Elsworth Supper Club
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Another post, and it’s about another pop up series? Honestly, I’m shocked too.
This one is about Elsworth Supper Club, the new series from Justin (Elsworth) and Amelia McMillen—two friends of mine. Now you’re thinking, “Of course you’re going to write nice things about them! You’re friends!” False. I mean, I am going to write nice things about them, but it’s not because we’re friends. It’s because they’re very, very good at what they do. If I didn’t like it, I would just not writing anything at all and continuously lie to them and tell them that I was working on this post but that the words just weren’t coming because I had writer’s block. In time, they would either forget about it or I would just avoid them until they forgot about me.
Some background: Justin was a long-time chef at Sidney Street Cafe, followed by helping to open the 3 Michelin-starred Single Thread in Healdsburg, CA, then a grand return to St. Louis as Niche Group’s culinary director and now a similar role with Balkan Treat Box. Amelia has a similar background—she worked the front of house at Niche before moving to Single Thread, as well. She’s also a registered dietician, an incredible self-taught baker, and used to make the most incredible caramel apples under her Rebel Roots Caramel Apple Company. Everyone ask her to bring them back. Do it for me.
Anyway, as these two contemplate the idea of opening a restaurant, they had the brilliant idea of testing out concepts and recipes at their adorable house, using their awesome grill that I want to steal. More specifically, in the screened in garage-turned-dining room behind their home, which is much more cozy and beautiful than you are likely envisioning. If Amelia wasn’t involved, I’m sure it would just be dark and full of spiders—just like Justin’s hometown of Nabb, Indiana. Bless her heart.
The concept, more or less, is a combination of the family-style meals Justin had growing up combined with the refinement, techniques, and flavors of Japan that he gathered at Single Thread.
In the recent meals that I’ve attended, some of those dishes have included:
Chicken hearts with plum BBQ & sansho
Summer vegetables with malted potato and cured yolk
American Wagyu Steak with rhubarb, chanterelles
Tomato rice cooked in a traditional donabe
Broccoli salad with kumquat kosho and Missouri pecans
Milk bread + koji butter
Gooseberry pie with chamomile ice cream & genmaicha
Golden Sesame banana pudding
Each dinner seats 8-10 people and sells out quickly on their Instagram page, which I linked to earlier in this post. Each meal includes savory small bites, 3 plated courses, sweet small bites, and coffee service. It’s also openly BYOB and at both dinners I attended, people brought lots of wine and champagne to share with the whole group. I brought nothing, twice, because I am the worst. Still, people had to be nice to me because I had a camera and no one wants to be shamed on a food blog no one reads.
Similar to the last post, I don’t have much more to say. The food is great, the atmosphere was fun, and I’ve made some new friends through it. I even got invited to a dog’s birthday party. What more could you want?
