It has been about half-an-hour in the queue yet you are still waiting for your table. The excitement of eating out slowly fades away whilst irritability kills your appetite. Fueled by a similar experience, home chefs and food patrons are cooking up gastronomical delights in their kitchens and reinventing community eating in their cosy dining rooms.
In the wake of intimate and immersive gatherings, supper clubs are swiftly making their way into the hearts of food connoisseurs by offering personalised menus to limited seating guests. When duo Rukaiya Kanchwala and Ishita Desai began their supper club Around The Table, their goal was to create a space where you don’t have to make reservations months in advance only to converse amidst loud music. “Around the Table is our way of reclaiming the magic of lively tables, slow dining and shared meals,” shares Ishita. “The vibe at our supper club is similar to a dinner party at a friend’s house where you arrive as strangers and leave as part of one group.”
(Left) Rukaiya Kanchwala & Ishita Desai; (Right) Around The Table
While the concept of bringing people together over food is centuries old, the wave of flamboyant restaurants have taken over the joy of slow and shared meals. Kabeer Khan, the host of Khan Paan expresses, “I grew up in Indore, a city where food is religion. Our home was always the gathering spot for our extended family, and I grew up watching my mom cook for up to forty-fifty people at a time. When I moved to Mumbai, I realised how rare that kind of food hospitality really is. This urged me to share my family recipes through Khan Paan, where people are not embarrassed to ask for a second serving!”
Glimpses from Khan Paan
Perhaps, one of the most intriguing parts of the supper club culture is the personalised menu that does not include the dishes commercially marketed at every other place. Back in 2022 when two sisters, Dakiwanri and Daphimanroi Warjri decided to start Symbai, it was the love for their North Eastern culture that drove the project forward. After hosting twenty pop-ups across seven cities in India, they have not only cooked up delectable dishes but also educated their diners about Khasi food. “Khasi flavours are simple. Often, people perceive Northeastern food to be overly spicy but in reality, it is clean, wholesome and balanced,” shares the duo. A nuanced four course menu comprises soups, pickles and a traditional thali in which rice is served with a mix of condiments. Most loved dishes at Symbai include smoked meats, dried fish and pickles.
(Left) Dakiwanri and Daphimanroi Warjri; (Right) Khasi Spread
For an ex cancer radiology researcher, Pranshu Poddar, research, health, and curiosity about food became the most personal kind of project. His supper club, Soul with a Sole, is all about clean eating. “Everything here is plant-based, free of processed foods and made from scratch,” shares Pranshu. Think ramen, teriyaki sliders , potato kimcheese, coconut pudding with sticky toffee gochugaru – the menu reflects gastronomical innovation that fuels the body.
Scenes from Soul with a Sole
On the other hand, if you are done-and-dusted with the butter chicken and naan menus, Kabeer’s family recipes of Awadhi dishes are bound to enwrap your heart and taste buds in a warm embrace. “It is wholesome, heartfelt, and a little indulgent,” describes Kabeer. “ A typical evening at Khan Paan starts with mutton shami kebabs, kheema samosas, followed by a rich qorma, and the most-awaited dum biryani.”
At Around The Table the chefs share, “Before any dish makes it to the table, it has to pass one key test – would we be excited to eat this ourselves?” A harmonious blend of regional ingredients and cooking techniques come together to create personalised menus, keeping personal preferences and food allergies in mind. “We do not focus on any fixed cuisine. Sometimes we use Japanese ingredients in desserts, Middle-Eastern techniques in European food, and so on. For us, it is all about crafting something thoughtful, delicious, and a little unexpected each time.”
When it comes to truly fulfilling dining experiences, supper clubs are certainly creating a buzz for the right reasons. At a time when the rush of eating at opulent and crowded places still exists, these intimate spaces are offering the luxury of slowing down to the ones who love enjoying meals at an unhurried pace. “Think Ghulam Ali or Mehdi Hassan playing in the background, kebabs on your plate, and the soft panic of wondering how you’ll make it through the fourth course. That’s the vibe,” says Kabeer. Although it is difficult to articulate the future trajectory of supper clubs, the emergence of these discreet warm settings are here to exist in less crowded lanes, winning hearts, one table at a time.