Khabar Magazine. November 2026 print.

Home supper clubs offer what even the fanciest restaurants can’t: intimate, immersive culinary experiences built around gathering and conversation. Here are three supper clubs hosted by South Asians that are redefining what it means to dine out: a vegan Pakistani feast, a Keralan Onam sadya, and a tea-and-botanical indulgence.

In 2020, when the pandemic brought all travel to a halt, it posed a problem for a food and travel writer like me. But like many, I found a creative way to keep indulging my passion for cuisine and connection. Taking a cue from the Airbnb model, I created a ticketed dining experience where paying guests could enjoy a lavish, carefully curated dinner and the company of fellow diners.

I did not call it a supper club at the time, but looking back, that is exactly what it was. I’m happy to see home-based supper clubs catching on. Most restaurants rely on standardized menus and offer little beyond the food. Home supper clubs thrive on creative freedom, with highly specialized, theme-based menus that promise culture and connection with new people. The hosts are typically home chefs who cook to preserve a tradition, explore an idea, express a philosophy, or bring people together. Their homes give them the freedom to do that without committing to a permanent menu for a broad commercial clientele.

These gatherings typically seat a small number of guests around a communal table. There, strangers quickly become friends over multiple curated courses, each inspired by the host’s personal stories and cultural background. They offer warmth, mystery, and spontaneous conversation that turn dinner into an immersive evening of entertainment rather than just a meal.

I recently came across three South Asian supper clubs around metro Atlanta. Each used a different format to tell deeply personal stories through food and drink.

Sabzi: Exquisite plant-based Pakistani fare

Sara Naqvi and her husband, Abbas, host Sabzi, a personal, plant-based Pakistani supper club, every couple of months. While managing full-time jobs and kids, they experiment with fusion-style vegan cooking.

The Naqvis, who are passionate about the food business, also run Punjab Spice Company, a vegan pop-up food stall. Sabzi is a more intimate way for them to celebrate and share their culinary heritage through a humane, meat-free menu.

True to its name (sabzi means “vegetable”), the evening put vegetables at the center. The menu included vegetable biryani, meat-free chapli kabab made with plant-based mince, dairy-free kheer brulee, and Chaunsa mango ice cream. Each dish was one the couple grew up eating, made to stay true to their presentday values. The food was served on black-and- white newspaper cutouts featuring old movies. The menu was divided into courses named for traditional Pakistani hospitality terms: Khush Aamdeed (welcome), Dastarkhwan (the dining spread), Dawat (the feast), and Meetha (dessert).

For many diners, the evening was a flavorful vegan meal, a cultural lesson, and a chance to look beyond stereotypes and connect with new people. “It was a visual and delicious treat for a vegan like myself. Every dish was aesthetically plated and tasted authentic. It was wonderful to hear about the vegan journey of the hosts and meet new people,” shared Smita Pawar, one of the guests. At the heart of the evening was mehman nawazi, the tradition of welcoming and caring for guests. I definitely felt that warmth, enjoyed the meal, and left feeling a little more connected.

Infused Table: An Onam feast in metro Atlanta

Watching an Instagram video of a Yorkshire terrier licking South Indian vegetables off banana leaves led me to follow the dog’s owner, Priya Narayanan, on her handle, Spices and Spoons. In September 2025, Narayanan started a vegan supper-club series called Infused Table. She has since hosted five gatherings and brought more than 70 people to her table.

Narayanan said she has always enjoyed curating menus, hosting dinner parties, and bringing people together. She chose a vegan lifestyle for ethical reasons and was often admired for the vegan dishes she made for family and friends.

Her supper clubs have featured themes such as Flavors Through India, Holiday Fusion, an Affirmation Brunch, and Traditional Onam. She hosts 10 to 16 guests in grazing-table, thali, and banana-leaf sit-down formats. At her most recent event, the Kerala native recreated sadya, the traditional feast of the harvest festival Onam. The vegan feast included banana chips, tomato pachadi, vada, beetroot kichadi, cabbage and jackfruit thoran, parippu, sambar, pulisseri, aviyal, sambharam, and millet pradhaman for dessert. Vegan yogurt replaced the dairy in dishes such as pulisseri and sambharam.

For many guests, Infused Table offers an introduction to Indian vegan cooking and to Kerala’s festivals, through someone sharing her lived experience.

Herbal Love Alchemy: Blending tea and spices

At Herbal Love Alchemy, Swati, also known as Swati Starseed, offers private tea sittings for women, featuring unique tea blends, herbs, finger foods, and conversation.

Swati welcomed six women to the dining table at her Marietta home, set like an elegant tea party with handpainted copper cups and ceramic teapots. She introduced us to different herbs and invited each woman to create her own tea blend. We inhaled the aroma of the ingredients, compared their characteristics, and experimented with combinations that reflected our individual tastes and moods. As we compared our blends, conversation developed naturally. Women who had never met began exchanging stories and ideas. The gathering became as much about socializing as it was about tea. 

To complement the botanical theme, Swati had prepared the kind of foods that are meant to invigorate the taste buds and nourish the body. She passed around shishito peppers, figs with balsamic, dark chocolate, and an inventive chaat made with plantains and fresh banana slices.

Swati expands the familiar South Asian ritual of drinking tea into a sensory experience built around slowing down, making time for self-care, and paying attention. Her gatherings combine botanical traditions, contemporary wellness, cultural conversation, and the universal pleasure of sharing a drink.

A seat at their table

Atlanta’s South Asian supper-club scene is still small, but Sabzi, Infused Table, and Herbal Love Alchemy show how much range the format can hold. These gatherings give South Asian hosts room to share their heritage without speaking for an entire country or community. They also offer diners dishes and stories that rarely appear on restaurant menus.

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Know Before You Go

Supper clubs follow a loose format, so be flexible. Events are held in private homes, and you may not get the exact address until shortly before the event. The menu depends largely on the home chef, so tell them about your dietary preferences in advance. The best way to find supper clubs is through social media, websites, or private mailing lists. Seating is often limited, so book early.

The same etiquette applies as when visiting any private home. Take off your shoes at the door if the host asks, mingle with other guests, be polite about making requests, and ask permission before you BYOB. Most importantly, come with an open mind and be ready to taste, learn, and make new friends.