The underground movement of social dining forms Guestaurant’s roots. As passionate foodies and chefs we have held our own supper club like dinners (and still do). From this experience we began promoting what we call social food events to give that extra helping hand to event hosts that need it.

There are of course plenty of discourses surrounding how an event can be promoted when they are ‘underground’ (— this is an essay in itself). The bottom line is that there are plenty of hosts out there which need a bit of a helping hand to promote their events, which we know from personal experience. We have been told that this helping hand allows chefs to focus more time on their cuisine and event creativity. Yes there are slightly more subtle and more organic modes of communicating via their own channels and communities, but most of our hosts want us to help encourage new people out to their events. The purpose of this ‘movement’ being that these events help to facilitate a unique sense of environment, excitement of the unknown, connections with new people, and the ability to dine on food made by passionate chefs who are cooking to their own menu.


New to the social dining scene?:
Here are some examples to help guide you. Though many of the terms are used interchangeably, characteristics noted above are intrinsic to all.

Underground restaurant
Regular or irregular, often held in peoples’ homes or in venues such as secret warehouses or other secret spots. A great platform for younger chefs to cook to their own menu and experiment.

Example: Bootleg Banquet, in London, UK

Supper club
In the 1930s they were traditionally thought of as a “destination” where patrons would go to spend the whole evening, from cocktail hour to enjoying night club style entertainment after dinner.

Supper clubs now are usually either:

1)Held at restaurants as a special event, with an emphasis on social, a meal and entertainment
2)Regular dinner clubs at people’s houses, often affordable evenings

Pop-Up restaurant
A temporary restaurant serving more than one meal.

Ex. a pop-up restaurant in a park for 1 month, or at a music festival. Often a creative way to gain exposure without facing bankruptcy. Obtains licenses to operate in these often public areas.

Example: Pips Dish, London, UK puts on series of events at specific locations that are taken over for a set period of time.

Long-table dining
Less considered ‘underground’ and more of new trending term is long-table dining. Follows much of the same principles as the above.

Example: The Social Feed or Outstanding in the Field