What happens at the Secret Suppers held in Mumbai?

Every month a group of youngish people meet clandestinely at a different location in the city. The date is announced two weeks before the meeting and the location and menu two days before, but almost no one knows who'll be attending. All one knows is that the food will be as interesting as the company.

Welcome to The Secret Supper Project, a supper club where many are informed, but only a few get a seat. Started about two years ago, by four founders, the five to six course dinners are held at different places in Mumbai, often at a private residence, but sometimes at unusual locations.

The last dinner, which took place on Saturday, was held in the kitchen-workshop of the artisanal ice creamery Sucres des Terres, run by Kunali Chandaria-Dattoobhai and husband Yohaan Dattoobhai, who also runs Kaboom!–a food-truck styled restaurant in Ballard Estate. The couple are regular volunteers with the Project.

Interestingly, almost the entire kitchen and service staff comprised of the Project's volunteers, who have no background in hospitality. Helping Kunali in the kitchen was a lawyer and a home chef, while the bar was handled by a website developer and an entrepreneur. Along with Yohaan the service was conducted by an investment banker, who’s also one of the founders; others included a director of photography, a partner in a boutique PR agency and a furniture supplier.   

Red pepper risotto with parmesan and mascarpone ice cream

The guest list was equally eclectic and consisted mostly of strangers. From the group of 30 diners, I recognised one of India’s leading market strategy and consumer behaviour consultants, a restaurateur with a small chain of cafés, a co-owner of a Mumbai-centric website, and a handful of expats. What they all had in common was a sense of adventure and the desire to engage with new people, apart, of course, from an interest in food. “We try to ensure that most guests at the dinners are newbies, so that it’s not the same set of people meeting each other again and again,” explains Yohaan. And not everyone who is informed of the dinner gets a seat; for that you’ve got to answer a rather cryptic question sent out with the mailer. “In this way, we ensure that we get people who understand what the dinners are all about,” adds Yohaan.

Ice cream was the theme of the dinner and every course had a frozen element. Our delightful amuse-bouche was iced grape with gorgonzola foam. It was followed by a dry, chlorophyllic, squid, baby lettuce and amaranth salad with a honey miso sorbet dressing and an inventive mango gazpacho popsicle on a bed of raw mangoes and roasted black sesame. The unquestioned star of the evening was the crostini, turned on its head; it had a frozen creamy avocado and ricotta base topped with crumbled bacon and diced toasted bread. Overshadowing the main course, of Red Pepper Risotto with a parmesan and mascarpone ice cream, was the old skool trio: home-made Oreo ice cream, lime sherbet and bounty bonbons. The service staff ensured that a steady stream of whisky sours, cucumber and mint vodka coolers, and Proseccos reached the tables, even as they efficiently served us and cleared away empty plates. And all this, just for Rs. 3,500 per head.

Old Skool Trio: Oreo ice cream, lime sherbet and bounty bonbons

Different conversation bubbles formed at every table, with everything from new eateries to great colleges in New York being discussed. But at the mention of Uber taxis, recently in news for rape, everyone bunged in. Many seemed to have found Uber's services the best.

As the evening winds down, a dining companion, who's got a few secret suppers under his waist, notes, “The food as always was very good, not spectacular. But it’s not only about the food, but also about meeting interesting new people.”

To attend The Secret Supper Project dinner, mail: reservations@secretsupperproject.com