Paul J Kenny - Impromptu Friday Nights : A Guide to Supper Clubs

Just about everyone likes to socialize over a meal. Supper clubs are a great way to bring people together around food. Sounds simple, but like many things, it is easier said than done. There are all kinds of challenges to organizing a supper club:

How can I find the right people?

How do I make the idea of entertaining less intimidating?

Where do I find the time to pull it together?

How much do I have to clean and set up?

What if I cant cook?

Where do I get the recipes?

How do I organize the food, the delegation and the process?

The purpose of this book is to provide answers to most of these challenges. I will also try to demystify the process with the ultimate goal of making supper clubs simple and fun.

Preparation, or having your mise en place, becomes your security blanket. Above all else, mise en place is the key to addressing the intimidation factor and the other supper club challenges listed above.

There is not one type of supper club. In fact, there are probably dozens of different variations on the same theme. Simply put, a supper club is a way for groups, large or small, formally or informally, to socialize over a meal. This book will take you through five different types of clubs:

1. The Classic Club. This is one of the more formal supper clubs and one that we have had in my neighborhood for over 22 years. There is quite a bit of structure in this club, with a club board putting together parings of couples, menus etc.

2. Impromptu Friday Nights. This club is patterned after a group of friends who would get together spontaneously on a Friday night with minimal notice and prep time.

3. The Four Couples Club. When my wife and I lived in Dover, Delaware, we had a club with a set group of four couples. The host couple would write the menu, delegate the recipes and then host the dinner party.

4. Send Out the Email. My daughter, Jennifer, gets credit for this one. She sends out an email a week in advance to a list for five or so couples. The email states the theme (e.g. Italian) and tells her friends she is making the entre (e.g. lasagna). She then asks who can come and what they would want to bring (e.g. side dish, dessert, beverages).

5. I Dont Cook, but I Know Where to Buy. My daughters mother-in-law, Helene, inspired this club.