Black Label Table offers secret alternative to dining experience

By Amanda Ashley Toombs | Downtown News

San Diego’s Black Label Table Supper Club is a monthly underground alternative dining experience inspired by the underground supper clubs found in New York City.

New York underground supper clubs are traditionally held in secret and private locations, revealed the day of the meal. Often in the home of the meal’s chef, participants discover the location through word of mouth and social media. The chefs of underground supper clubs are not always professional chefs, but people who are passionate about cooking.

The Black Label Table is the creation of chefs Adrian Huth, Jimmy Lee and Evan Rumble, who organize the secret dining locations throughout San Diego on a monthly basis. Each month, Huth invites different chefs to participate, making each one a unique dining experience. The four to five course meals are $35 per person.

In April’s Supper Club, teacher Stacey Caillier, graphic designer Cuong Tu and private chef Lea Dennis oversaw the kitchen. Huth said the entire month leading up to a scheduled Supper Club is spent brainstorming and experimenting with new dishes.

The primary way to become a guest at the Supper Club is to join the mailing list of invite consideration. The mailing list provides prospective guests with an opportunity to receive the reservation announcement. Reservations are given to those who are quick to respond, creating an element of exclusivity, and the April Supper Club, which was held at a private home in downtown San Diego, was fully booked in three hours. Given that the Supper Clubs do not occur in actual restaurants, tickets are sold on a first come, first serve basis through Facebook.

“The exclusivity is not meant to turn people away, but to make it precious,” Dennis said. Guests experience this by sharing the dinner with chefs in an unconventional environment. The chefs are in complete control of the dining experience, and the guests must welcome the mystery of what is to come.

Previous participant Jamie McIntyre said the event felt like a “spy movie,” surrounded in mystery. “Go to this intersection, give us a call and we will let you in,” McIntyre said of how the evening started. “It is kind of like fight Club. You are not supposed to talk about it, yet it keeps growing,” she said.

The Supper Club’s growth relies heavily on word of mouth, as most guests hear about the dinners through a friend or a friend’s friend. Black Label Table provides an opportunity for all people who share a common interest in food and wine to explore a new happening in San Diego dining. For more information, visit blacklabeltable.com or facebook.com/BlackLabelTable.