Black Market Supper Club

Okay, we've seen this all before...  Swallow's Tail and NFA (No Fixed Address) were some of the earliest supper clubs in the Lower Mainland where diners would meet at a location (could be a residential address) for a meal prepared by a chef.  Usually, a reasonable price would be paid and often, it was BYOB.  The premise also afforded the opportunity for strangers to socialize over good food and drink.  Well, I haven't been to one recently, but an invite to the French Laundry-inspired menu from Black Market Supper Club got me intrigued.  Viv and I made our way out to the location (which would be in South Surrey) and met up with old friends (Joyce and David) and also some new ones.

At first glance, the Charcoal & Dutch Cheese Gougères looked like hot rocks that were ready to cook something.  Nice deception, yet at the same time, utterly delicious.  They were cheesy and light while amped further by the 3 butter options served on tongue depressors.  From top to bottom, we had matre'd, burnt onion brown butter and everything bagel.  My favourite was the brown butter as it was nutty, aromatic and sweet from the onion.  Next up, we were served the Truffle Custard presented in an egg with black truffle ragout.  This was luxuriously silky and truffly with on point seasoning.  The only thing that could've been better was the viscosity as it was on the thinner side.

The absolute best dish of the meal in my opinion was the Lobster Pancake stuffed with marscapone, lobster, shrimp and chives.  The delicate crepe had a great mouth feel and was beautifully aromatic from the chives.  Lobster was perfectly tender with an appealing rebound.  The brown butter and carrot puree added a sweet nuttiness that didn't overwhelm the rest of the dish.  Onto our last dish before dessert, we had the Yabba Dabba Do consisting of braised shortrib, Wagyu beef, roasted potato with bone marrow and chanterelles.  Nice take on Thomas Keller's dish as the Wagyu literally melted-in-my-mouth.  Loved how the bone marrow provided the fattiness needed for the firm potato.  Bordelaise sauce was on point being meaty and full of umaminess.

For dessert, we were served the classic Chocolate Velouté sitting atop cinnamon ice cream and chocolate sauce.  In terms of impact, the chocolate really came through and was tempered by the cold ice cream with a hint of cinnamon.  I would've liked to see the "cookie" itself to be softer, but it was fine nonetheless.  In general, the experience as a whole was a fun and tasty adventure where we got to meet new friends over delicious food.  A good value at $65.00 IMO.

*All food was complimentary, wine was BYOB*

The Good:
- Generally solid execution and impressive considering the kitchen limitations
- Enough food to be full
- Fun social event

The Bad:
- Random locations not known until a few days before, so be prepared to drive or taxi

Black Market Supper Club

Summer of Love (Presented by Swallow Tail)

Ever since my first experience at the original Swallow Tail Supper Club, I look forward to their special events. The last time, I was invited to their Secret Supper Soiree, which involved moving from location to the next. This time around, I was invited to their Summer of Love dinner which featured an Iranian meal served in the yoga studio at Che Baba. Prior to entering the studio, we met at Robson Park and sat on beach blankets (which we had to bring ourselves) for our first course.

Robin led the procession which included a violinist. Our first item was Iranian Flatbread stuffed with feta, basil, mint and tarragon. The bread was a little dry, but the cheese helped provide some moisture. I liked the combination of herbs which offered up some unique flavours. Not a bad start, but hardly exciting. After that, we were ushered into the yoga studio which was converted into a dining room where we sat on the floor. Authentic yes, comfortable, no (especially for the tall men around me). As we entered the studio, we were presented with a drink consisting of Gin with sage flower and elder flower petals. It was a light and refreshing beverage. Any other drinks (including wine) were extra charge, which is both normal and expected at an event such as this.

After some introductions, the first plates of food came out. We started with Iranian Basmati Rice (Lubia Polo) with beans, cinnamon and pork (at least I thought it was pork). Even from the very beginning, we got very little information as to what we were eating. We were given bits and pieces here and there, but no formal explanation (that we could hear at least). The rectangle thing that you see on top of the rice is "tah-deeg" which is the rice crust at the bottom of the pot. The rice dish was pleasant, but we only got 2 small orders of it to share among 6 of us. The half Meatball (Kufteh) on top of the rice was only one of 2 that we received for the whole table (that would mean we got only one entire meatball for 6 people). It was moist and had a good meaty texture while being soft. There was a combination of herbs, beef and what I believe were nuts or split peas.

Served on the side was Cucumber Yogurt Dip (Maast-o Khiar) which was refreshing. Then we got one, count'em, one small bowl of Eggplant and Tomato (Mirza Ghassemi). This was fresh-tasting with slight tartness. The texture was quite nice though. It was a bit strange to eat this without any bread. For our last savoury dish, we were presented a small dish of Tomato & Cucumber Salad (Salad Shiraz). Not much to comment other than it was crunchy and vibrant with a touch of tartness. We actually got 2 of these for the whole table. Throughout dinner, we requested for more food since we were hardly satisfied. The 3 other tables around us had the same issue. Not only did we not get anymore food, it was difficult to even get our water glasses refilled.

Lastly, we were presented with Saffron Rice Pudding (Sholeh Zard) for dessert. This was not to my liking, nor was it for many other people as well (since many were left uneaten). There was nothing wrong with the flavours as it was quite mild and only semi-sweet. The texture was far too stiff. It appeared that the pudding was made too long in advance and it had hardened. At the end, we were served some Tea which was accompanied by rock sugar (which one would put in their mouth while drinking the tea). Okay... I'm sad to say that this dinner was not up to the usual high standards. We've come to expect innovation, creativity and customer satisfaction from Swallow Tail. This did not happen here. Sure, I was comped, yet it still wasn't a great experience. For those around me, they had paid $79.00 each for this. The feedback I got was one of disappointment. The excuse we heard for the lack of food was due to one table re-ordering early (and essentially consuming all the food). Even if that is the case, that is not our problem and plans should have been in place to make sure people had enough food. Furthermore, the service was slow and unorganized. It is understandable that there are a lot of logistics involved in running a pop-up restaurant, but the bottom-line is that the customers have to go away happy. This was not the case. Now, by writing this "not-so-glowing" post may eliminate my chances at further invites from Swallow Tail. However, if this is direction they are moving towards, I may not want another invite.

*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*

Swallow Tail Secret Supper Soiree

Back in May 2010, I had the pleasure of breaking bread with fellow bloggers at Swallow Tail
Supper Club. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, I don't blame you. Swallow Tail is not a restaurant, rather, it is a "secret" place where people meet to "donate" money towards a meal. Sounds like a restaurant in a different form right? Well, it is what we call an underground restaurant, much like No Fixed Address and The Birds Nest. To kick it up a notch, the folks at Swallow Tail have moved into the culinary tours and events business. And have they ever raised the bar. From the humble lil' house, the dinners have moved considerably more upscale. I was fortunate enough to be invited along with other bloggers to experience their Secret Supper Soiree. We were instructed to meet in front of the Pacific Central Station where we would be picked up by a double-decker bus.

We all hopped onto the pink bus and were whisked away to... of all places, the Vancouver Police Museum! Shuffling into the autopsy room, past the morgue, we were presented with a cocktail. After some mingling, we all congregated into the another room where we were served a Beet Salad consisting of blood orange granita, BB microns and pomegranate seeds. This was a refreshing, if not tiny start to our 5-course meal. Next up was the Tomato Consume with pickled cauliflower and Hijiki seaweed. It was served in a large beaker with a skewered pickled cauliflower. Although the concept seemed visually impressive, we had quite a bit of difficulty removing the cauliflower from the beaker. As for the consume, I felt it was overwhelmed by the pickling juices. I couldn't taste the base of the consume let alone the seaweed. There was definitely a novelty factor here with the venue, serving vessels and whatnot. Once finished, we loaded back onto the bus and took the short 3 block jaunt over to a totally new place called the Vancouver Urban Winery.

This was an unexpectedly nice venue. With a high ceiling and adorned with wine barrels as decor, the place was beautiful. There was several
long picnic-type tables set for us to enjoy our final 3 courses of the meal. For our appetizer, we were presented with a Poached Hen's Egg with forest mushrooms and a red wine reduction. The eggs were probably prepared in a thermal immersion circulator (if not, they were very skilled at using a regular pot!) and they were poached perfectly. Check out the beautiful free-range yolk! I love eggs and this was exactly how I like them. The mushrooms provided a good level of woodsiness and texture while the piece of baguette was cold and not that appealing texturally. Next up was the Pitt Meadows Flat Iron Steak with potato pave, root veggies and a huckleberry & rosemary jus. Due to the amount of guests and by virtue of cooking at a venue rather than a restaurant kitchen, the food was not as hot as I would've liked. Yet again, this was completely understandable. The medium to medium-rarish meat itself was tender and moist. It lacked the "seared" texture and flavour we normally would associate with a flat iron steak, but we need to take into account the venue. I loved the jus, it was super silky. I wished there was more of it. The shaved white carrot was
aesthetically-appealing and provided a nice crunch. As for the potato pave, it was good in both presentation and texture.

Lastly, for dessert, we had the Riesling Baba with Orange Blossom SemiFreddo, persimmon and pistachios. I like the semifreddo, it had a floral quality to it (as Kevin suggested) which was complimented by the pistachios. However, I found the baba to be too wet and overly sweet. Add in the sweet persimmon and this dessert was crying out for a touch of tartness as balance. In the end, I thought the secret supper soiree was a unique and interesting experience. Although I nit-picked at the food, it was pretty decent considering the challenges of multiple venues and whatever kitchen facilities that were at their disposal. The price for the soiree without wine pairings goes for $89.00 and $129.00 with wine. A group rate of 10+ with wine will set you back $99.00. In my opinion, I consider these prices to be reasonable if you take into account all the logistics (staffing, venue(s), food and wine). Of course, for someone who is only food-focused and are not interested in gimmicks and/or something out of the ordinary, they might not want to pony up the money. However, if you are the type who looks at the overall experience of an event and can appreciate the challenges of putting it all together, then it is worth a try for sure.

*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*

The Good:
- Unique experience
- Okay pricing considering everything that is involved (if you look beyond just the food)

The Bad:
- Pricey (if you are food-focused only)
- Not the most elegant of seating arrangements (if you care about that)

Swallow Tail Supper Club

Admit it. We all like sticking it to the establishment. Whether it be by protesting on the steps on the VAG (Vancouver Art Gallery! Get your heads outta the gutter!) or merely bitching about it while sitting in front of the TV, we all like to somehow get back at the Government. After all, we elect them with certain promises and expectations hoping to be fulfilled. What ultimately transpires is that we bend over and take it. Much like the new HST. I'm not going to get into a political debate over that here, after all, this is a food blog. However, with the growing number of underground restaurants popping up, we really can stick it to the MAN (not trying to be sexist here, but the current Premier is a man...). Having already given NFA (No Fixed Address) a shot, I was ready for another. Once again, Jonathan graciously took the reigns of organizing another meal. This time it was the Swallow Tail Supper Club. Proudly proclaiming themselves as "an underground supper club... sleuthing out wild BC foods and smuggling them to the table", it gives me the gratification that in some way, we are revolting against high prices and taxes. Yah, it's pathetic. Speeding and eating at underground restaurants - that is the extent of my lawlessness...

As we (Kim & Anita) arrived at the location, we were ushered outside to the deck since it was such a nice day. There, we met up with Victoria, Joyce, Frank and Jonathan. Mijune, Jenny & Ricky and Ben & Suanne arrived later. We were served an amuse bouche consisting of Farmhouse BC Gruyere & Sour Apple Tart on handmade puff pastry with apple reduction. At first, I thought the large piece of gruyere might have been too much for the other ingredients; but it turned out to be well balanced. A good mix of sweet, tart, savory and nuttiness. After that, we were ushered to the basement or the "dining room". Walls adorned with wine welcomed us to a cozy, if not "That 70's Show" decor with a table consisting of 2 separate sections and a mish-mash of chairs. Hey, that really didn't matter to me since it's the food that counts!

We started with the Stinging Nettle Soup with arugula, sweet peas and garden rosemary finished with a radicchio cream garnish. Served on the side were BC stout bread cubes. Having a consistency similar to pea soup with spinach, I enjoyed the smoothness. Flavours were subtle with a hint of bitterness from the radicchio. My only wish would be that the soup be hotter. Next up was the Cedar Smoked Romaine with pecorino/parmesan, portugese olive oil vinaigrette and garlic croutons. A bit similar to the Caesar at the Sandbar, the romaine heart is served as is. The smoky cedar flavour was really apparent while the romaine retained all of its crunch. Combined with the vinaigrette and the cheeses, this resembled a Caesar; yet by virtue of a lighter dressing, it allowed the smoked flavour to shine.

Following the salad was the Baked Live Dungeness Crab with Averill Creek BC Pinot Gris, with red pepper and star fruit. Garlic and crab butter was served on the side. For me, the natural sweet and saltiness of dungeness crab combined with plenty of garlic and a perfect amount of wine made for a tasty eat. Translation: the baked crab was in its natural state (baking retains more of the flavour rather than boiling or steaming). Adding the crab butter only further enhanced the already flavourful dish. We actually used the remaining croutons to soak it up. I only wished that my portion of crab was cooked a little less since the body meat was slightly overdone. Our meat dish consisted of BC Bison Tenderloin with red onion jam (braised in noble ridge meritage), creamed parsnips with garden rhubbarb, sauteed leeks with cattails in BC chardonnay, cleavers and chive flowers. We thought that the tender bison was masterfully grilled with a nice charred exterior. I was not a big fan of the jam since it was quite sweet and detracted from the natural bison flavour. The creamed parsnips were nice but for me, there were too many ingredients accompanying it.

For our dessert, we had the Beer Battered Crepe Blintz with (Limbert Mountain Farm) cream, Earl Grey tea creme anglais, apples & huckleberries and Amontillado Sherry reduction (consisting of pepper, lemon rind, vanilla bean). Under the dark lighting, I didn't even realize it was a blintz. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with the dessert; but for some reason or another, something seemed to be missing. The blintz was slightly crispy and the cream was certainly creamy. There was a understated tart and sweetness as well. Maybe it was too light of a dessert?

Lastly, we were served Limbert Mountain Farm double cream with Earl Grey tea. I'm not much of a tea connoisseur; but combined with the rich cream, I enjoyed the hot beverage. It was a nice end to a relatively good meal. It started off quite strong and weakened slightly after that. For $49.00, I thought it was a good value despite the fact I was craving a Filet-O-Fish afterwards (if you don't get this reference, click on the link). If I had to make a comparison, I found the NFA dinner more filling with slightly better ambiance. With that being said, I still think it's definitely worth checking out.

The Good:
- Some interesting uses of different ingredients
- Friendly proprietors
- Locally-sourced fresh ingredients

The Bad:
- For me at least, the portion size was too small
- Table arrangements could've been a bit better (didn't like the bench without backing)

NFA Dinner (No Fixed Address)

With dining out getting more and more expensive, it's only natural that underground restaurants would come to the forefront. Tack on the impending HST and it's only a matter of time that there will be more of them. Tonight, I joined Jonathan, Drea, Anita, Victoria, Frank, Melody, Jessica & Mark and TS/JS for a dinner at a "secret" location. Steve of NFA (No Fixed Address) contacted Jonathan about a blogger's dinner at a reduced rate. Normally, the cost per person for a 6-course dinner (excluding beverages) would cost $50.00.

Normally, one would contact Steve via email and a location would be setup for a private meal. The place we dined at tonight is best suited for 8 - 10 guests. We had 12 and it was a bit tight. The table was set up complete with the requisite flatware and wine glasses. Diners are responsible for their own beverages. After a short while of chatting and mingling, we were presented with our appetizer - Thai Beef Salad. Steve put his own stamp on this by adding a sweet corn fritter on the bottom. The more standard items such as cilantro, mint, lemongrass, fish sauce and sweet chili sauce were all there and worked in perfect harmony. I liked the fried garlic chips on top. It added both aromatics and texture. But the star of this dish had to be the perfectly cooked beef. It was buttery tender and was the key component to this well balanced appetizer.

Next up was the Trio of Scallops presented on a long platter. The first one was pan-seared with miso dressing topped by leek and apple. The scallop was perfectly seared. The combination of the miso and the sweetness of the apples really enhanced the scallop. We thought the best variation on the plate was the scallop with caper raisin emulsion. It was topped off by a piece of caramelized cauliflower reminiscent of Nuba. It was the perfect little bite that once again let the natural sweetness of the scallop shine. The last item on the plate was scallop ceviche with ginger, avocado and radish. It was pretty good with a nice zing.

Next up was the Slow Cooked Fennel Pork Belly. This, apparently is NFA's signature dish and... it delivered. The piece of pork belly was cooked perfectly with tender flesh and sinfully delicious pork skin. I particularly liked the gelatinous and fatty layer directly under the skin. It rested on a rather dry serving of mash potatoes; however, the roasted garlic on top made up for it. Served on the side was Serrano ham and endives drizzled with a thyme vinaigrette. As a palate cleanser, we were served a spoon of Grapefruit Sorbet with Sliced Candied Ginger and Campari. This was a nice tart interlude before the next dish. Alright, I completely forgot to take a picture of the Sake Marinated Sablefish with Cantonese Vegetable Sauce because it looked strange. I thank Victoria for letting me use her picture (her fish also mushy like mine) Well, the piece of fish that I got was quite small compared to Mark's (his was perfect though) and it didn't look like sablefish. Rather, it beared a striking resemblance to pureed baby food. To be fair, we were informed that some pieces may have broken down due to the marinade and enzymes. Yet, I've never had a piece of sablefish with this type of texture before. Honestly, I didn't enjoy it. However, I did like the Chinese flavours of this dish. It was served on bak choy and topped with mui choy. Served on the side was a wonderful coconut cilantro sweet potato cake coated with panko.

Finally, we were served a Dark Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Coulis for dessert. Apparently, the mousse was prepared with no egg or cream, so that it would be lighter. I'm not so sure about that since it was still quite decadent. I particularly liked the hazelnut praline on top, it added a nice sweet crunch. I wasn't a huge fan of the coulis because it had seeds in it. It tasted fine; but I didn't like the texture. By this time, I was bursting at the seams. Even if I had paid the actual cost of $50.00, it would've been well worth it. Most of the food was spot on (except for the sablefish) and definitely restaurant quality. I can definitely see this type of "restaurant" becoming more prevalent and popular. It serves as both a viable option and alternative to dining at a real B&M restaurant.

The Good:
- Excellent value
- Food is prepared with care
- A neat experience

The Bad:
- As in my case, you can't send back your dish (sablefish)