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Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Want to start a supper club? Here's what to bring to the table
It has all the elements of a stylish indie movie. The setting: Someone's living room. The characters: Cool strangers gathering for dinner. The food: Exotic, multi-course, served over a leisurely two-three hours. Conversations crackle and pop around a candle-lit table. There's an air of exclusivity that makes both the host and the diners feel like they're partaking in a special secret. Do a trial run with friends to see how they respond to your dishes and if your menu needs any tweaks. (SHUTTERSTOCK) Only, it's not so secret now. Supper clubs have been popping up in every big city. But before you quit your job and add chef to your bio, see what works and what doesn't, and how clubs in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi have cracked the code. Build the hype. Before setting up, pre-empt the response, says Anurag Arora, founder of the two-year-old Bengaluru supper club, Apartment. Arora had been hosting food pop-ups and dining experiences for years before he started. He had an audience ready. His posts were about recipe experiments, food travels and cooking hacks, through his day job as a designer. He was viewed as an in-the-know culinary expert. 'People need to believe that you have an eye for food and a sense of what makes a good meal.' Do a trial run. Gather friends and family and make them your critics. It's what husband-wife duo Manish Malhotra and Capthi Ly did before they opened up the Mumbai-based Vietnamese supper club, The Studio, last year. 'You get your first honest feedback from them,' says Malhotra. 'And you realise whether you're cut out for hosting.' In their trial sessions, they learnt that the public had a set idea of what Vietnamese food was. Some meat and fish preparations would put people off. A great way to build hype is by teasing the menu and pictures of a few standout dishes. (SHUTTERSTOCK) Get professional. The food has to be good, of course. But Arora finds that paying attention to the table linen, the flatware, even the way the kitchen is run is what makes diner feel they're part of an elevated experience. 'We run a very silent kitchen; we treat our guests like diners in an upscale restaurant who have no idea what's happening behind-the-scenes.' Apartment's dinners are set up to deliver a New York bistro feel. There is jazz music, two- and four-seater tables, and black-clad servers (usually Arora's family and friends, or aspiring culinary students). 'The dish has to be plated the same way every time, and has to taste the same no matter how many times diners come back and try it.' Leave them wanting. Most supper clubs find that repeat bookings are easy, but convincing new diners to sign up is tough. Archit Agarwal, who runs The Lost Table in Delhi with his wife Natasha Ratti Kapoor, posts menu teasers on his socials. They do theme-based menus — featuring citrus menu, dill, Latin-American food. So, the experience feels fresh even for a returning diner. Arora from Apartment, on the other hand, keeps the menu under wraps until it's time to sit down to dine. The suspense works. 'People eat out so frequently today, and yet, there are one or two food experiences that they remember distinctly afterwards. We strive to achieve that.' Scale up slowly. The pricing must work both for you and the customer. The Lost Table's four-course menu was initially priced at ₹4,500, but Agarwal brought it down to ₹3,250 for a vegetarian option and ₹3,500 for meat and fish. Don't expect it to be profitable right away. 'There will be days when you're at full capacity, and days when there will be unbooked seats. It's like throwing darts at a board, blindfolded, and hoping one lands.' Do it full-time (one dinner a week) and it's possible to stay afloat, for the moment. 'If you have your own space, that's 30% of expenses saved right there,' says Arora. Be open to hosting sessions in partnership with restaurants and private dining experiences for birthdays and anniversaries. 'That way, you're not just restricting yourself to one format.' From HT Brunch, Aug 16, 2025 Follow us on
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
It's Hard To Imagine This 123-Year-Old NYC Rental Ever Was a 'Blank White Box'
ABOUT THIS TOUR HOME TYPE: Apartment LOCATION: Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, New York STYLE: Eclectic, Maximalist, Vintage BEDROOMS: 1 SQUARE FEET: 600 'There was so much to love right away. It's located in the exact neighborhood we had been hoping for, nestled in a historic townhome rather than a high-rise building, which really appealed to us,' writes Hattie Burgher Miranda, a senior copywriter at a tech startup. 'The apartment has a backyard, which felt like such a rare gift (especially with a dog), and we're just steps from all of our favorite coffee shops, restaurants, and little spots that make this part of Brooklyn feel like home.' The apartment hunting process, which can be an exhausting ordeal in New York City, sounds like a bit of a 'rare gift,' too. Hattie and her husband, Kevin, posted in a Facebook group that they were looking to move to the neighborhood, and their current landlords reached out, sharing a video of the one-bedroom apartment. Hattie admits that she immediately knew that the space in the video was their new rental home. While the 1901 apartment had been recently renovated, it still retains its original character. Hattie says that she appreciated how the original space, despite having 'very sterile' white walls, didn't feel cookie-cutter. The couple, along with their pup, Maple, have lived there for two years now, and it feels like home. 'My favorite thing about our home is the way it feels like a true respite from the hustle and bustle of the city,' Hattie says. 'There's something really grounding about coming home to a space that feels calm, warm, and personal.' Resources Living Room — Benjamin Moore 'Winter Lake' Bedroom — Benjamin Moore 'Oil Cloth' Gerald McCabe Walnut Credenza — Live Auctioneers Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chair — Live Auctioneers (reupholstered in a Kravet fabric) Vintage Drexel Gold Lily Side Table — Live Auctioneers Rattan Floor Lamp — Target Zion Handwoven Rug — CB2 Dining Table — Amazon Coffee Table — Facebook Marketplace Bench — Facebook Marketplace (reupholstered in Thibaut 'Lewis' fabric) Bar Cabinet — Facebook Marketplace Bed Frame — IKEA Nightstand — Facebook Marketplace Linen Duvet Cover Set — Quince Linen Sheet Set — Quince Desk — IKEA Jute Scalloped Rug — Etsy Wall Sconces — Amazon Lamp — Target Thanks, Hattie! This tour's responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity. Share Your Style: House Tour & House Call Submission Form Further Reading We Used Our New 'Room Plan' Tool to Give This Living Room 3 Distinct Styles — See How, Then Try It Yourself The Design Changemakers to Know in 2025 Create Your Own 3D Room Plan with Our New Tool
New Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Sup(p)er-dooper: Know more about the supper club pop-ups in Bengaluru
Redefining dining in Bengaluru, a culinary revolution is underway. Supper clubs, once a niche phenomenon, have become the go-to hub for those seeking good food and connection. As these intimate gatherings of strangers offers more than just a meal but a platform for people to come together, many Bengalureans are now relishing their time as part of the supper clubs. At Apartment (a supper club priced around ₹3,000 per person), curated by designer Anurag Arora, the meticulously-crafted menus transport guests to a world of flavours with a surprise menu. 'There is a seven-course menu which is pre-decided – you would not know the menu at all until you walk in,' he says. For Arora, beyond food, a supper club is about a sense of community that comes with sharing a meal. 'I just want to create a safe environment for people to eat honestly. A space with good food and an approachable and comfortable environment, he says adding, 'I always wish for the food to do the talking and then, what I say. My menus are, very much, things I want to eat.'
Korea Herald
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
'Even sci-fi can't match this': Bong Joon-ho on Korea's brush with martial law
Oscar winner's decades of political observations come full circle Even for auteur Bong Joon-ho, whose films have imagined everything from mutant river monsters to genetically engineered superpigs, South Korea's brush with martial law felt like science fiction run amok. When now-impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency powers on the night of Dec. 3, the Oscar-winning director found reality outpacing his wildest scenarios. "The whole thing was more surreal than any sci-fi film," Bong told local broadcaster JTBC's news program on Sunday. The director described a surreal night of text messages from concerned colleagues abroad. "I was at home when friends started sending updates. At first, it didn't feel real," he recalled. "One minute we're talking about BTS and Rose's 'Apartment' and next thing you know it's martial law." While this marked Bong's first public comments on the event, Bong had already made his position clear when he joined more than 2,500 film industry figures in signing a petition demanding Yoon's impeachment on Dec. 7. The petition statement did not mince words: "Even with a filmmaker's imagination, this would be considered delusional — yet it happened in our reality." For Bong, politics has been a steady current throughout his work, one that informs rather than dominates his storytelling. His political consciousness took shape when he attended Yonsei University in the late 1980s, where student protests were the order of the day. The demonstrations swept through campus as activists rallied for democratic freedoms and rights, labor unions and reunification with North Korea. "Every day was the same: Protest during the day, drink at night," he told Vulture in 2019. "Sometimes I still smell tear gas in my dreams," he said. Though he describes himself as "a bad activist" who would often slip away from protests to watch movies, that spirit of resistance never left his work. His activist leanings found more formal expression in the early 2000s, when Bong, alongside the likes of fellow director Park Chan-wook, joined the progressive Democratic Labor Party. His political involvement continued through 2012, when he publicly supported the New Progressive Party in that year's general elections, though his direct political activities have since receded from public view. The director's last notable political involvement came in 2014, when he joined other artists in a one-day fast in support of families of the Sewol ferry disaster victims. Yet Bong's films have maintained a consistent political edge, earning praise from critics for their sophisticated blend of genre thrills and scathing social commentary. "Memories of Murder" (2003) used a serial-killer investigation to probe authoritarian trauma, while "The Host" (2006) wrapped criticism of American military presence in monster-movie clothing. "Snowpiercer" (2013) and "Parasite" (2019) expanded this critique into broader interrogations of capitalism and class. Such pointed themes drew the ire of South Korea's conservative establishment, who viewed his work as dangerously subversive. During the Lee Myung-bak administration, Bong found himself on a government blacklist restricting artists and cultural figures from access to state funding. The list would later expand under President Park Geun-hye to include thousands of artists, writers and filmmakers the administration deemed ideologically suspect. The blacklist, later ruled illegal by the court, cited his films' tendency to "highlight government incompetence" and "incite social resistance" -- charges that, ironically, only confirmed their global relevance. At a recent press event for his upcoming film "Mickey 17," which continues his examination of exploitative power structures through the story of an expendable clone, Bong discussed crafting "a new form of dictator" in Mark Ruffalo's colonial administrator. Examining power and politics through the lens of his latest villain, he noted how the science fiction genre offers a potent vehicle for political commentary. "Mark plays a new kind of dictator with this unprecedented, cute charm -- but then, every dictator has that charisma," Bong said. "That's what makes sci-fi so powerful for political satire. You can approach the real world, real politics, with both serious contemplation and humor."
