I went to eat at home of a total stranger.
Nowadays, we hear everywhere that food is not enough, people look for experience, I guess a side effect of the "liquid society" syndrome.
The first time I went to Ma Hidden Kitchen Supper Club, this is what Melissa stated: “Tonight is more about experience than food.”
Some of you may wonder what is a supper club though…
MHKSC has for objective to organize social dinners. That is to say, people go to Melissa & Lele’s house to enjoy homemade food with people they don’t know. This is a good way to meet new people and have a non conventionnal evening.
The process to access this unique experience is a bit surprising if you’re not used to hidden eateries (i.e. secret restaurants) or home restaurants.
Recently a few articles have been issued on the topic but the info came to me one day by word of mouth.
The first step is to register to the community. As soon as you register, you get access to all the events details via e-mails communication. Price and menu are communicated in a monthly issued mail.
When I received the first mail, I checked my agenda and decided to opt for a French night sponsored by Veuve Cliquot (I guess because life is much funnier with bubbles…).
As soon as I sent my chosen date, I got a reply telling me my booking was confirmed. If I had sent my mail a couple of hours later, I would not have been able to get a seat.
Why ?
Because each dinner is made of an average of 12 table mates and the mail invite is sent to thousands of registered persons; so the first one replying, is the first one served. It has a kind of exhilarating effect the first time you do it, a bit like buying a ticket for a semi-final of champions league, you have to be super connected if you don’t want to miss it. A guy told me once he had to try 4 times before getting a booking confirmation, each time he was seeing the mail too late.
The secret location is revealed when you get your booking confirmation. MHKSC is located in the “movida” area of Milan, in a wonderful brooklyn style loft: red bricks wall, vintage furniture.
The first time I went there, I had no idea what to expect, but being in this cosy warm "nest" helped to relax. We started with a drink and an explanation about the dinner steps. This is the time you introduce yourself to the others.
You may wonder who go there. Well actually, the 2 times I’ve been there, everyone was different, you can’t build a type, except everyone has in common a certain curiosity to experiment this at least once.
After the introduction drink, we went to sit to a big social table. The aperitivo kind of help you to decide where to seat, if no affinities have been created yet, you just pick a seat randomly. The table being big, you will talk only to the people the closest from you, do not expect to speak with all.
After the meal, we concluded with a game of football table.
I had the feeling time has been flying, and I even exchanged some contact details at the end of the evening!
This was a weird / strange experience, nice, even if I did not feel in my comfort zone.
They organize private dinners, musics events and cooking lessons as well !
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