Underground Dining Miami-Style, Join The Local Food Web

Jacob Katel

​Short Order's heard a lot about the "Underground Dining" phenomenon. According to rumors, lies, and hearsay the movement started in Oakland in the '80s when 100 train-hopping gutterpunks from around the states formed a consortium of experienced kitchen workers and convinced a local backer to invest in a one-off epic feast in a secret location. Street teams were dispatched with flyers, and local foodheads found them, digitized, uploaded and spread the message via the web and text messages. "The Oakland 500," the original diners who joined, paid, and partook in the experience never forgot their incredible meal.

Sure there are some holes in the story (can you find them?), but the idea remains, and the local foodweb is creating a burgeoning scene around eating together in real life.

Miami's newest "underground dinner" happens at Talula on August 4. At $75, it ain't cheap. And since it's at a restaurant as opposed to a private location it's more of a virally dressed marketing scheme than an underground dinner, not that there's anything wrong with that. The point is to serve as guinea pig to the chef's experimentation. Expect something along the lines of a seven-course tasting menu. Interested parties should log on to cobayamiami.blogspot.com and follow the instructions to sign up.