One of my favorite things about Dique is his community of friends. Having lived here most his life, many of his friends date back to junior high school, if not elementary. One of the lovely ladies from his schoolboy days is our friend red-haired Molly, or Molly L., who started a Supper Club a few years ago. She is also a native San Franciscan so her social circle and city knowledge are to be envied -- which means more friends and good foodie finds for us!
Follow these simple steps and you, too, will have a monthly supper club in your area!
1. Make list of people you love, and people you know who love food.
2. Email all of them saying:
-Let's start a monthly supper club - I'll be in charge this month.
-[Enter name of restaurant you want to go to] is where we'll be headed this month.
-These are the dates on the table for dinner [enter dates that work for your calendar -- we try to avoid Saturdays and Sundays because people are busy with other plans]
-Send link or as much information about the restaurant as you can so people can get excited about the venue, food, etc.
3. Wait for responses, and book a reservation accordingly.
4. Go to dinner and have a grand time.
4a. Make sure someone has a calculator for dividing the check.
5. Ask for a volunteer for the next month's gathering.
6. Rinse and repeat.
Bada Bing. Bada Boom. Instant good times.
When Dique and I started dating, he'd have these "supper club night with Molly and her friends" that we would schedule our time together around. Eventually I was inducted into the Supper Club Hall o' Fame, but it took a while for the invite. If I'm being honest, I was a tad jealous of the Supper Club gang. He's hanging out with women? And he's going out to THAT restaurant that I've been dying to try? WTF?
You see, Dique and I spent many (many many) nights and days of courtship in the kitchen. Sure, we occasionally went out to dinner, but we love cooking and cooking together. It's one of the things that drew us closer - we realized very early on that we could cook a meal we'd want to eat in a restaurant and we could ensure the music was just right. Another benefit is that there was no corkage fee for the wine we brought. That said, we love going out to restaurants. And frankly, it's a combination of my very favorite things: reading menus, talking about food, eating food and having food brought to me. A little bit o' heaven.
The problem is that in this city there are so many places to eat and limited dollars to spend on them. Yes, there are cheap eats (and you can bet your proverbial bottom dollar I will blog about them) but for the most part, dinner for two at a notable eatery is $50-$75 after drinks, shared appetizers/desserts, tax and tip. A couple of times a month won't break the bank, but some of us have a mortgage to pay... and if you think restaurants here are expenses, try real estate.
I digress.
Supper Club is a great way for us to have an enforced "night out" where we can try new places or visit old favorites, have good conversation and not empty our wallets completely. We mostly try to pick places that are two dollar signs -- reasonable, doable and generally delicious. Sometimes we find a spot that's an economical gem, and other times we leave feeling we paid Neiman Marcus prices for a Macy's brand. However, we never regret the dinner. Ever. When we've laughed and eaten and we're headed home, we always are happy to be part of the club.
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