Secret Supper Club - Hari Covert (sshhh its a secret!)

Secret supper clubs or Underground supper clubs (they have various names) have become more popular in recent years partly due to the recession.  People are no longer willing to pay high prices for mediocre food in a restaurant when there are other more interesting options out there.

I have been aware of the supper club movement for some time due to my regular reading of other food blogs (some of my favourites are linked on the right).  I have always found the whole concept intriguing and have wanted to go to one for a long time.  But living in Kent there is not much opportunity to do this.  Most of the well known supper clubs operate in London (somewhere, can’t tell you where because it’s a secret).  A few months ago I decided to Google it and see if there is anything in Kent and I came across two.  One in Bromley which caters for Gluten Free diets and the other in the Tunbridge Wells area; Hari Covert.

So onto Hari Covert’s (get it?) website for some research and I found a wealth of information.  Past menus, future dates of dinners, rules, and lots of fab photography of some of Hari’s food.  So I decided to put in a request for a table for 2 at one of the May suppers.

Hari only holds dinners twice a month on consecutive evenings and only has 12 spaces at each dinner.  You may think this isn’t much but what I haven’t yet point out is that Hari’s restaurant is……..in his home. Yes that’s right, in his home.  His conservatory is turned into a mini restaurant where he cooks for and entertains 12 perfect strangers like me and Craig.

So rewinding a bit, I put in a request and soon got an email saying I needed to confirm my request on the first day of the month.  The places are only released in the month in which the supper is held to give everyone a chance of getting a booking.  So on the 1^st of May I confirmed and soon received a phone call from the mystery Hari where we had a chat and double confirmed that we were coming.  No money changes hands in advance but he does take a credit card number to secure the booking.  Four days before the dinner an email arrived with the address and final details of the supper club.  I wont be sharing this with you though as it’s a secret.  One of the rules of attending is that you never disclose who Hari is or where he lives.

So last Friday evening, glad rags on and wine in hand (its bring your own) we arrived outside Hari’s and rang the bell.  I will be honest and tell you that I was a little nervous as I wasn’t sure what to expect.  The door opens and there stands the mystery man himself with a big welcoming smile.  By his powers of deduction he worked out that we were Sharon & Craig.  We were ushered in and up to the kitchen were we walked through to get to the dining room.  It was open plan so we were able to watch Hari cooking, something you don’t get in restaurants very often.  I loved the fact that Hari’s kitchen is a normal domestic kitchen with normal domestic cookware.  No industrial sized burners and double ovens. 

We were shown to our table and given a very funky wine bag to cool our drinks in.  I liked it so much I have googled it and put a link here http://www.drinkstuff.com/products/product.asp?ID=5234&nav=bc

We got chatting to Julia while we waited for the other guests.  Julia comes in to help serve the food and look after the customers.  She was such an interesting character with a very cool job (which I can’t disclose).  She looked after us so well throughout the evening (thanks Julia if your reading this).  Once the rest of the guests arrived we were given a glass of bucks fizz and a selection of canapés.  These included tapenade on bruchetta, tomato soup shots, and risotto rice balls (Arancini di Riso).  The rice balls are literally risotto that is formed into a small ball, covered in bread crumbs then deep fried.  They were delicious.  We had these last year in New York on a food tour of the city and we both agreed that Hari's were much nicer.

Time for the starter of Local Asparagus and Goats cheese tart.  This was served with a garnish of green leaves including pea shoots and something that we think might have been pursulane, and sautéed asparagus tips.  The tart filling was light and fluffy and extremely nice.  An excellent start to the meal.

Next came the main course of Roasted Pork Tenderloin served on a bed of mixed beans and Chorizo with a Beer & Caraway jus.  Jersey royals accompanied the meal.  The pork was wrapped in Black Forest Ham which kept the meat moist and added lots of flavour.  The beans included green beans which Hari told me he always tries to include somewhere in each meal (Hari Covert……..get it!).  Both Craig and I really enjoyed this dish and cleared our plates (except for a few beans I left on the plate).

Main course plates cleared and along came the cheese course. Normally a course I avoid like the plague due to my dairy intolerance.  I should say at this point I didn’t tell HariWinterdale Shaw.  This was a mild cheese with a creamy taste.  I found out the dairy is open on a Saturday morning to visit and to buy the cheese.  Hari will be holding one of his supper club events at the dairy later in the year.  You can visit their website here http://www.winterdale.co.uk/ .  Then there was a soft cheese which was named Hari’s buttons.  It was a little round of soft cheese studded with alcohol infused raisins.  These were lovely although I only had a little bit as I was being careful.  The porridge oat biscuits that accompanied the cheese platter were interesting.  They were extremely crunchy and had a lovely toasted flavour.  They went perfectly with the cheese.

After the plates had been cleared away we had a short pause before dessert was served. During the meal Julia and Hari both mingled and chatted while they went about their tasks.  Both of them have really interesting backgrounds which made excellent conversation.  Dessert was homemade strawberry meringues with cream and ice cream and strawberries with a sauce, sprinkled with crushed pistachios.  I asked for mine without the cream or ice cream and even with these missing it was absolutely delicious.  Our wedding dessert was Eton mess which is one of my favourites so I was really pleased that this was on the menu as it is so similar.  It looked beautiful on the plate.  Also the meringues were chewy on the inside which I love.  We were each served a glass of dessert wine.

After dessert a pot of coffee and a plate of homemade chocolate truffles were produced.  I didn’t try a chocolate but Craig declared them delicious. The coffee was really welcome by his point because the lovely Julia kept on topping up my bucks fizz!

So it’s the end of the meal, we were very happy and relaxed and not to mention full to bursting.  We start to think about leaving as we have an early start the next morning.  The table of six also at the dinner had well and truly settled in by this point and the volume was increasing by the minute thanks to the flow of wine they had brought with them.  So now its just a question of “paying the bill” before we go.  On the table was an envelope into which you put in how much you choose to pay for the meal and service.  A £30 donation per head was suggested.  Both Craig and I felt that this was more than fair and in fact very cheap.  You can over pay if you want which we did a little.  It would have been more but stupidly we didn't account for this and didn’t have any extra cash on us. £30 for four courses plus coffee, chocolates, drink & canapés on arrival and a glass of dessert wine is excellent value.  Especially if you take into account the quality of the food and the cooking.

If you have never been to a supper club before and I suspect that most of my friends reading this haven’t then I urge you to give it a go.  It’s a brand new eating experience which I really enjoyed.  Restaurant quality food in a home setting for a low price.  How could you not like it.  I would love to do something like this in my own home and its something I am going to do in the future if I ever move house (the one I am in wouldn’t accommodate this venture).

If you live in the Maidstone area then Hari Covert is the supper club to go to (he is not in Maidstone but not too far…..that’s all I’m saying).  You can go to his web site here http://haricovertundergroundrestaurant.wordpress.com/

Or if you live elsewhere in the country or even outside the UK here is a link to a list of other supper clubs http://supperclubfangroup.ning.com/page/supperclubs-by-location

Give it a go.

Sharon x