Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Make money cooking – start a supper club
Reading Time: 7 minutesAre you a foodie looking for a way to make a bit of extra cash on the side? Do you like meeting new people?
Well, the good news is there are many ways to turn your favourite hobby into a thriving business! One of the most exciting to pop up onto our radar recently, is to start a supper club of your own.
With their roots in the cabaret culture of the 1930s and ’40s, supper clubs are experiencing a revival as affordable alternatives to fancy restaurants and opportunities for diners to connect more authentically.
Read on for the MoneyMagpie guide to starting your own supper club from home.
What is a supper club?
Basically, a supper club – also know as an underground- or secret restaurant – is an eatery that you set up in your home.
You cook for as many guests as arrive and, traditionally, they leave you a ‘suggested donation’ to cover your costs and – maybe – make a bit of money. It’s a bit like Come Dine with Me on a larger scale, but without the film crew or sarcastic voiceover.
If you haven’t come across them before, there’s a clue in the name – they’re ‘secret’ and ‘underground’.
This is partly because supper clubs started off as a cheap way to dine out in the recession, but also because there are a number of rules and technicalities around commercial food preparation in a domestic kitchen, which supper clubs help you bypass.
What are the rules?
The rules are – in short – rather complicated, all hinging on how long you’re running your supper club for and whether it’s casual or formal.
Should I register my supper club?
The law says that you don’t need to register as a ‘food premises’ if you run your business for less than five days in five consecutive weeks.
So, if you throw four supper club evenings over a period of two months, you don’t need to register with your local council.
If, however, you are hosting two supper club nights a week you should get in touch with your local council to ask for a food premises registration form.
Registering your kitchen is free so there’s no reason to not do it!
Registration process
Should you have to register, you’ll need to fill in a short form giving the following details:
- the business’ name
- where it is registered
- the name of the proprietor and manager
- what your business handles.
Some people don’t register their food business because they don’t know they have to, they think they can ‘do it later’ or actively decide that registering would spoil the underground, ‘edgy’ feel of the restaurant in their living room.
Some secret supper club restaurateurs get around the problem by telling guests to burst into a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ should they receive an unexpected visit from food safety officers.
While this definitely evokes the excitement of a 1920s speakeasy, here at MoneyMagpie we advise you to rather register if you are required to.
If in doubt, always check. Better safe than sorry!
Whether you need to register your supper club or not, visit the Food Standards Agency website for useful tips and information. They’ve got links to different Food Safety Acts as well as a downloadable guide to starting up a food business.
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How to Start a Supper club
Up until now, the supper club business has been, well, secretive. And in many cases it still remains this way.
Individual front room restaurateurs typically publicise their undertakings through personal websites, social media sites -like Facebook and Twitter – and, of course, word-of-mouth. They normally take bookings over over email and payment (or ‘donations’) can either be made on the night or through websites using a secure system.
If you like organising your own business from start to finish, this is still a perfectly good method of setting up a supper club.
Food sharing websites
However, if you’re feeling a little unsure about all the admin related to dedicated websites, social media presences and payment systems, you may want to test the waters by using a ‘food sharing’ site to start off with:
Here are a few popular options:
- EatWith – a website offering users an easy way to access the underground food scene and connect with creative, open-minded and interesting people.
- BonAppetour – a community marketplace that connects travellers with local home chefs for a unique home-dining experience, anywhere around the world.
- VizEat – also geared specifically toward travellers, the site helps foodies share a meal or experience a cooking class with a local host.
- Feastly – a home for unique dining events with chefs who possess exceptional culinary talents – whether they’re a great home cook or Michelin starred. The site has not launched in the UK yet, but it’s worth keeping an eye on for the future.
How much could I make?
It really depends.
Established secret supper clubs can charge between £30 and £50 a head, while well-known chefs could charge even more.
A good example of this is chef Nuno Mendez’s The Loft Project. Between June 2009 and October 2011, Mendez opened his East London apartment to diners, charging £100 per head for a 12 course tasting menu.
Generally speaking, however, you’ll have to take the following into account:
- How many people are coming: obviously, the more people you’re catering for, the more money you can make.
- What you’re cooking: will you serve a set meal or will there be options for guests to pick from? Is wine included? Remember that vegetarian and vegan dishes are usually cheaper than a prime steak centre piece.
- Your unique selling point: are you famous for your adventurous dishes and unique cooking style? Or is your traditional fare the talk of the town? Some restaurateurs offer themed nights, while others pride themselves on an entirely organic, responsibly-sourced menu. Whatever you offer that no-one else can, make the most of it to get people talking!
- How good you are: simple but true. People will come back for seconds, thirds and beyond if you’re a good cook. If you’re a professional chef, this might not be such a big factor. If, however, you’re an enthusiastic amateur it’s a good idea to start off with something tried and tested. Remember those cookery shows where simple but good food wins out over experimental dishes. This is especially important if you’re working on a ‘donations’ basis where people pay what they think the meal is worth.
- Your profit margin – this is the bit that many keen cooks forget. It’s one thing to provide fabulous meals in a great setting but if you spend all the money on the food and accessories you will have no profit and it just becomes a hobby rather than a business. Be careful what you spend on and how large your portions are. If necessary, go and see some restaurateurs (ideally not in your area – don’t let them know you’re competition) and ask them how they make their money.
So, making money from your supper club depends largely on what you make of it and how businesslike you are.
On a small scale, it’s unlikely to make you a fortune but could be a good way of meeting people while making a little extra cash. If you’re more dedicated however, you could be onto a good earner.
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Case study: The Secret Supper Society
For further inspiration, we popped a few questions off to Jules Thomas from The Secret Supper Society in north Oxfordshire about her experiences of starting and running her own supper club.
This is what she had to say:
1. How often do you host the The Secret Supper Society?
I host the Secret Supper Society most Fridays and we occasionally host private parties on Saturday.
2. How did you come up with the idea?
I came up with idea in 2009 while googling a recipe, actually. Instead of finding the recipe, I stumbled upon the story of a New Yorker who hosted dinner parties in his loft apartment for paying customers. At the time there were only two known supper clubs in the UK – a couple in London and one in Wales.
3. When did you start? What were the main challenges you faced at the beginning?
I started in 2009 and, because it was a new concept, I don’t feel I faced many challenges. Over time, I’ve had to put a lot of effort into educating people about what a home restaurant is and making sure I fill each event.
4. How many people can you host per event?
An average night is 16 guests on 4 – 5 tables. Or up to 24 on private party nights where I can fit two tables of 12.
5. How much do you charge on average?
I’ve always had a set price and held out as long as possible before putting my prices up this summer, as the cost of ingredients has increased.
I pride myself on using excellent produce, which isn’t the cheapest, but I know my guests appreciate and notice. We currently charge £47 for 5 courses, including nibbles to start and chocolate, tea and coffee to end.
The guests bring their own wine and we don’t charge corkage. Most of our guests leave between £50 and £55, giving staff a lovely tip to.
6. How long does it take to prepare for each event?
Preparing for each event really is a labour of love, since I make everything from scratch. This all takes time.
If I host two events on a weekend, I spend at least 40 hours (spread over the week). But you could do it in a lot less time, if you weren’t doing ‘high end’ food. There are other supper clubs who do a much simpler offering.
7. What tips do you have for anyone who might want to start a supper club of their own?
I would suggest starting with friends and then it’s all word of mouth a social media from there.
Cook in the style you are most comfortable with and remember front-of-house is just as important as the food. Guests come for a new experience and may be nervous, so it’s up to us to help relax them.
Useful links
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Hi thank you for this. I have been planning on starting a supper club but been so skeptical and agitated on how it is going to be but reading this is giving a lot of hope to start. it is going to be an introduction into African cuisine as we have none where i live and it will be nice to get the foodies along with my culture food. i hope it is welcome well.
I find it cool that you suggested that a person who likes cooking can set up a supper club in their own home so that they can earn money on the side. Aside from that, one can also consider investing in an online ordering system when putting up this kind of business. Doing this will help a business owner prepare the ingredients and the dish in advance in order to have free time to keep the restaurant clean and organized.
Great tips for starting a supper club.
I am setting up a supper club in Exmoor, Devon. I ran a pub for 16 years with my husband and I was the chef. I now live with my son (my husband died last year), if I register the business will I have to pay business rates etc and then would that open a whole can of worms i.e. change of use blah, blah, blah. Really need some advice, many thanks.
This is not true. There is no law to exempt supperclubs from registering as food businesses, where did you find this? It used to be the case but law changed 2006. Any supperclubs not registered are operating illegally.
My wife and I live near Bodmin and are keen to give this a go, my wife is an excellent cook and we have some catering experience having retired after twenty years running our own small hotel/guesthouse. How do we publicise a supper club, are there any sites we can check out/ link with?
Cheers, Jeremy.
I run a small B&B in Falmouth and last year ran a few supper clubs. I’m not a chef, but I love cooking and my friends and family enjoy my food. This is why I was keen to give the supper club idea a go. It’s absolutely terrifying at first, but at the end of the evening when people make such kind comments about your food it’s really worth while. I’m about to set out a few menu’s for the coming few months while the B&B is quieter so hope to run a few more. I would love it if… Read more »
We’re so pleased you’ve given this a go, and it’s great to hear of your success with it. The Moneymagpies think this is such a great idea, in fact we’re thinking of running our own from Magpie HQ!
Hi I think this is a great idea 🙂
I am in Redruth, but am able to travel all over the county.
Let me know if you are planning anymore Supperclubs 🙂
Thanks
Claire
Hummm. Interesting.
I’ve been vaguely thinking of doing something like this – on a much smaller scale – as a fund-raiser for a local club and for a charity.
It has given me some ideas, and “Food for Thought” about what might be involved.