posted by Archana on Brooklyn, Dinner, Dinner party, Events, Tofu, Vegging In

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Do you like food? Do you like socializing? Do you like socializing that involves food? Well, then you’re probably a good fit for one of New York City’s many underground supper clubs. These get-togethers bring random people to a cook’s apartment for a meal (usually of the three- to five-course variety) and some chit-chat.

I came across this ingenious idea while perusing Time Out New York‘s food section and decided to sign up for the listservs of all the clubs. Lo and behold, the one the emailed me first was The Ted Allen and Amy Sedaris Supper Club, and I just so happened to love the menu.

Founder Kara Masi started the supper club with her now ex-boyfriend a few years ago, and named it after the two great local chefs you may have heard of. For those who haven’t, Ted is a former member of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy squad and now hosts the Food Network’s Chopped, and Amy is the hilarious actress and sister of author David Sedaris.

Now the club operates out of the spacious Fort Greene apartment that Kara, who by the by does have a day job as a web producer, shares with her lovely roommate, Julie. Kara cooks, Julie serves the wine and it’s such a fun night. I happened to be the only one who didn’t know anyone else, but I liked it that way. It gave me the chance to mingle with a lot of different people and experience the dinner to its fullest. Turns out I work in the same building as two of the girls who were there! New York is such a small world.

So what exactly were we eating? Here was the menu:

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage Cream Sauce
Asparagus, Pecorino and Red Onion Salad
Chianti-Braised Beef Short Ribs* with Rosemary-Parsnip Mashed Potatoes
Crostata with Anarchy in a Jar’s Strawberry Balsamic Jam and 3’s Company Berry Jam
Selection of wine
*Vegetarian alternative: Pumpkin Seed-Crusted Tofu

…but let’s get our grub on!

We started out with the sweet potato gnocchi and though Kara apologized that it was her first time and that they turned out mushy, I thought it was delicious! If you ask me, gnocchi isn’t as tasty when chewy, anyway.

We then moved onto the salad. It was cold and crunchy, which was the perfect contrast to the warm and soft gnocchi:

As for the entree, I was so, so happy that Kara offered not just any vegetarian option, but one that was totally up my alley. Pumpkin + tofu + (I later found out) fried = HEAVEN. Though a tad salty, this was such a unique dish.

Kara told me that she had first tried the dish at Fort Greene spot No. 7, one of Bon Appetit‘s Top 10 restaurants of 2009, and wanted to replicate the recipe. She lucked out when the magazine republished the recipe for that very tofu. I can’t wait to make it in my own kitchen:

Only a few of us had the tofu; the rest of the table had the short ribs:

And last, but not least, we ended with a light and flaky pastry topped with strawberry balsamic jam from famed Brooklyn jam company Anarchy in a Jar, almonds and powdered sugar:

That night, I was most definitely a member of the Clean Plate Club. It was so amazing that, if it weren’t a weeknight and I didn’t have a 30-minute trek back to my apartment, I would’ve happily stayed. That, and their apartment is a mansion compared to my shoebox that I could’ve luxuriated there much longer. That’s not creepy, right?

The price for the meal is a tad steep at $35, but it truly is something to experience (at least once) in the city if you love food and meeting new people. And just in case you’re worried, they have a mini get-to-know each other/screening process when you sign up, where you give details about yourself, like your neighborhood, occupation and if you want to list your web site or Twitter account. They’ve gotten some strange peeps in the past, so the mini questionnaire is A-OK with me.

I’d love to try other supper clubs, though I heard some aren’t very veggie-friendly. Not cool man. If that’s the case, I’d be totally happy to go back to Ted & Amy’s place, even if the club’s namesakes never end up showing.