground or pop-up restaurant in someone's home. For the host, it's an opportunity to do something they love (cook/feed people), and for the diner, you get an opportunity to experience a different type of foodie experience. Have you ever gone to a restaurant and thought " I wish someone would bring me all the best courses from this menu without me having to make a single decision"? That's kind of what happens at a Supper Club. The host puts together a menu where (hopefully) each course and ingredient compliment each other.
2. Usually everyone sits together at the same table, or at most two tables. The menu is decided in advance and is usually a set menu. If there is a choice for any course, you will be asked to choose at the time of booking. If there is something on the menu you genuinely don't like, just let the host know. They can omit it from your dish or possibly substitute it with something else, but essentially everyone eats the same menu. Unfortunately, at Emmarose we cannot cater for those with allergies.
3. The fee is published with the menu and in our case is payable after your meal. Generally, it isn't a money making exercise and the fee covers the cost of food. Any profit will usually go into funding the next Supper Club.
4. As we aren't a licensed premises, we cannot sell alcohol so you will need to bring your own. We'll happily chill, mix and serve it to you with your meal other than a cocktail served on arrival we can't sell you alcohol.
5. Some people appeared to think that they would need to host an event themselves. This isn't the case, think if a Supper Club as a restaurant in someone's home. There is no need to hold an event yourself.
6. To cancel you will need to provide 48 hours notice. Otherwise, I will have already bought the ingredients. Also, number are limited so the more notice I have the more time I will have to offer your place to someone else. As the Supper Club becomes (hopefully) more popular I will be asking people to pay for their places in advance at the time of booking in order to ensure cancellations are kept to a minimum. The events only go ahead based on numbers so cancellations are game changers.
7. This brings me to friends. Friends are perfectly welcome but there is something slightly uneasy about taking money from friends who come for dinner. You know I'd feed all of you any time without remuneration! However, if you really want to book a place I won't stand in your way. If, as a friend, you would like to help my supper club, share, repost, retweet and generally plug my supper club posts on social media. This goes for any of my readers, even if the date/menu/location isn't for you, sharing my posts about the supper club will help others learn about it.
I think that covers everything, if anyone has any other questions please let me know. I will be publishing a date and menu for the end of October, if any one interested has any suggestions for either the menu or date please get in touch and let me know. We will also try run another one in November and perhaps a couple in December to celebrate the festive season. Lastly, we're based 5 minutes outside Letterkenny so please bear this in mind when making a booking.
