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BERMUDA | RSS PODCAST

Going underground for a delicious dinner ... followed by an encounter with a shark

Dinner venue: The Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo

The following is told in complete confidence ... the password to the Underground Dinner Club is “delicious”. Remember to knock twice before you enter.My husband and I had the great fortune to be invited to a dinner hosted by the club, a new dining scheme offered by Food 4 Thought caterer Peter Jovetic.It meets seasonally and offers good food and wine in unusual locations. The first dinner was arranged last October and subsequent ones have been wildly popular. You don’t find out the location until after you have signed up.This dinner’s theme was ‘down to earth’ which seemed appropriate for an “underground” dinner club party but slightly curious considering the “secret” location turned out to be the fish hall at the Aquarium.This was a fabulous place to eat a meal and had wonderful ambience. It was great to watch the activities of eels, groupers and sharks while eating. Also, a lot of fish are more active in the evening, after all the visitors have gone home. Tickets for this dinner were $125, but ours were complimentary.The evening started with some mingling with about 25 other diners, and an amuse bouche which turned out to be seafood-based. Some of the aquatic residents wept, but no matter.The rest of the menu was strictly land-based a forest-style appetiser with Boursin and asparagus. As a goat cheese lover I gave this one a big thumbs-up. There was also spring lamb with wild mushroom sauce. Really, I could have skipped the lamb and just eaten the mushrooms. There was a fabulous scalloped pear and potato gratin. The best part of the meal had to be dessert.Everyone received a little terracotta plant pot with mint growing out of what looked like gravel. The gravel turned out to be chocolate-covered grape nuts and the pot contained tiramisu. It was clever and yummy.The menu included some delicious wines: an Italian white by Teruzzi & Puthod called Terre di Tufi; Sokol Blosser, a pinot gris from Oregon. There were also some full-bodied reds: Terrabianca Campaccio and Leasingham Bin 61, a shiraz from the Clare Valley.One thing that made the dinner especially nice was that an Aquarium staff member shared the table with us. He regaled us with tales (tails?) of escaped beasts and their dramatic (and not so dramatic) recaptures. After dinner he took us upstairs and we petted a giant grouper called Vader. I refrained as it was raining and cold and there was a shark swimming around in the tank. Watching other people stick their arms into shark-infested waters definitely turned out to be a highlight of the evening for me.At the end of the night we were all given little potted plants such as pansies and basil to take home. This was a nice touch. There was clearly a lot of imagination that went into the evening and, had I paid $125 per person, it would have been worth it. The Underground Dinner Club would make an excellent special night out, maybe for an anniversary or engagement.For more information visit www.food4thoughtcateres.bm or e-mail food4thought[AT]logic.bm.