dinner with strangers

We arrived at the Ghetto Gourmet (“GG”) event on Sunday night at a house in Seminole Heights not really knowing what to expect. While walking up to a house full of strangers made us both a little uncomfortable, we also liked the mystery and adventure of not knowing what was in store.

The first sign that we were in for an interesting evening was the old VW bus parked on the front lawn of the house. Later in the evening we learned that this bus is owned by Sam Esser, a local drummer, who is a story in himself. Our first impression after meeting everyone was that these were some of the friendliest strangers we’ve ever met. While wine and beer certainly helped loosen things up, this was clearly a nice group of down-to-earth people who enjoy good food.

The group for the night numbered about fifteen. Everyone sat around a long, low rectangular table like you would find in a Turkish or Moroccan restaurant. GG co-founder Jeremy Townsend kicked the meal off with an introduction and history of GG (they’ve now done 250 events all over the U.S.), and then the dining extravaganza began. First up was a poultry soup of sorts with a candied little orange filled with chamomile rice floating in the middle. This was the only dish that I didn’t like.

Next out was a spicy Korean-style salad with kim-chi, which was delicious. Before serving the main course, we went outside and were entertained by Sam Esser on his drum-set. It turns out that Sam keeps his drum-set inside his VW bus and drives around to local bookstores and just starts playing – no joke. This obviously attracts attention and at times other musicians, resulting in improvised jam sessions. GG guests took turns taking quick lessons from Sam at his drum-set-on-wheels.

The main course was Florida grass fed beef on white sweet potato with strawberry peppercorn sauce. This was the best dish of the night in my view. Dessert was a delicious Tupelo honey almond pound cake with lemon sauce. Overall I’d rank this meal as comparable to the last great high-end dining experience we had, in this case at the Maritana Grille at the Don.

While fifty bucks a ticket for the GG event wasn’t cheap (plus tip – whatever amount you decide), it was a deal in the context of what a four-course meal of this caliber would cost at a very nice restaurant, plus you wouldn’t meet an interesting mix of new people, too. Traci and I border on anti-social and enjoyed it.

The guest chef for the evening was Tim Trojian. Tim’s culinary resume includes leading foraging expeditions for private groups up in Toronto and then cooking with these same local ingredients. Robin and Tripp, the owners of the house and friends of Jeremy, were gracious hosts.

Photographer Bill Rogers of Windsong Productions took photos of the event.

GG is planning to hold another Tampa event in a few weeks. You can find more information about future GG events on their website or by signing up for their mailing list. We had a really good time and I hope GG receives another local support to find it worthwhile to do future events here.

Bottom-line: GG isn’t for everyone, and this isn’t an inexpensive experience, but if you love good food, and want to see what an “underground dinner” is all about, you’ll want to check out GG.

Full disclosure: GG did provide us with one comp ticket to the event. Traci’s ticket we paid for out our pocket, plus tip for the night. It was BYOB so we also made a visit to Total Wine on Dale Mabry.