You may have read our blog The Secret Garden: Underground Food Markets back in April, and we are back this month with some top-secret underground supper clubs to share.

Would you be surprised to find that secret supper clubs are not all about the food? While some may brush off private clubs like The Rabbit Hole in Chicago as purely a posh foodie wonderland where you can’t get in unless you know the right people, Bay Area chefs are returning the speakeasy restaurant to its roots and going guerrilla.

Here it’s not so much about the elite few who have the right connections to partake, but a “locale driven dining experience” that considers bringing people together for great food, art and music in constantly changing venues its primary focus.  Some even make sure a portion of all proceeds go to charity, like graffEats Guerrilla Dining – “A Charitable Nomadic Restaurant.” In fact, nomadic, sustainable and local seem to be the primary themes for most of the guerrilla restaurants in the Bay Area, like Radio Africa & Kitchen, a nomadic restaurant inspired by “old world recipes of Mediterranean and Red Sea countries.” Ready to see what all the hype is about? graffEats, Radio Africa & Kitchen and Canvas Underground all join forces for an all-star six-course meal paired with Phelps Creek wine on Wednesday, May 26th. Reserve your place at http://bit.ly/battlechef. All three underground supper clubs are also a part of The Ghet, a dinner party network that provides an online community for nomadic food adventurers to connect in cities around the world.

The phenomenon has clearly spread – take Clandestino, in Chicago, for example. Founder Efrain Cuevas first learned of the idea in San Francisco and took it back to his hometown of Chicago to create a wandering restaurant that releases him from the limitations of a traditional restaurant. Cuevas is all about sharing the food experiences, making it a great learning environment with volunteers helping out in the kitchen and in the front of the house. Clandestino is one of the more open underground supper clubs in Chicago, but dinners sell out quickly so you might want to subscribe to their mailing list for exclusive invitations. Bon appétit!