Secret Suppers

While I'm not really supportive of the movement (there are, after all, good reasons for restaurants to be licensed and obey zoning laws, etc.), I'd like to bring to your attention a new book about the underground dining phenomenon that's spreading across the country. It's titled, Secret Suppers, by Jen Garbee. (Full disclosure: I attended an underground dinner as a guest of the publisher of this book last Spring while attending our industry's annual trade show in Los Angeles. The dinner was memorable not only for the excellent food and wine, but also the magnificent hillside garden setting and the hospitality of our hosts.) While I would have preferred a more colorful presentation rather than the black-and-white, "underground" design of the book, in Secret Suppers, Garbee gives a sampling, with recipes, of the many different kinds of dining experiences created by these outlaw chefs.