Underground restaurant

An underground restaurant, sometimes known as a supper club or closed door restaurant, is a social dining eating establishment operated out of someone's home, generally (though not invariably) bypassing local zoning and health-code regulations. They are, in effect, paying dinner parties. They are usually advertised by word of mouth or guerilla advertising, often on Facebook, and may require references to make a reservation. An underground restaurant is also known as a guestaurant, which is a hybrid between being a guest in a dinner party and a restaurant. More recently, websites such as Eat My World have popped up which help people find and book these supper clubs.

Underground restaurants are popular in Latin America, where they're known as either a paladar or a restaurante de puertas cerradas (closed door restaurant). Depending on local licensing laws, they may or may not be illegal; either way, they've been built into the culture for decades, and often have higher standards than many licensed establishments.^[1] They are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.^[2]

The attraction of the underground restaurant for the customer is the opportunity to sample new food, often at low cost outside the traditional restaurant experience,^[3] which can be expensive and disappointing—underground restaurants have been described as "anti-restaurants." They also generally provide a more intimate, dinner party style experience. For the host, the benefit is to make some money and experiment with cooking without being required to invest in a restaurant proper. "It's literally like playing restaurant," one host told the San Francisco Chronicle, "You can create the event, and then it's over."^[4]

By country

Canada

• Charlie's Burgers^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]} - ranked by Food and Wine Magazine as one of the top three "word of mouth" supper clubs on its list of “100 Best New Food and Drink Experiences in the World”.^[11]

United Kingdom

In the UK, Underground Restaurants and Supper Clubs have started to blossom, with reviews in leading newspapers such as The Times and The Guardian. They range across the UK^[12] but are mainly concentrated in London.

• Parkholme Supper Club, London - the first UK charity supperclub, raising money for Médecins Sans Frontières^[13]
• The Underground Restaurant, London ^[14]
• Charlie and Evelyn's Table, Edinburgh ^[12]
• Kitchen Porter, Edinburgh ^[12]
• The Edinburgh Salon, Edinburgh
• The Underground Supper Club, Walthamstow - Dining on a London Underground Tube Carriage, London ^[15]
• Find a Supper Club ^[16]

United States

• Chef DAT Underground Dinners, Dallas, Texas^[17]
• FRANK, Dallas, Texas,^[18] named "Best Restaurant in DFW" by Yelp,^[19] and "Best of the City 2014" by Modern Luxury,^[20]
• CULINARY MISCHiEF, Phoenix, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; New York City, New York; London, United Kingdom; Florence, Italy ^[21][22][23]
• Frank's Cucina

Germany

• Guerilla-Kochen – The first legalized underground restaurant in Germany serves fine menus with selected wines and accompanied by live music. "^[24]
• Zum röhrenden Hirsch - Underground Restaurant in Krefeld ^[25]
• C like Chef - Underground Restaurant in Munich ^[26]

armeritta supper club // Dortmund
b.alive dinner club // Berlin
Ceci n'est pas un restaurant // Cologne
Ceci n'est pas un restaurant // Frankfurt
Chicoree // Dresden
Daniel's Eatery // Berlin
Die WeinKüche // Berlin
green cookery lounge // Düsseldorf
Hidden KItchen // Mainz
I EAT YOU // Berlin
innen schön rosa // Göttingen
Katchina Supper Club // Cologne
Kitchen Guerilla // Hamburg & Istanbul
Kouzina Marina // Cologne
Krauted Haus // Berlin
Magic Garden Supper Club // Düsseldorf
Metti una sera a cena // Berlin
Mother's Mother // Berlin
My Flying Table // Wildeshausen
Secret Supper Club // Munich
Secret Dinner // Hannover
Sophiencafé // Berlin
Sweet Potato Supper Club // Passau
The Bread Exchange // Berlin
The Green vs. The Greek // Berlin
Tischgeflüster // Augsburg
Zuhause // Berlin
Herdheimchen // Heilbronn
^[27]

Switzerland

Spice Lounge Supper Club // Zürich

Hong Kong

First, Li Cheng's(崩牙成) underground restaurant, tradional Cantonese cruisine. .

In 1998, Liu Jien-Wei and Wang Hai couple restaurant, Sichuan cruisine,於上環鴨巴甸街

See also

• Speakeasy
• Smokeasy
• Guerrilla Gourmet

References

^[1] "The Secret Feast", The Guardian, February 9, 2009.

Further reading

• FoxNews article on the best Supper Club or Underground dinners in the world, published on January 24th, 2012

1. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/10/underground-restaurants-london