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An avid entertainer and venture capitalist, Jacobs took to Google and Yelp earlier this year to find a chef \u201cwho could turn eating into an art\u201d for community gatherings at her house.<\/p>\n
The search led her to Chef Peter Calley, an Oregon transplant who taught cooking classes for Hipcooks in North Park before conducting private classes through his own company, Culinary Hedonism.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a list of five chefs starting with Peter. But I didn\u2019t even interview the four others because I saw within minutes Peter\u2019s artistic passion and devotion to food. He had the vision for a supper club and I had the space,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n
Calley then wowed Jacobs with a test dinner that included grilled rib eye with chimichurri and polenta.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a truly transformative meal,\u201d Jacobs recalled. \u201cThe flavors in everything blended together like a beautiful song, and he talked about the history of every course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Culinary Hedonism Supper Club quickly gained momentum, with each dinner soon selling out to 12 guests requesting a seat at the table via the website, culinaryhedonism.com<\/a>. The upcoming schedule currently extends through March, and includes a special New Year\u2019s Eve dinner and a New Year\u2019s Day brunch. Jacobs\u2019 address isn\u2019t disclosed until reservations are confirmed.<\/p>\n \u201cAudrey\u2019s house is gorgeous, and she has a history of entertaining,\u201d Calley said. \u201cBut what really did it for me was that she gave me complete control of the menus. It was a perfect storm.\u201d<\/p>\n Although if you\u2019re looking for commonplace dishes such as seared ahi, braised short ribs, trendy burgers, or vegetarian meals for that matter, you won\u2019t find them here.<\/p>\n With the assistance of his sous chef, Stephanie Corneil, and after scouring local farms and farmers markets for ingredients, Calley\u2019s dinners are typically eight courses and geared for adventurous omnivores. He doesn\u2019t reveal the menus until guests arrive.<\/p>\n On a recent afternoon leading up to a dinner, he was trimming lamb hearts in Jacobs\u2019 modest-size kitchen, preparing to marinate them in homemade Massaman curry. For another, he transformed wild boar meat into croquettes that were accented with Gruyere and Harissa aioli. Or for a course of roasted heirloom carrots, he graced them with rosemary-honey butter and smoked grapes. No one dish ever repeats.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever each course is served, there\u2019s a hush that comes over the group and a sense of reverence at what\u2019s being presented to them,\u201d said Jacobs, who sets her custom-made wood table for the dinners amid flowering birds of paradise, tall bamboo, Talavera pottery, and a fire pit where guests converge afterwards over s\u2019mores.<\/p>\n Jacobs is the social icebreaker at the dinner groupings, which are as diverse as Calley\u2019s menus. At the start of each meal, she asks attendees to share a favorite joke, poem, song or anecdote that reflects their personalities.<\/p>\n Doriot Lair, a nearby resident and retired musician who started San Diego\u2019s first all-female punk band in the late 1970s called The Dinettes, has attended the supper club three times. She initially learned about it on the social network app, Nextdoor.<\/p>\n \u201cI was immediately smitten with the whole idea because I\u2019m a foodie and all about meeting new people in the \u2018hood. And Peter\u2019s food is fabulous,\u201d she said, recalling in particular a meal he presented celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which featured \u201clots of Middle Eastern-type dishes with seasonal vegetables and beautiful sauces.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennifer Leigh, a law enforcement officer and two-time guest, most recently attended Calley\u2019s Asian-themed dinner in December. Among the standouts was an open-face banh mi sandwich of hors d\u2019oeuvre size on homemade French bread with pate, five-spice crispy duck breast and pickled black radish.<\/p>\n \u201cI could have happily eaten a full serving of it. I\u2019ve loved everything across the board at both dinners. They overwhelmed my senses in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n David Barach concurs. As a turnaround CEO for startup companies, he also has attended two of the dinners, noting that they don\u2019t compare to dining out in restaurants.<\/p>\n \u201cThe setting and the company were lovely, but more so the chef was very creative in mixing pungent, spicy, sweet and salty flavors into his cooking.\u201d<\/p>\n Calley firmly believes that keeping the number of dinner guests to 12 attributes to smooth-flowing conversations. \u201cPeople feel they\u2019re part of a group, while at the same time, when one person speaks, everyone can listen.\u201d<\/p>\n To his relief and surprise, the dinner gatherings have so far been void of political discussions, with the exception of a guest visiting from Italy who raised the subject at a dinner held the day after last month\u2019s presidential election.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other guests shut down the discussion pretty quickly. Other than that, everyone has been courteous and respectful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Alcohol isn\u2019t served at the dinners, although attendees are permitted to bring beer, wine and spirits, which are oftentimes shared among the group. In addition, Calley doesn\u2019t accommodate those with dietary restrictions, but makes exceptions for guests with food allergies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe name \u2018Culinary Hedonism\u2019 refers to indulging in all food without any sort of restriction and without holding back on the quality,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n In keeping with supper-club tradition, set prices are not attached to the dinners, although guests are expected to make donations at the end of each meal, which typically range between $85 and $150 per person.<\/p>\n For upcoming supper-club dates and reservations, visit culinaryhedonism.com<\/a> or email Calley directly at peter@culinaryhedonism.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Audrey](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Audrey-Jacobs1-300x225.jpg\")
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