A club to go out, meet people and explore places together, that too over a meal or a drink. Uniworld City now has a supper club that lets its residents do just that.

UWC Supper Club is the brainchild of Priyanka M, a Masterchef India Season 4 finalist who is a resident of New Town’s biggest housing complex.

“The supper club concept is fairly popular in the West. There are supper clubs in Delhi and Mumbai too. But Calcutta did not have any. So I thought of starting one in my own complex which by itself is a 100 acre township with over 3,000 people,” says Priyanka, who is now working as a culinary consultant.

“At Uniworld, we have groups on cricket, wellness, running and cycling, but nothing on food. This will bring foodies together,” she added.

An invitation link in residents’ WhatsApp groups garnered 175 entries overnight.

An invitation link in residents’ WhatsApp groups garnered 175 entries overnight. And on November 1, the first meet and greet of the supper club took place with about 25 members attending.

Among them was Sunita Chandra, a college teacher, who came with family. “Earlier when I stayed in BA Block in Salt Lake, I used to be very active culturally. Here I have joined the music and dance club but was looking for more action. My son is also in the hospitality sector. So I happily signed up.”

Siddhartha Pandey said he was looking for a chance to socialise. “Digital meetings cannot replace the experience of sitting face to face, talking and laughing. We were eager to go out after staying cooped up at home for months. This club gives us a chance to get to know our neighbours and bond with them.”

The safety factor was high on everyone’s mind. Chandra admitted she was initially hesitant about attending the first meet. “But Priyanka assured us that the venue would be sanitised and well-ventilated. Also here we knew what kind of people we would meet,” said Pandey.

The venue was the verandah of Legendz Cafe Terrace at Mother’s Wax Museum, which Priyanka runs. For most members, it was their first visit.

A view of Eco Park from Legendz Cafe Terrace, the venue of the first UWC Supper Club meet

“The view was mind-boggling. It must be the only location with such a view of Eco Park,” said Vaibhav Gupta, who runs the neighbouring star hotel Ibis Rajarhat. “New Town itself has so many food and beverage options that we need to break this habit of people here of travelling all the way to the city proper to dine out. The club will allow us to explore these options together. Social distancing need not mean isolation,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to visiting the Biswa Bangla Gate restaurant with fellow members. “I will also invite them to the alfresco garden at my hotel.”

Priyanka has a lot of plans with the supper club. “We can do food trails, explore new restaurants, have wine pairing sessions, invite chefs to cook special dishes for us… I can tie up with venues so that they offer us privileges and special packages when we visit in group.”

The club still being in its formative stage, there is no membership charge for now.

“I plan to take it across New Town by the end of the year,” she signed off.