Failure is Not An Option (Part One)

Failure is not an option for your supper club. Or at least it shouldn’t be. In talking with people about supper clubs I often hear that: “We used to have a great supper club, but… “. Following is a list of the top five reasons (tomorrow’s blog will outline another 5) a supper club fails and some fixes to avoid them:

Fixes to Supper Club failures

Loss of interest

The fix is involvement and variety. Talking with those that are losing interest and getting their input is a great way to renew commitment. Make changes or maybe partial changes to add variety. When people feel that their ideas are being heard they take ownership and reengage

Too much work

Quite often you will hear that hosting a dinner party is too much work and not a priority. This might be an opportunity to insert a “low work option”. In Impromptu Friday Nights we outline what I call a “I don’t cook but I know where to buy” option. This is a club where everything is bought via takeout or at a market. Make it easy.

Scheduling conflicts

Everyone is busy and has conflicting interests. It becomes a real pain if you or other club members can’t make a dinner party. Finding substitutes can be a nightmare. One very easy solution can be having a dinner party on a night other than Saturday. We have had club meetings on Friday and Sunday nights and folks were generally more available.

People move

A big challenge when you have clubs where people are career centric is that people will move quite often to further their careers. This really becomes a challenge when key people in the club move. The answer to this challenge is to be constantly encouraging new members. Talk up your club with friends and acquaintances. Encourage people to become subs to have them find out how much fun it is

Personality conflicts

It is human nature for people to not get along. It just happens. We have been in clubs where folks have had major differences. The easy solution is to schedule your way around conflicts. If you know Harry and Sally have a problem with Joe and Kathy keep them apart. Keep it simple.

When things look really bad and you need to pull in the heavy artillery to save your supper club you can always serve the Spiced Chocolate Mousse.This will make everyone happy and save the day. I hope!

Check out the recipe

Tomorrow’s blog will go through another five challenges and outline fixes. Just remember:

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!

If you enjoy this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and be on the look out for my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs due out from Morgan James Publishing on January 30, 2018.

Cooking Can Be Dangerous

Cooking for supper clubs dinner parties doesn’t need to be dangerous, but can be. Grilling and sautéing can be problematic. The real cooking risk involves frying with hot oil.

The classic story involves a buddy of mine that tried to fry a turkey for Thanksgiving. My buddy is a great guy, but he:

Is not a cook
Lacks a certain level of common sense

In his defense, Thanksgiving is the leading day for home fires involving cooking equipment with three times the average number. It does get a little hard to explain why he thought you have to get the oil to boil to cook a turkey. Turkey should be fried at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil will have to be over 570 degrees to boil. It is real lucky that my friend didn’t kill himself when he put the turkey into the overheated oil.

The good news is that no one got hurt. The bad news is that oil boiled over and caught on fire. He quickly called the fire department and they arrived to minimize the damage. As the firemen were extinguishing the fire one of them noticed that my pyromaniac friend was coincidently wearing a tee shirt that said CHICAGO FIRE DEPARTMENT. When my buddy saw the fireman giving his tee shirt a quizzical look, he told him “It was a gift”. To which the fireman responded: “I guessed”.

Check out this YouTube video to see what can go wrong:

The other side of this story is that we have been using the turkey fryer with 8-inch by 20-inch fry pot to make French fries for over 20 years and I have never had a problem. You just need to be careful with oil temperature and lowering the fries in slowly to make sure the oil doesn’t boil over the pot

Check out the recipe:

The moral of this story is that if you are going to use an open-flamed fryer, you have to be careful

Summer In A Bottle

Talk about inspiration for a supper club menu. You have to love great marketing. When looking for ideas to build a supper club theme around, there is nothing better than a great marketing idea.

Wolffer Estate is a vineyard in Sagaponack New York. You can question the quality of their wines, but you can’t question the quality of their advertising. The whole concept of “Summer In A Bottle” just exudes good times. A Rose wine isn’t normally my first choice, but with that type of marketing, I will buy a bottle or five.

Speaking of great advertising. I love the old Schwab ad that talks about retirement advice and advisors that recommend owning a vineyard. The classic line is: “A vineyard? give me a break”.

Schwab ad:

Every time I visit a vineyard in the Hamptons I think of this ad. They are great places to spend a summer afternoon, but the wines will not, get you 3 stars in the Michelin guide. They also define the expression “more money than sense”. The owners are not making money; they are investing in a passion.

I once had lunch with a well-known wine maker at a boutique vineyard in the Napa valley. We were talking about the proliferation of vineyards in the valley and I asked if they made money. He gave me a quizzical look and said: “Not really, only the big guys make money, with most of the vineyards it is more about the passion for wine making”. If vineyards in Napa that make really great wines aren’t making money, there is no way the vineyards in the Hamptons come close to being profitable, unless they have great marketing.

A great way to kick off a “Summer” supper club menu is with a seafood spread appetizer.

Check out the recipe

If you have a food processor and a few simple ingredients, there is no easier way to make a quick first course. I have a confession to make. You can even use leftover grilled fish to make this recipe. You will probably feel guilty when you get complemented on the spread knowing that you used leftovers, but you will get over it.

Inspiration for supper club menus (and/or blogs) can come from anywhere, but “Summer in a Bottle” is a great one.