For the last 7 years, since October of 2006, I’ve been operating an underground dining club. I am a small time landlord. I own two two-flats, one on the west side of Madison where I live and the other on the east side of Madison where I rent the upstairs and do the supper club downstairs.
I think the supper club has run its course. I have a mailing list with just over 200 subscribers, plus I post all the meals on facebook to another 150 or so – although of course there is some overlap between the two groups. For the last six months or so, I just have not been getting enough people to sign up. My minimum is six diners, so I’ve had a few small intimate events, but nothing like the sellouts I’ve had in the past. The inaugural dinner back in ’06 was so well-attended that I added a second night. There were 34 people the first night, and 21 the second.
Every year I’ve celebrated School Woods birthday with some kind of event, either a sit down dinner or a reception with snacks. Here’s the list:
School Woods opening night, October 22, 2006
School Woods 1st birthday (2007)
School Woods 2nd anniversary harvest feast (2008)
In 2009, I had a potluck cooking contest, and awarded the winner two tickets to the Fall Fancy Feast
In 2010, I served a lasagna dinner for School Woods 4th birthday
School Woods 5th birthday was an open house with appetizers
Last year, 2012, it was a dinner: filo rolls and kale salad and trifle
This year, 2013, I posted what sounded like an appealing menu to me, but no one signed up
The plum tarts we ate at School Woods 1st dinner.
You can see a capsule history of the dining club at http://schoolwoods.com/past-events/ I kind of miss it already, but my plan is to start doing smaller, more exclusive events in my own home. Sort of like this.
