The concept of supper clubs as social dining experiences has existed since the early 1900s, but one could argue that the post-pandemic clamour for connection has sparked a resurgence in recent years. In a city where food is a central part of the cultural fabric, new clubs are popping up all the time — often small, run by one or two people (sometimes in their own homes) and usually under the radar. This is great news for home cooks and private chefs who can only seat 10-20 people at a time.
We scanned the city for lesser-known supper clubs and found a handful that were started in the past year. While each takes a slightly different approach to the concept, they share a key feature in common: a belief in food as a vehicle for building community. Whether it’s creatives intellectualizing over candlelit bites or a long-distance couple sharing the food of their culture with strangers, they all view food as a language of connection.
If you enjoy exploring different cuisines in intimate settings and bonding with strangers along the way, check out these two lesser-known supper clubs in Toronto.
Between Us
About a year ago, multidisciplinary creative and art director Andreya Klobucar wanted to turn her studio into a communal space for Torontonians to meet and gather, so she launched “Between Us,” a multi-use creative space that accommodates co-working during the day and hosts arts and social events in the evening. Klobucar also operates her portrait photography studio out of the space, under the same name. “It’s meant to be a third space for people to come and create things or get to know each other in a very meaningful way, in a cosy, intimate space that isn’t a bar,” she says.
Curated by herself and brand strategist Alex La, the events always feature food, but every two months they host a formal supper club event, either facilitated by a local chef or a culinary friend. A seated dinner accommodates up to 16 people, with tickets sold through Instagram, and guests are engaged in a themed conversation guided by a predetermined topic. While cost varies depending on the nature of the dinner, Klobucar says it’s more affordable than similar events that she has attended in the city. She’s determined to keep the price affordable since the intention is to bring the community together rather than raise profit.
Previous events have included a pasta making dinner party featuring produce from the garden of Klobucar’s grandparents, in which guests were engaged in a conversation about finality, saying goodbye, cravings, comfort and desire. An earlier dinner dedicated to the Lunar New Year had the guests discussing grief, home, family and futures.
Between Spaces also hosts themed Salon events, which previously have included activities like secret scrapbooking, summer poetry, and a book exchange. You sign up for the mailing list via Instagram, to get a heads up about upcoming events.
“The concept is that anybody can attend, and it’s not just for influencers or for people who ‘know someone’,” Klobucar says. “We encourage people to come alone and as strangers to hopefully leave with a friend.” You can also book private dinners and events in the studio by contacting Between Space on Instagram, in which case Klobucar curates the dinner based on a client’s request. “It’s called Between Space, because it’s kind of whatever you need to do and anything in between,” she says.
Regardless of what kind of event–dinner, Salon, or otherwise, Klobucar ends each evening in the same manner. “At the close of each evening, we invite our guests to take part in a quiet ritual: writing down something they would only share with their closest friend—or perhaps something they’ve never shared at all, something that lingers in their heart. These anonymous reflections are left behind on our secret cards, and in turn, each guest takes one with them before they go,” she says. “We also ask that everything shared throughout the night remains within the room, echoing our guiding sentiment: keep this between us.”
Cafe Mansheh
When couple Manal Khan and Shehroze Shaikh moved to the city from New York and Vancouver, respectively, they were both seeking community and felt that food was the best way to achieve it. Previously, they had nurtured their long-distance relationship, which began in Karachi, Pakistan, by sharing the foods they were inspired by every time they reunited.
Khan’s family relocated to Karachi during the “Great Migration” of Indian Muslims, which occurred in 1947 when the British Empire divided the Indian subcontinent into two separate nations. In comparison, Shaikh’s family is indigenous to the region, a connection that informs their shared love of food, not only as a culinary experience but also as a form of storytelling.
“We learn and grow alongside each other and explore these different cuisines, because the indigenous cuisine is so forgotten at this point, because of the Great Migration, and all of the movements that have taken place in Pakistan,” says Khan. “So, we’re trying to bring that back, and it was a major inspiration for this supper club.”
Together, Khan and Shaikh operate the catering company Cafe Mansheh, but, recently, they hosted two supper clubs for Ramadan. A friend initially approached Khan to cater the Ramadan event, but she felt strongly that she didn’t just want to drop off the food and leave. “I wanted to do an actual supper club where I could talk to people, and there’s a live kitchen and people get to see the process,” she says. “It turned out to be a very collaborative, immersive experience. People sitting at the table next to each other were able to make friends and build community as they left.”
Khan and Shaikh’s approach to food has a lot to do with challenging misconceptions by introducing flavours and cooking techniques that they feel are underrepresented in the North American culinary scene. “The South Asian food you get here is often a narrow representation of North Indian or Punjabi food,” says Khan. “Which is why I wanted to bring a diversity and share it with people.”
At the Ramadan supper club, they served an apple, fennel, dill salad using dried fennel that would be used in Pakistan. “I thought maybe they wouldn’t know what a fresh fennel salad could look like. And people were so pleasantly surprised, it was the first thing to run out on the table,” says Khan.
She and Shaikh intend to host more supper clubs, using local produce grown in Ontario. You can follow Cafe Mansheh on Instagram to look out for those events, and check out Khan’s personal page to see what experimental foods she’s cooking up.
