CL asks: Supper Club mechanics

[robinmj]

hello all. i'm robin mather jenkins, senior writer at cooking light. we're putting together a piece on supper club entertaining and i have some questions for you pros:
1) how many ways are there to structure a supper club? For example, I understand that some clubs are potluck, where everyone brings a dish; some rotate all the cooking duties from one person to another; some have evenings where everyone works together to make the meal. are there other ways?
2)once your supper club is established and running smoothly, do you flip-flop between methods?
3) do you always have a theme? who picks it?
4) what tips can you share about the care and feeding of supper clubs? These can be organizational, scheduling, structural, culinary or anything else you can think of.
you can post your answers here, or email me privately if you like at robin_jenkins@spc.com.
note that you'll need to let me know if you'd prefer not to be quoted. you can still respond even if you don't want to be quoted in the article(s). if you're willing, i can work out the details with you privately.
thanks for reading through this lengthy post!

[kwormann]

Hi Robin.

Ill do the best I can to answer some of the questions... we at the Houston supper club have only met 3 times so far. This is how it has been structured: We have set up to meet on the 3rd Saturday of the month. Someone volunteers their house, then it is their job to come up with a theme. Some have had one in mind, some have asked for suggestions. The host/hostess provides the main dish and drinks. They will send out an email with the theme and what they plan to serve. Then we all email with what we want to bring. So far we have had Brunch, Fondue and wine tasting, Mardi Gras, and Cinco de Mayo (planned for May). There are both couples and singles. There hasnt been any talk about cooking together...personally my kitchen is much to small for that!

We have been having a good time....we agreed it is "great to find people who like to eat and drink as much as you do!"

Hope this helps http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Kim

[JulieAnn]

Hi Robin! Our supper club here in Salt Lake City consists of three couples each with two kids. We meet each month rotating homes. The hostess decides on the menu
(with my input because currently I'm the only CL subscriber!). She then buys all the ingredients needed for the entire dinner - main dish, side dish, salad, dessert,etc. Common condiments and baking items such as sugar and flour are just provided from the hostess's pantry. That evening we cook all the dishes while the kids run around and destroy the house! After the dinner the hostess lets us know how much everything costs and we split the bill. Only at Thanksgiving have we had themes. Though lately I've been trying to do more dishes from the 30 minutes or less - meals that busy mothers might more realistically cook.

[Grace]

Hi Robin!

Our group in Chicago has been meeting since last June (almost a year now!). Ours runs pretty much on auto-pilot now. We are six in our group.

At the prior month's meeting, we bring our two most recent issues with us. We go through the older issue together, and talk about things we've made, and give "critiques" of those dishes. Then we choose next month's menu from the newest issue. We don't do a theme, each person is assigned a course, and we can choose whichever recipe we feel like making for that course, so the menu is usually fairly eclectic.

We rotate houses, and the hostess chooses/makes the main dish. Then we each get assigned another course (we try rotating, so the same person doesn't always bring the same course), and because we meet Wednesday evenings (and we all work), we bring our dishes already prepared so the evening doesn't go too long. It's a GREAT time, everyone is happy with this arrangement, and we've become really good friends over the last year. Rarely has anyone ever missed our meetings. Twice we have deviated from this routine. One time we did cook together (it was a blast), and the other time we met on a Saturday morning for brunch (also a blast).

As far as scheduling, everyone brings their little daytimers with so we can find a Wednesday night that's agreeable to everyone. So far, because we chose Wednesday nights, we have had little trouble finding a good date for everyone. Most of us have our other commitments on weekends, so a weekday works great for everyone.

One last thing, I have many hobbies and activities in my life (as do most of us), but I will tell you that I look so forward to my CL Supper Club meeting every month. It has enriched my life tremendously. I have eaten so many new foods, met some wonderful people I would never have met otherwise, and get to share my passion for cooking with people who share that passion (and typically, they are hard to find). I am grateful to CL for putting together the forum that gave us the opportunity to find each other, plus the material (recipes!) to have a lot of fun cooking and eating in a healthy and delicious way. Thank you, thank you.

[BeckyM]

The "original" Cincinnati CL Supper Club (it looks like the third one is now being formed) has been in existence since last October. We had our first meeting in a restaurant, so we could set up how we would operate. So far we have stuck with our original decisions, and things seem to be working really well.

We have nine members -- all women. Some are single, some married w/out kids, and some married with kids. We decided our CL Supper Club would be just for us -- no kids or significant others invited (except maybe for a special summer picnic or something).


We meet once a month on Wednesday nights. We try to coordinate schedules so everyone can make that particular Wednesday, though we have several members who travel often, which makes it difficult. The person who volunteers to be hostess that month selects the theme and makes the main dish. She also provides drinks. The rest of us then e-mail the hostess to let her know what we're planning to bring, and she tries to coordinate to make sure we don't have eight salads.

We discussed cooking the dishes together, but we decided meeting on a weeknight didn't give us enough time. Also, quite a few of our members have fairly small kitchens, which don't allow nine cooks at once!

We've had a variety of themes so far, including Cajun, Chinese, Italian, The Letter "C" (foods starting with the letter C), and Foods You Eat With Your Fingers. The hostesses have had fun coming up with the themes, and it really helps the rest of us narrow down our options of what to make.

We have learned a few things as we've been going along. We now all bring empty tupperware dishes to each dinner, so we can bring home all the yummy leftovers. We also have learned to double-check everyone's e-mail addresses when we send messages, because we've had people miss out on important information.

With our group, we also have realized that it's best for us to be really flexible and just "go with the flow" at our dinners. We spend so much time talking that it would be really difficult for us to try to have a "schedule" for the evening or to be too regimented. We've heard of other supper clubs combining it with a book club or going through ratings of recipes, but we don't want to take time away from the lively conversations we already have.

After our CL Supper Club meeting last night, I was thinking how amazing it is that nine women who didn't know each other before could have so much fun together so quickly. We have gotten to know each other fairly well, and we all enjoy each other's company. It seemed a bit risky to me when I first posted a message on the Bulletin Board to set up a Cincinnati group -- I was wondering if I would have anything in common with the people who responded and if it was really something I wanted to do. But once we got together the first time and started talking, all my reservations faded away. The women in our group have different backgrounds, careers, & personal situations, but we have a lot in common. The love of healthy cooking and desire to have a healthy lifestyle seem to override all of our differences and have helped create a bond between us. The CL Supper Club is something I look forward to all month, and I'm already excited to hear what the theme will be for May!

[Eli]

Our Annapolis Super Club started - well we're debating it - it was about a month after the article appeared in CL. So, almost a year now.

We meet once a month on a Saturday night when we can get the most people there. There are 8 of us so sometimes it's not always possible.

We basically try to have a full meal each time we meet - an appetizer, salad, a main dish, vegetable, and dessert. Each person cooks something and brings it to the dinner - so obviously some months we have 2 appetizers and 3 main dishes or 4 desserts or whatever to make 8 total dishes.

After we have a meal we go through the month's magazine and pick things we're interested in making. We have never had a theme - I guess it's more pot luck than anything. We've found that the cooking is most enjoyable when you WANT to make the food you are bringing rather than trying to fit in with the constraints of a menu. We do cook at the hostess home - which we rotate by volunteering. We usually only cook 1-3 things - either to learn some new cooking techniques or just because someone didn't have time beforehand. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

For me, the thing that makes it most enjoyable is that everyone is supportive of each other's cooking "expertise". We go with the flow. There's no pressure to show up with an elegant dish or anything like that. We've met at a house with a big enough kitchen for us all to stand around and help cook to an apartment where most of us watched the cooking from the living room. Our Super Club is enjoyable because of the company of other cooks, not necessarily the cooking itself.

[Gina O]

What I believe is the second St. Louis supper club will be having our third meeting next Sunday. We plan to meet on Saturday nights, but we wanted to do a brunch, and couldn't find a Saturday to meet in May.

To answer your questions:
1. structure- a bit of a combination of methods; each person is responsible for one or two dishes of their chosing based on the overall theme (more on that later); the hostess is responsible for the main courses, usually two dishes. We arrive about 2 hours before meal time, some with the dish entirely prepared (like bread, a baked dessert, ect) some things partially prepared then we all cook together to create the meal. Prior to arrival, via email we coordinate dishes to prepare, pots and pans needed, ect, if necessary.

2- flip-flopping- since we are new, and already very flexible, I would imagine things will continue based on the situation and needs.

3- theme- thus far, we have always had a theme, the first two, Italian and French based on what was featured in the magazine, the third and fourth will be based on the hostess' desire to try new things (light brunch dishes, paella). The only rule is that it has to be from a "light" source, the magazine, Mastercook and the CL website are the most frequently used.

4- Care and feeding- I think the key to our group is flexibility. One member is limited on the days she can meet because of kids so we schedule around that, another has a small kitchen, so she will host at another member's house, we want to do a brunch, so we are going to meet on a Sunday. Also, as we are still a new group, our membership is not quite set in stone yet, as people express interest, we invite them to join. I would imagine us doing this until we have a steady group of about 10 people. We also invite SO's, which adds to the fun, in my opinion. Although, I could also imagine that if we got a group of 10 cooks without SO's that would be equally as fun.

In telling people about this, one question that frequently comes up is kitchen size. It turns out that most of us have big kitchens simply because of our obsessions with cooking, therefor,it has not been a problem at all. I worried if the SO's would be bored, but they help with stuff here and there, setting the table, slicing, ect. (I have hurt myself one too many times with my mandoline, so my SO is in charge of it now).

In closing, I would like to thank Cooking Light for establishing a way for people who love cooking can get together and share their expertise and friendship. I have wanted to be involved in something like this for quite some time and am thrilled to finally have the opportunity. Gina

[beejayw1]

The Hartford Area Supper Club was formed around September of last year and has met pretty regularly. To answer your questions:

1) Structure: we come up with a theme or idea, and then everyone brings something. So we don't have too many vegetables or desserts, we make a list of who is bringing what. One person hosts as his/her place, and kitchen facilities are used to heat items that need it.

2)We haven't switched methods so far. We all agreed that it was hard on one person to cook everything. I will say that we have, off and on, had meetings at restaurants where we go over what's been happening, and make plans.

3) Theme: not always. It depends on what is suggested and what is decided. Last meeeting was breakfast for supper.

4) Care and feeding of a supper club: Several items:
1. I think communication is key, and the nature of the supper club situation makes it imperative that everyone have a functional email. The message boards serve as a sort of back-up, but our group pretty much communicates by email.
2. It's important to have some nearly set-in-stone things to work around. In the Hartford supper club case, the second Tuesday of the month is 'meeting day' and as it approaches, people can start considering what needs to be done.

NEW TOPIC:
Let me add a pet peeve here that the core group of the Hartford supper club holds: people who say they want to join, say that they WILL join, confirm that they WILL be attending the supper at the hostess' house - and then don't show. This has happened a couple times.

Actually a good illustration is found at the beginning of the Hartford Supper Club message board. A restaurant meeting was arranged, 7 or 8 people said that they would be attending, reservations were made, and four people showed up. One person, pleading medical excuses (rightly, as it turns out) asked to be kept on the email list. We kept updating this person, and asked each time if she wished to be kept on the list. Recently we learned that her email address is no longer valid. There were other situations similar to this. The fact that a social situation is being arranged over the internet does not relieve you of the duty of common courtesy.

I would like to join the other posters in saying that I really appreciate CL setting this up. It's been a rewarding and very fun experience, pet peeves and all.

Diana

what tips can you share about the care and feeding of supper clubs? These can be organizational, scheduling, structural, culinary or anything else you can think of.
you can post your answers here, or email me privately if you like at robin_jenkins@spc.com.
note that you'll need to let me know if you'd prefer not to be quoted. you can still respond even if you don't want to be quoted in the article(s). if you're willing, i can work out the details with you privately.
thanks for reading through this lengthy post!

[suel]

Many years ago we belonged to the "Gourmet Club" at our church which sounds very similar to the supper clubs of which you speak. We had 15 couples so we met at four or five different homes each time. The host couples would met to plan the theme and ENTIRE menu and the recipes were assigned and distributed to the guest couples. The host couple prepared the main course and provided wine. Food was brought to the host home nearly ready to be served (heating or final preparation could be done on-site, but most was done prior to arrival). The cost of the entire meal was calculated and divided evenly among those attending. Each time we met (every other month, if I remember correctly), the groups would mix up so that you didn't dine with the same couples each time.

[Jacque O]

I'm also a member of the St. Louis Supper Club that Gina talked about in an earlier post. She did such a great job of summarizing where and who we are. The only thing I would add is a personal perspective about gourmet groups generally. In addition to this group, I've also participated in a couple of other social cooking groups. For me, a great deal of my pleasure in the these experiences derives from actually cooking together.

Because for many of us, the desire to participate in this kind of group often originates in our love of cooking, I would highly encourage groups who have other formats to try to fit cooking together in your schedule every now and then even if it's just once a year. I think it will add to your total experience. --And don't let a small kitchen ruin your fun. If everyone is organized and if everyone is willing to be flexible about how things might be spaced instead eaten at one sitting or about the menu in general, I'll bet you could work around the space limitation quite satisfactorily. (IMHO)--

It is so much fun to hear about all of these groups; I get so much out of all of your advice and experiences. Thanks to everyone for your contributions!!

[robinmj]

thanks very much, all of you, for your responses. i'm emailing each of you privately to ask your permission to quote from your responses ... i won't quote anyone without their express approval and permission.
you will help this story be a big boost for anyone who wants to start a SC, i'm sure!