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The Brooklyn Paper / Graham Letorney

Club house: The last meeting of the Brooklyn Food Group drew 22 guests, above, with homemade dishes like seared tuna with capers and shiitake crisps, below.

The Brooklyn Paper / Graham Letorney

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There’s a hot new place to eat in Brooklyn — but good luck finding it.

On June 9, I joined 21 other “members” of the Brooklyn Food Group, a self-described “roving supper club” for a dinner in Carroll Gardens. This was the second of these underground dinners sponsored by two recent Brown University graduates and self-taught chefs: Ben, who came up with the idea for the group and develops the savory side of the menu, and Molly, who makes the bread and desserts. (Both asked that their last names not be used.)

“We wanted the club to be more than a restaurant,” Molly said. “We wanted to have a community for people to meet and enjoy food at the same time.”

Working from home, I know what it’s like to crave human contact. That sense of loneliness is one reason supper clubs are sprouting up around Brooklyn like fiddlehead ferns in the spring. The idea of joining a table of people and sharing a meal is about as primal a need as one has, and is one that sometimes isn’t met in a restaurant.

The other reason for the supper club’s popularity, and I expect this will elicit some guffaws: restaurant ennui. Yes, with so many wonderful places to eat, there is so much to complain about: big bistros are too trendy and even intimate cafes can blur into one-more-small-plate sameness.

That evening, the dinner took place in one of Ben and Molly’s friend’s Smith Street apartment, however in keeping with the roving supper club theme, the venue changes with each meal. The setting for the event was distinctly post-college — the small kitchen was even sectioned off with sheets.

Molly described the members of the club — “members” being anyone who attends a dinner — as “people in the creative arts. Many with underground culinary interests looking for adventures outside the restaurant world.” This was apparent in the mix of Brown University pals, parents and guests who had read about the evenings on Web sites and in magazines. The diners made tentative, getting-to-know-you dinner conversation while they sipped the evening’s drink, apricot-basil white wine sangria.

Two tables were set up for the diners. The menus, which were printed with the name of each guest, served as place markers. One group gathered in what I assumed was the living room; I sat at the other table, in a space so small it left only inches from the seats to the wall to maneuver in. This was a friendly group, people wanted to get to know one another and they did, as the dinner progressed and the wine poured freely. (Except for the sangria, booze was strictly bring your own).

The meal was a labor-intensive, highly ambitious five-courses. “Our emphasis,” Molly explained, “is on seasonal ingredients that we find in the farmers’ markets. We see what’s fresh and we base the food on that.”

Considering the size of the kitchen and the size of party they cooked for, the meal was surprisingly well-paced with few lags between courses. There were a few clunkers — dry cornbread, an overly fussy lamb dish with too much “strawberry-cardamom compote” — but they were the exception.

The dinner’s highlights were fried green tomato slices in a light batter with a tangy orange aioli, and goat cheese fritters with a delicately sweet peach soup. “Green tomatoes looked great at the market, so I made up that dish,” said Ben.

The fish course was the best. Meaty, rich slices of rare seared tuna played off a tart yogurt sauce enhanced with saline capers, while “shiitake crisps” (quickly fried slivers of the mushroom) lent an earthiness to the dish.

It was the perfect set-up to the ideal finish: ramekins of peach or blueberry pie paired with delectable creme fraiche and cinnamon ice cream.

The cost to attend a Brooklyn Food Group dinner is $40. The fee is on the low side for supper clubs, some of which charge upwards of $75. “The cost barely covers our expenses,” Ben said. “We’re not in it to make money. We think of it as a club for people who share our interests.”

Did the dinner sate the need for a convivial group and good food? It did for me. A supper club may be novel, or retro-novel. But what isn’t new is the desire for good company and an intriguing meal.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper