St. Louis is currently home to three underground restaurant groups....on December 13, that number will change to four.
Jenny Vergara, founder of The Test Kitchen in Kansas City, has teamed up with local beverage aficianado Chad George of Proof Academy to introduce cross-staters to a higher-end version of the concept. Like prior local UR events, they will be held approximately once a month (in a venue announced just prior to the event itself), and offer a 5- 7 course menu to a small number of guests for a fixed donation amount.
Unlike other local UR dinners, though, The Test Kitchen will showcase a different chef each month (sometimes two), encouraging them to push boundaries and to experiment with items that may be too obscure or offbeat to try and do on a regular basis--in that aspect, it really is a test. And it will be more exclusive than traditional UR dinners: the price is higher ($100+ pp, as opposed to $65-75), the guest count is lower (in this case 20-25 guests, seated at one long table), and the attendees are determined by lottery (rather than on a just-request-a-seat basis).
Another difference: Test Kitchen events will be held on Sundays and Mondays, chefs' traditional nights off (for those chefs lucky enough to get a night off). Scheduling a non-prime-time event opens the door to interesting locations, from closed restaurants to art galleries to otherwise hard-to-secure private party venues.
Vergara started The Test Kitchen 2+ years ago. There's now has an offshoot in Tulsa, with both Oklahoma City and St. Louis salted for December. Vergara is no stranger to the food business, penning for Tastebud Magazine as well as her blog, makingafoodie.com. George will open the local back doors and arrange not only The Test Kitchen's amped up wine pairings, but themed, pre-event cocktail hours as well.
The first local UR event, Entre, was held in a bungalow in Maplewood in August of 2008 by a guy then known only as The Clandestine Chef. Since then, Chef John Perkins has become much less clandestine. He now operates a catering company, Events by Entre, in addition to continuing his once a month underground dinners.
The other two UR groups currently operating in the area are the Rogue Underground Dining Society Event (RUDSE) and Demitasse (demitasseunderground@gmail.com), an excellent variation on the theme. Relish has tried to keep abreast of their goings-on (here and here) and will do the same with The Test Kitchen.
To register for the lottery draw for The Test Kitchen's inaugural dinner on December 13, do so here. Do you feel lucky today, punk? Well, do ya?
