Prix Fixe Meals and Super Secret Supper Clubs

· 613 Beverly Blvd · Los Angeles, CA 90036 · Neighborhood · Mid-City West / West Hollywood ·

Imagine that your friend, who happens to be a chef, invites you and a few friends over to hang out at his restaurant after hours.

Your friend, the chef, then uses this opportunity to unleash some interesting ingredients and some sexy new recipes. He decides he’s going to serve up a 5-course dinner for you, your friends, and anyone else who should decide to crash the party. He makes everything himself on a little range-stove top. He makes sure you are comfortable and well hydrated. He personally brings out your plate and tells you what he’s decided to whip up, just for you, just for tonight.

Dinner is a mystery and yet you have no expectations. You just plan on having a good time while you devour something new and delicious. You bust out a bottle of wine from your purse or run to the liquor store down the street for some sake. You and your buds then proceed to eat and eat until you are satisfyingly satiated. You stumble home, drunk with good food in your happy round bellies arguing over which dish was your favorite.

This is what the special Sunday night, $25 prix fixe, 5-course dinner with Executive Chef Aaron Dubois was all about. His venue is the popular tasty sandwich shop by day: Potato Chips, which is located just north of the Grove in West Hollywood. Chef Dubois makes selective, choice entrees and appetizers over the course of 2 hours and you just sit back and relax.

I’m the type of person who stares at the menu for way too long and I always have a hard time deciding what to order. This prix fixe concept is for people like me. There is no menu. There are no choices. There is just food that comes to your table. You either eat it, or you don’t. You may not like everything that comes out of the kitchen, but I found that while some ingredients were eclectic and new to me, everything was delicious. You’re probably going to be introduced to items that you might not normally order so keep an open mind.

Picky eaters might not like this way of eating, but Foodies will delight. Here are a few pics from our yummy night.

Unfortunately, I recently heard that the Potato Chips prix fixe Sunday night dinners are going on hiatus in wake of the grand opening of Escuela Taqueria around the corner. Chef Dubois is busy preparing the menu for this gourmet and hip new taco spot. This will be the third installment of great Beverly Blvd. restaurants by Potato Chips owner, Steven Arroyo. The other being the neighboring tapas bar, Cobras and Matadors.

If you’re planning on stopping by Potato Chips on Sunday night, make sure to give them a call first to make sure the prix fixe dinner is going down. If it isn’t, mosey around the corner and check out Escuela – set to open May 5th!

OK, so if you do drive past Potato Chips on a Sunday night and the lights aren’t on, never fear. The prix-fixe concept is indeed a trend in Los Angeles and there’s lots more prix fixe to go around. Church and State has their own Sunday prix fixe for $39, while chef Suzanne Goin has created a delicious $45 menu at Lucques.

There is a more underground version of the supper club put on by chefs’ Rachael Narins and Suzanne Griswold of Chicks with Knives.  Chef Craig Thornton of Wolvesden has his own twitter following of hungry foodies too. Each of these dinners occur only about once a month at a unique, secret location and are strictly ‘invite only’. You can join their mailing list to get on the selective list of lucky food fans. Chicks with Knives can run you about $65 bucks a person while at Wolvesden, you pay however much you feel the dinner is worth to you. You can expect it to feel more like a casual dinner party than a night out at a restaurant. Chef Thornton’s dinners take up to two days to prepare for. The dinner party can last about 3-4 hours and will involve a whopping 10-15 courses! Most of these dinners at any of the above places are low key, communal and unique in their own right.

Many of these Super Secret Super Clubs are actually not so secret anymore (thanks to foodies on twitter and in-the-know bloggers). However, if you should choose to accept one of these dinner party adventures, definitely expect to try something out of your comfort zone. You’ll meet strangers who will become friends and will get to taste out-of-the-box samplings. The night will indeed be something to write home about.

Amy T. Shuster and friends with Chef Aaron Dubois at Potato Chips Sunday Dinner

There are a bunch of recession busting restaurant deals happening in your very own backyard too!

Here are just a few local restaurants that offer prix fixe dinners, to get you started…

Food Fair by Diego American · West Hollywood · ($15, 3 course – Monday Nights)

Potato Chips Varies · West Hollywood · ($25, 5 course – Sunday Nights) * Call first for info as the Sunday Dinners are on currently hiatus pending the Grand Opening of Escuela Taqueria

JiRaffe French · Santa Monica · ($38, 3 course – Monday Nights)

Church and State French · Downtown · ($39, – 4 course Sunday Nights) * Optional wine paring for $10 more

Lucques French/American · West Hollywood ($45, 4 course – Sunday Nights)

Chicks with Knives Varies (Monthly)

Wolvesden Varies (Monthly)