Chef Nicole’s Secret Supper Club

I’ve been hearing about pop-​up dinners for a few years now, and Dallas has been just starting a little scene of its own. I’m all about people cooking for me, but it’s even better when I know it’s going to be good, I don’t have to clean up, AND there’s an air of mystery surrounding it.
I scored an invite from a friend to Chef Nicole’s Secret Supper club last week that was taking place at My Private Chef in Deep Ellum. It’s BYOB, and we were told in advance the types of beer and wine to pair with the meal (for this one, since citrus is in season, hefeweizen, sauvignon blanc, etc,) so it took that stress off of me.
We got there and the place was decked out with about 8 tables, candles, and two servers who took our booze and iced it down promptly. After we chatted a bit, we all sat and started our meal (which we were promised «mystery meal, not mystery food»). We were lucky enough to sit with Ali from Scardello Cheese who would be presenting the cheese course. I explained all the cheeses I loved and hated, and she said, «keep an open mind».
Chef Nicole seems to really put a lot into locally sourced items, so a bunch of it was from farms and purveyors around town. As each course starts, she comes out and explains what we’re eating, how it was prepared, and where it came from. I love that! She’s cooked at Nana and Bolsa, and the food itself was really good all in all, but a few things really stood out for me. First was the salad. Ok, so it’s simple, but it had local feta cheese in it that was so flavorful that it made me want to go home and throw out all the crap I bought at Tom Thumb. The entrée was a simply prepared chicken leg and thigh that was SO juicy and on top of homemade handrolled pasta with a sauce of white wine, roasted acorn squash, with broccoli and beet gastrique. Here’s the thing: my husband HATES beets. And he licked. the. bowl.
Cheese course: Come on. It’s Scardello. It’s amazing. 3 cheeses that I professed to not like were gone in seconds, as my fingers almost were from trying to take my dinner-​mates off of their plates. There was one that was rubbed with tea and oil. I just can’t stop thinking about this stuff. CHEESE!
And onto my favorite: Dessert. Coriander Orange Buckle with… FROOT LOOP WHIPPED CREAM. Yes. That’s what it was. And it was moist (i hate that word) and gorgeous and perfect.
I can’t wait to go back. I hope she stays secret for a little while longer so I can get a table, but seeing that every chair was full last week, I don’t know how much longer I can wait.

When I heard about these underground dinners with Chef DAT, via D Magazine, I was very intrigued. I ended up on Chef Nicole’s email list after digging around on Facebook. I believe she hosts these mystery dinners every Saturday at this location. You RSVP ahead of time and let her know if you have any food allergies. She buys everything local. The cost was $ 60 not including gratuity. It’s also BYOB.
We arrived right at 7:30, and were the first people there. There was a long table set up so we sat on one end. We were greeted by two hostesses like people that were very nice. One of them opened my wine and kept my glass full through the entire night.
The meal was 7 courses that started with an amuse bouche, then a salad, then a sorbet palate cleanser. That was follwed by the main course, brisket, then a cheese plate from Scardello, then a smores dessert and lastly some pears with a champagne drink.
We literally didn’t know what we would be eating until the plates came out. Then Chef Nicole would talk about each of them. We had a special treat with the Scardello cheese because someone from Scardello paired them for us and talked about each of them.
This was by far one of the more fun things I have done in a long time. We happened to sit next to a really interesting family so it was fun chatting with them. People were really creative with their drinks too. I never would have thought to bring whiskey and ginger ale in. Super jealous.
Some of the food was better than others. We were all kind of bummed over the brisket, because it was really tough, and I wasn’t too crazy over dessert.
Overall I thought it was money well spent. It was a fun three hour adventure.