Underground Dining: The secret ingredient is mystery

Trained and untrained cooks around the world are hosting sporadic supper clubs and dinner parties in unofficial spaces.

One such foodie group, SecretEats, has become known for exclusive, high-end "underground" dinner parties across South Africa.

From Cape Town's Llandudno Beach, high above the Atlantic Ocean, to private homes in Durban and Stellenbosch, SecretEats has become a hot dinner ticket. I was fortunate to be part of the 14th SecretEats dinner held at a covert location in Johannesburg at the weekend.

Almost everything about the dinner was a mystery, and the location of the secret venue - the College of Digital Photography in Saxonwold - was revealed only that morning.

I was forewarned that I should utter a special password to the maitre d' on arrival to gain entry: "You are an angel."

We were asked to submit a personal secret to the organisers beforehand.

After greeting the young event director, Jeremy Douglas, I was given a piece of paper on which was written one of the other guest's secrets.

The trick was to introduce myself to everyone and find the guest whose secret was in my hand as a way of getting a group of strangers to mingle over a round of welcome drinks.

I was disappointed that I couldn't find the guest whose secret I'd learned. Her note read: "I recently overcame my fear of video cameras and have the ability to hold my breath for a long time."

After guests had found their partners, 50 of us were seated at an all-white U-shaped table arrangement.

A four-course meal - by James Diack, the owner of Coobs restaurant in Parkhurst, and his head chef, Mathew Wright - was served on slate and paired with wine from Radford Dale.

For starters, we had whitefish mousse with coconut ash, crispy whitebait and a micro salad paired with chardonnay. The different textures and delicate flavours were appealing.

Duck liver pâté, duck hearts and a duck pastry, paired with Black Rock red wine, followed. The lamb terrine was served with kimchi shimeji mushrooms and a smoky jus paired with a rich syrah.

For dessert, we had ricotta and honey mousse served with rose geranium ice cream and an orange crumble, paired with the estate's Vine Dried Viognier. Delicious.

Founder and owner of SecretEats, American Greg Zeleny, fell in love with South Africa while on holiday in 2012. "I started the movement after my first Thanksg iving in South Africa when I realised there was a huge demand for private dinners."

• To be part of the SecretEats, visit thesecreteats.com