Underground restaurants / gourmet food circles / clubs [General]

2009 Jan 7
Are there any underground restaurants or gourmet food circles/clubs, going in the Ottawa area?

2009 Jan 7
Francis - Not sure what you mean by "underground".

The food scene in Ottawa is pretty active, some groups are better known than others. Some are by word-of-mouth (like this website, I find that most people don't know about OF but I tell friends about it all the time and the benefits of learning not only about local Restaurants but also an assortment of food topics). And then there are some "clubs" that are by invitation only, or by membership... and of course there are tons of foodie friends who like to get together informally for monthly dinners and such. Awhile back I worked at a place where a group held lunch hour potlucks, and they also had some people who liked to have those travelling dinners a couple times a year (a different house for each course... Soup, Salad, Appetizer, Main, Dessert, etc).

2009 Jan 8
Francis - I am not aware of any in Ottawa.

F&T - the underground dinner club movement is something that's been going strong in San Fran, NYC, etc. for years now, not surprising that anything like that has caught on here. Basically, chefs, food service workers, foodies, etc. set up underground dinner events, kind of like a rave... no location determined until maybe the day before, nobody really knows what the menu is, except maybe there's a theme. Sometimes they charge a 'cover' fee, others just ask that you bring some booze! ;) Some of the parties tend to focus on hard to find foods, or 'smuggled' foods into the country, so that an entire dinner party that will actually enjoy it will be exposed. So basically it's sitting in a room with a bunch of strangers (at first), enjoying good food! Anyway, you can do more research on it using google, I'm sure there's more detailed info out there that I can't provide.

2009 Jan 8
I heard about them on the radio, and was intrigued. Yes they are big in San Francisco and New York. This is what wikipedia has on them:

en.wikipedia.org

I wonder if there would be any interest in starting such groups in Ottawa or how I could find existing ones to join? My interests are asian foods and vegetarian foods. I'm an ok cook for a limited number of dishes, but by no means a chef . . .

2009 Jan 8
Well, I for one would support something like this... there have got to be a few disgruntled chefs in Ottawa that want to cook something outside of their menu (that aren't allowed to do so at their workplace) that like to entertain people who enjoy food, or maybe some culinary students from L-C-Bleu or Algonquin that want to experiment with a few things they've learned. If you get involved with the Food Not Bombs group (are they still active in Ottawa?!), I'm sure you would be exposed to some vegan communal dining.

2009 Jan 8
I think the closest thing I've heard of to this is the 'industry nights' that some of the restaurants in the city hold. It's mostly for insiders (staff) and their friends/family where a couple chefs get together at a restaurant to cook for a private evening. The cost to the attendees is very minimal, and the chefs really go to town with having fun. I've not been, but these events have been described to me. The one I heard of was run by (and still is?) the chef from Oz Cafe, and I might've heard of one at Social. If anyone knows of these events, and wants to invite me... ;-)

2009 Jan 8
www.theurbanelement.ca/ is what I would consider a "gourment food circle" in many regards. And if you go there to one of their events, you will be sitting at a table with a bunch of strangers, some of whom may become your friend.

2009 Jan 9
I wish there was some sort of underground dinner club. I would contribute!

I have been to a few of the chef appreciation nights at Oz Kafe. Lots of fun mingling with others in the food industry while eating food prepared by guest chefs from through out the city. Such a great idea.

Just a plug here, I host a wine tasting monthly, not really under ground as it is open to anyone that is interested in trying new wines without pretension. Contact me if you would like to join in on the fun and I can give you the details!

2009 Dec 14
I have been lurking and visiting and re-visiting this group for years now and was hoping for some whispering of some underground ventures. I have given up on waiting, am thinking of taking up the torch in the hopes that it starts the momentum for more people doing the same.

I am part of a foodie social group. We have been hosting dinners in our home for a few years now and are considering widening the circle a bit more. The cooks are passionate foodies but non-professional, the food is usually made from scratch (or very close to it) and the atmosphere is fun, and non-pretentious.

Our more elaborate meals are often held monthly and more casual nights are weekly. Some are wonderful meals, while others are more participatory events, that are more of a challenge or guided workshop based sort of venture.

My question to you is if this sort of thing existed underground would you be interested in participating? Would your interests lie in dining or a guided group cooking experience? I ask you, what sort of thing are you looking for?




2009 Dec 14
I might be interested!

2009 Dec 14
i'm interested :)

2009 Dec 14
I'd be interested in this if it involved very out-of-the-ordinary/adventurous dining. Good potential idea!

2009 Dec 14
Saurian: Adventurous food or process? Could you elaborate on what you mean? - Thanks.

2009 Dec 14
live4food: Well, I'm really not that much of a cook, so I was alluding more to trying out new or weird foods (I always like to say I'll try anything except bugs--still working on that one).

2009 Dec 14
Saurian: Adventurous food or process? Could you elaborate on what you mean? - Thanks.

2009 Dec 15
Wasn't the Ottawa Foodies BBQ a gourmet food circle or a club? ;)

2009 Dec 19
I would definitely be interested in this! Sadly, I don't know that many foodies in real life : ( When I went to Paris there's this "undergroud" restaurant called the hidden kitchen. A chef and his wife go to the market that day and buy the ingredients for a 7 course meal. Then they send you the address to their apartment. How cool is that?! I would love to do something like this in Ottawa. Please let me know if you need any help getting this off the ground because I think it would be great!

2009 Dec 21
French website about le "diner en blanc" in montreal (you can see in intro in english).

www.dinerenblanc.info/

If you don't understand french, check the video on the page... you will get the genreal idea...