Le Supper Club

A Restaurant-Hopping Social Group Helps
Montreal's Newcomers Build a Circle of Friends

Le Supper Club

When Tina Shapiro moved back to Montreal after nine years in Toronto, the 32-year-old left behind a bustling social life. And if it weren't for a restaurant-hopping social group called Le Supper Club, she might have moved right back.

"I felt like I couldn't establish a network of people that was as exciting as the one I had in Toronto," says Shapiro, who moved back for work and to be closer to family.

She was beginning to regret her move here when she found Supper Club. Through it she discovered that she wasn't the only one to experience a hard time setting up a life in Montreal.

Le Supper Club has a tasty little recipe: Take a bunch of people who don't necessarily know each other, give them a different restaurant to meet at every week and - presto! - a social scene is born. And nobody gets stuck doing dishes.

The Club was started three years ago by Jasen Kisber, a self-described foodie who moved back from New York City and found himself out of the social loop. He modelled the group on one he was part of in New York.

"You name the top Zagat restaurants in New York, I've been there," he says. Before that, "my whole life, I grew up going to only five different restaurants," he said.

Le Supper Club has taken him to well over 100 restaurants.

Here's how it works. Kisber and his wife, Laura Blom, both in their 30s, choose a different restaurant weekly and send out an email to the group. Restaurant choices range from French to Korean to Japanese and a few Montreal institutions, such as Moishes, are thrown into the mix.

Most members are new to the city or have recently moved back. It's all word-of-mouth and anyone is welcome. "We love people who bring new people," Kisber says.

The only requirement is that members RSVP so Blom can make a reservation. You never know who you will end up sitting next to. Members include shoe designers, journalists, public relations people, musicians, lawyers and interior designers.

"It's not a dating thing, it's not a business network thing. It's purely a social thing," says Shapiro, who works in real estate. "It's a safe atmosphere, where people are themselves and it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from or how you got there."

Le Supper Club started with four people. Now there are about 40 members who show up when they like.

Brandon Rudnikoff, 31, is a regular. "One of my initial motivating factors (to join) is that it's a stable social scene as opposed to just hanging out with people you work with," says the lawyer for CN. He heard about the Club through a friend two years ago.

"The first time I went, I was hooked. We went to this amazing Brazilian restaurant that had dancers. It was like a drug high, because the first time, there were around 18 people, so now there's this hope that you're going to meet a bunch of fabulous people," he says.

After living in Amsterdam, Winnipeg and Toronto, he wanted to come home to Montreal. "The quality of life is far superior in Montreal," he says, but most of his friends from school had left and he found it hard to meet people.

"There's an illusion of stability while you're in school." Once you leave, however, "you're not going to meet people just by accident anymore."

Le Supper Club is "far less contrived than an activity where people go to meet people specifically - it's a bit less pathetic."

He also likes the sense of certainty about the whole thing. "Every Thursday, you know it's going to be there." But you don't have to be. If you want to go, you go. If not, you don't. "It's not a commitment," Kisber says.

The best places are not necessarily the most expensive, he says. He has fond memories of a Peruvian restaurant: "We walked in, we were sweating profusely, the whole place smelled like fish - and it was the best three-course meal I ever had, all for $12." Another time, eight of them ate Swiss fondue and raclette at Le Gilford, in the Plateau.

Even if you haven't been in months, Le Supper Club always welcomes you back.

Shapiro remembers being nervous her first time out. "But it turned out to be the most welcoming experience. Everyone was interested to learn about me and how I got there."

Rudnikoff was even invited to Kisber's and Blom's wedding.

And speaking of weddings, Shapiro recently got married herself. Le Supper Club has "restored my faith in the city and in meeting people."

LINDSAY SMITH
Copyright Montreal Gazette 2006

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