Since our series of posts about underground supper clubs, we've received about one invite a week from other clubs. Up 'til now, we politely bowed out of the dinners—we've been to enough to know what to expect, and it's only fair to keep the space available for those who haven't had the experience yet. But we recently received an invite that was so intriguing, we couldn't pass it up. It seems the case of the underground is not yet closed…
Last week, an informant whispered one syllable: "Eve." What they meant was "eveSUPPERCLUB." Putting aside the ridiculousness of the name's spelling, eve is different than most undergrounds in three ways. First, it is "members-only," making it the most exclusive of the clubs we've encountered thus far; second, they employ a well known professional chef-du-jour to volunteer for each event; third—and this was the part that we really liked—all the proceeds are given to a food-related charity of the chef's choosing. What we found at eve was what we had hoped to find at every supper club we attended, but never did. Entering through an unmarked door we climbed a fabric-draped stairwell that lead to a transformed loft. A sophisticated crowd of about 40 mingled around the bar as the evening's chefs, Francis Derby and Sam Mason (both formerly of the highly regarded wd~50, both currently of the already-in-high-regard-even-though-it-hasn't-opened-yet Tailor), finished their final prepping.
Our host's service level rivaled the best of the city's restaurants, and the food and wine selections were top-notch. To be clear, the food and wine were not top-notch by dining club standards; they were top-notch by high-end restaurant standards. Dinner started with a knockout amuse of chilled smoked-lettuce velouté and duck tartare, garnished with pumpernickel croutons (paired with a 2002 Domaine Carneros Taittinger Brut). It ended with saddle of lamb, sliced and served very rare, draped over perfectly caramelized endive, and garnished with two purées: one of spring peas (studded with crunchy semi-raw peas), and one made from candy-sweet umeboshi that added an entirely new dimension to the other flavors on the plate. In between were Boston mackerel with watermelon and avocado purée, an herb-laden bamboo rice risotto topped with lemon verbena-menthol foam, and barely poached salmon covered in a lime buerre blanc (paired with an exceptional Gewurztraminer from Italy's Alto Adige region). Previously, we said that supper clubs aren't the places to go for transcendent culinary experiences, but the dinner put on by the Tailor boys has definitely made us rethink that position. To become a member of eve you must be invited by an existing member. (That member list is currently 400+ and growing, though eve has only been putting these dinners on for four months.) The cost is $100 per person, but with all the proceeds going to a charity (Francis chose the Greenmarket), that cost is easily justified. It's refreshing to see chefs and eaters taking advantage of supper clubs' newfound popularity to do the right thing for the food community. And when the experience exudes the level of polish that eve does, it's hard to not want to be a part of it.
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