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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