“Supper Club is supposed to be an experience where everyone can come together, try some new things, meet some new people and have it be a safe space,” says chef Jen Anderson, founder of Supper Club in Greenville.
At Supper Club, held monthly on the last Tuesday at Sum Bar, there’s assigned seating at a long central table, and it’s likely those seated together haven’t ever met. Whatever initial hesitation or shyness exists about making small talk with strangers for the next two hours melts away with the welcome cocktail. Then a family-style first course–whipped butter, freshly baked bread. Discussion follows about whether or not it’s rude to eat the butter with a spoon. Few crumbs remain. By the fourth course and second or third cocktail, social media handles are exchanged, and goodbye includes “See you next time!”
Anderson’s Supper Club and Paris Mountain Supper Club, led by longtime industry member Andy Hendrix and held monthly at Chicora Alley Travelers Rest, began earlier this year in response to voids they both identified within Greenville’s restaurant scene and the community.
The format is similar to supper clubs popping up around the country: strangers seated together for the common purpose of enjoying great food, in an atmosphere that feels special, like an occasion worth dressing up for—but without the social expectation to do so.
For Hendrix and his cohorts, many of whom are also service industry lifers, they were looking for a way to bring the joy back to their chosen profession—to make the dishes and drinks they want to make, give guests a dining experience they couldn’t have elsewhere, and have fun while doing it all.
“I don’t want to do the admin. I just want to cook,” says chef Ryan Miller, popping out from the kitchen between courses during Paris Mountain’s September dinner.
Greenville Supper Clubs Invites
Once a month, Anderson sends out a newsletter with musings about the upcoming Supper Club’s inspiration. The reward for reading to the end is the four-course menu and ticket link to reserve a seat. Hendrix posts Paris Mountain’s upcoming dinner on social media. Both settle on a theme that informs the menu and helps drive ticket sales.
The two bring different perspectives to guests and offer different experiences that complement rather than compete. While Anderson’s June dinner featured a classical cellist performing pieces with each course and fresh clippings from local gardens arranged down the table center, Hendrix and team dove into eight courses of dive bar classics. September’s Italian theme at Supper Club contrasted with Paris Mountain’s Latin Heritage dinner, which also featured chef Diego Campos of CAMP.
“What’s been really fun about it for me is the ability to have control over the aesthetics of the dinner,” Anderson says. “There are so many really talented chefs in the area, and they do dinners with their wonderful food, but it feels like there’s something lacking. I want it to feel like more of an experience beyond the food on a plate.”
One aspect of both, regardless of theme and the various staff working at each, is the uniqueness of each dinner.
“There’s going to be food and drinks, but I want there to be a feeling that you’re experiencing something you’re not going to experience again,” Anderson says.
Hendrix and Anderson also express an interest in potentially turning the pop-ups into more permanent restaurants, but not at the risk of sacrificing the elements that make a supper club format enjoyable for them, their staff, and guests.
“I understand that if I make that decision, that is going to become my entire life. I don’t want to rush into anything,” Anderson says.
Find out more at parismountainsupperclub.com or @SupperClubGVL.
