Secret Dining in San Francisco

Although they are breaking restaurant conventions and Health Code regulations, "Secret Cafes", nomadic kitchens with migratory cooks, are popping up all over the place, including in San Francisco. Traditional restaurant culture isn't in jeopardy, but at least people are embracing the occasional breath of fresh air. At secret cafes, chefs can break free from a constraining menu and diners can engage with each other. What makes these hidden hotspots popular is that they combine an intimate potluck with a refined private bohemian club without the risk of a guest bringing a dud dish or a fixed location that attracts hordes of scenester lemmings. Best of all, is the ever-tantalizing hint of exclusivity and ego-petting for the participants. The result is a super supper experience that challenges the dining status quo.

Most commonly secret cafes take place in voluntary venues such as art spaces, studios, lofts, apartments, or houses, although there are some chefs have fixed locations. When the dinner takes place in a restaurant, the host typically relinquishes the kitchen to the visiting chef and their support staff that helps prepare food and the dining room(s). Guest lists can include as many as 50 people and are a mixture of friends, fans, and diners who found out about the cafe through word of mouth. It varies according to the host, but the patrons of secret cafes seem to be predominantly in their late 20's and 30's. They are loosely "hipsters" in that they are into trying new things, open, and stylish. Depending on the hosting chef, the support staff acts as guest list managers, coat checkers, and servers. After the dinner, it is not uncommon for there to be some typed of artsy or musical entertainment. This is both for experiential and logistical reasons, as in the event of a bust the gathering can be qualified as a show.

For a secret café dinner expect to pay anywhere from $20-$50. Before you balk, consider that the ingredients for the meal are not being bought in bulk restaurant style. This is reflected in menus that typically tour local, seasonal produce and meats. Dinners at secret cafes often entail multiple courses, sometimes up to 11. Check with the organizer for details, but generally the policy is BYOB, or BYOW ("Bring Your Own Wine"), or BYO40.

A Menu
For a better idea, check out this menu from a recent 7 course "cafe" meal in a Mission apartment on South Van Ness. At the time it looked like a confused list of rural Italian towns and excerpts from a Shel Silverstein poem, but the execution was much smoother than the pronunciation:

1. sweet corn-saffron elixir
2. quinoa, incan berries, coriander
3. shelling beans, torpedo onion, corno di toro peppers, pimenton, porcini
4. roasted crooknecks, rapinis, wild rice
early girl-aubergine-filbert puree
5. gobo, maitake, seaveg, lotus root chip
yuzu-miso-ume-shiso dressing
6.heirloom tomato, lemon cucumber, avocado, basil, cresses, queso de cabra
montenebro, argan-kumquat vinagrette
7.kadota fig, july red nectarine, sharlyn melon, young coconut kanten, puffed
rice, aduki, blueberry

Some of The Mavericks
There are many other underground enthusiasts in the Bay Area, some of which we've decided not to drop. Keep your eyes open and ears to the ground and you'll be able to get in.

Ghetto Gourmet: Probably the most well-known guerilla outfit and the group operating closest to the surface, servicing the Bay and beyond.

Eskander: wandering chef of the East Bay. He is known for Radio Africa, and is essentially an online ghost. Check a clip at this Yelp! posting

Wendy Van Wagner: She began hosting potlucks and offering cooking classes out of her Mission apartment. Now living in Nevada City, she will open a kitchen and school in April. She is in the city often, and just hosted a secret café last month.

James: Visit his website to learn of events or book your house as the location of a private dinner party.

The Dissident Chef: It's best to just visit this "Pirate's" site.