Full Moon Supper Club looks to create ‘a truly local experience’ across Centre County
In 2020, Boalsburg-based Chef Rebecca Elman began teaching online cooking classes over Zoom, drawing in Happy Valley foodies and those looking either to brush up on their cooking skills or just for a fun date night idea. Now that the world is back to in-person experiences, Elman has expanded the way in which she brings the community together, over a great meal, with the new Full Moon Supper Club.
“The pandemic was hard for everyone, but it was really nice to do the (online) classes,” Elman said. “It was good for me. It was good for everyone… Now, I’ve been personal chef-ing — so I go into people’s homes and cook for them. I cater and do events, dinners and weddings. I also do cooking classes in people’s homes; we do cooking classes together and then everyone sits down and eats.”
Then, she said, she started the Full Moon dinners, which she calls a “passion project” that can be a lot of work but well worth it.
Each month, the Full Moon Supper Club invites attendees to a unique dining experience set, typically, on a farm in Centre County (though Elman has also hosted winter Supper Club events in interesting locales such as at Centre Furnace Mansion and the Bellefonte Art Museum). Dates align with the full moon, dinners are served outside as weather permits and food for the multi-course meal is sourced as much as possible from the host farms, or otherwise locally.
“(The Full Moon Supper Club) really stemmed out of a want to build community — to sit down with people that you don’t know in the area and eat local food. In Centre County, we’re surrounded by farms and produce, and what’s being grown around here is so amazing. I want to highlight that all the time,” said Elman. “It stemmed from a need for community, a need for highlighting local food and creating a truly local experience.”
Past farm hosts have included Nittany Meadow goat farm and, most recently, Rooted Farmstead flower farm. Attending isn’t just about the dinner, though. There’s usually also some sort of experience to be enjoyed, whether that’s meeting the resident baby goats, or taking a tour. Each dinner can accommodate around 30 attendees, and Elman and her team often build an outdoor kitchen and dining space right on the host grounds, so diners can enjoy the full moon in its full glory.
“People are really looking for this kind of thing. We have a great turnout,” Elman said. “We have a lot of people that come every month, almost, which is fun. Then, we get new people that come, who’ve just heard about it and sign up. I love it because I meet people I’ve never heard of or who’ve never heard of me. It creates a whole new group of people.”
Each dinner is about four to five courses, and menus are written as close to the dinner date as possible, to reflect the ingredients available at that specific moment. Elman also writes the menu to reflect the host farm, as well as, sometimes, with a nod to the month’s full moon. This attempt worked out nicely in May, when the dinner was hosted on the Flower Moon and at the Rooted Farmstead flower farm.
“We tried to incorporate edible flowers into almost every dish,” Elman said. “We had fried chive blossoms as a course. We did a spring panzanella salad with asparagus and peas. We did an applewood smoked chicken with a beet salad that had marigolds and buttermilk dressing. Then, our dessert was a rhubarb dessert with rhubarb ice cream and flowers.”
The next Full Moon Supper Club is being held at Blackbranch Farm in Julian, June 21, 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $150 and the Supper Club is BYOB. Tickets can be purchased at thehiddenhostess.com/supperclub.
Elman does note that tickets do sell out quite quickly, so if you can’t make the June dinner, keep an eye out for dinners later in the season. The August dinner will be held at Oliver’s Path Farm, and the September dinner, which will be Spanish tapas-focused, is tentatively scheduled to take place at J.L. Farm and Cidery in State College.
