Winter at Urban Adamah

I think the 2/15 dinner at Urban Adamah may have been one of our best yet.

Not because it was flashy. Not because everything was perfect. But because it felt deeply aligned.

It was our largest supper club to date, and somehow one of the smoothest. That doesn’t happen by accident. The space at Urban Adamah changes the equation. Less scrambling over logistics. Less moving furniture. Less solving problems in real time. More attention on the food. More attention on the people.

These evenings also truly could not happen without our volunteers. The care and passion each volunteer brings can be felt throughout the room. I feel lucky to have fostered a culture where people show up with intention — in what one guest described as “a perfect balance of structured and unstructured.” It makes the night feel alive. And fun. It’s our day off, after all.

We began with a welcome broth — daikon, turnip, kombu. Clean. Warm. A way of asking everyone to slow down before the meal really began.

From there, the table built gradually.

Toast points with escarole and pickled raisins, miso bagna cauda and egg emulsion — bitter, sweet, umami, rich. A crudo of kampachi with allium cream, horseradish, preserved lemon, fried buckwheat. Burekas filled with potato, eggplant, kashkaval, and beyaz peynir. We loved being able to share the Jew-do crudo with the whole crowd in Seamus’s shells, and the back-of-house team was particularly proud of how it came together flavor-wise.

The vegetable mosaic was absolutely gorgeous and eats surprisingly well. Nori framing a patchwork of carrot, leek, and burdock…anchored by leek miso purée and brightened with scallion oil.

There was fondant daikon with herbs. Japanese eggplant with cashew nori cream. A chicory and flowering miner’s lettuce salad with kishu mandarins and vegan katsuobushi that cut through everything with bitterness, brightness, and a touch of smoke. Cardamom cabbage rolls filled with English peas and koshihikari rice, resting in a fragrant broth. Local ling cod over turnip purée with dill and caraway fennel crumble — restrained, clean, winter but not heavy.

Dessert was mandarin posset and chocolate bonbons from Flying Noir. The Mandarin Fennelade was also a hit. I was lucky enough to go home with her tariff targeted collection: https://www.flyingnoir.net/store/c1/flying-noir-online-store. Vegans got a lovely candied blood orange covered in chocolate and flowers.

But what really stood out wasn’t a single dish…

It was the room.

Despite a largely new crowd, people came ready to participate. Not just to eat — but to engage. To introduce themselves. To ask questions. To stay present. Many old faces and repeat guests were there too. That mix matters. It keeps the culture alive.

One guest told me it was the most wonderful dining experience she’d had in her 70 years. That’s hard to process. Others shared how comfortable they felt coming alone and immediately making friends. That part means a lot to me.

People crave meaningful connection when they dine. They want more than a transaction. They want to feel part of something.

That’s what we’re trying to build.

A huge thank you to Urban Adamah for welcoming us into their space, and to The Cultured Pickle Shop, Flying Noir, A Fork Full of Earth, and all of our volunteers who make this possible.

Our next dinner at Urban Adamah will be Sunday, March 15th, from 5–9pm. As the weather warms, we’ll begin to spill into the garden.

See you at the table.