Berlin's Newest Supper Club: The Seasoned Path
An interview with co-founder Mayuri Reddy on what inspired her to create the event series and how you can join the next one.
Favorite Food interviews real people about their favorite food.
“we aren’t just selling a meal; we’re creating a space for connection and an opportunity to find community"
Earlier this year, I had the chance to check out Berlin’s newest supper club, The Seasoned Path, which curates each event around a unique cultural culinary theme.
For their debut event, Journey to Iran, and I was blown away by the amount of preparation and thought that went into the night. The venue was decorated with art from local Iranian artists, there was a live performance from a local sitar player, and the food of course was extremely tasty, each dish served with detailed explanations and personal stories.
Most of all, I was impressed by how passionate the founders, Mayuri and Radmin, were about sharing this experience with their guests.
Curious to learn more, I reached out to co-founder Mayuri Reddy with the following questions.
What inspired you to start The Seasoned Path?
We’ve spent a lot of time cooking and eating together, and through that experience learned a lot about one another, and the similar trajectories we both had with our relationship to our heritage. We both grew up navigating very stark cultural backgrounds (Mayuri: Indian-American, Radmin: Iranian-Persian). It meant that being tied to our roots required extra effort and sometimes came with resistance, and even embarrassment/shame. There wasn’t always a sense of pride in who we were. But as we grew up, and we appreciated where we came, we saw how it actually fueled our curiosity for other cultures as well.
In a world that has felt so divided, we wanted to capture the essence of celebrating what makes us all unique, but make it really accessible for anyone. We wanted to create a space where people could walk in knowing nothing about a certain culture and leave with an even greater desire to explore cultures different from their own.
The format of a supper club manifested because we both love to eat, we love to cook, and because of our background as experience designers, we knew we could create something really captivating for guests.
What kind of experiences can participants expect at your events?
The aim is for you to feel like you’ve been transported to a different part of the world, invited into someone’s living room, and they’ve offered to serve you their favourite home-cooked meal. And to your delight, you get to sit next to people who, like you, are excited to mingle and learn about great food.
We craft an ambiance and decor that echoes this by curating a space that is meant for people to gather intentionally. When it comes to the cuisine, they’ll be served a three-course meal, and with each course, the chef will not only explain more about the dish but also share their personal stories. We also weave in art to ensure that when each person leaves, they feel like they’ve been part of a real cultural immersion without having to catch a flight.
Are there any particular dishes, cuisines, or food cultures you’re highlighting?
At each event we choose a different culture, region, or country to highlight, and then invite a different chef to bring their favourite dishes to the guests. So it really depends on the chef!
Could you share a memorable story from the planning or launch of the series?
There was a moment in our event, Journey To Iran, where Radmin video-called his parents in Tehran so they could listen and watch the musical performance by an amazing sitar player based here in Berlin.
He hasn’t been able to see them in years, but throughout planning, had been calling his parents a lot to make sure he was getting the recipes. Seeing how proud they were of him, and seeing how proud he was to be able to celebrate his culture with a group of 30 plus people felt so special. It was a really big moment that made it clear this was something special.
How do you go about curating the menu or collaborating with other chefs?
When it comes to chefs, it has so far been through people we meet in our network. We start by talking about our mission and ensuring they resonate with it. Then we try their food, whether that’s by attending one of their events, eating at their restaurant, or being invited to their home for a meal.
Once we are assured of their capabilities, we give them the parameters of crafting a meal with appetisers, a main, and desserts, and ask them to curate a mix of dishes that they feel are representative of their culture and that they love to cook. Not only does it make the experience more fun for the chefs, it also means the stories they share with guests will be all the more meaningful.
Have you faced any unique challenges hosting food events in Berlin?
One of our biggest challenges is ensuring that we are doing right by the culture we are highlighting. It would be really easy to cut corners, but we are really committed to creating a premium experience. This takes time and means that producing each event takes time to plan.
While we’d love to do an event like this every month, to do it right means not rushing the process. We know that we aren’t just selling a meal; we’re creating a space for connection and an opportunity to find community, and we take this task to heart!
What do you hope participants take away from your events?
We hope they feel excited to try new things, feel a deeper curiosity about their own background or culture, and make some new friends. We also want to make sure the experience feels like they got more than their money’s worth, which is why we invest so much time curating the space and investing in things that make it resonate.
When is the next event and how can someone secure a spot?
The next event is on Sunday, November 30th and is called A Night For Palestine, taking place at Van Hofen in Neukolln. In the spirt of giving and the holiday season, we will be donating the profits to the Gaza Soup Kitchen, which helps 30,000 people a day in Northern Gaza. We are partnering with Ayed Fadel of sufra, which is a cooking collective based here in Berlin. He will be crafting a really beautiful three-course meal of authentic Palestinian dishes.
Tickets can be purchased online - and guests can choose either vegan or meat for their dishes. There is also an option for a natural wine pairing, curated by 8 green bottles. For our last event, tickets sold out a week in advance so get them while you can!
❤️ Thank you Mayuri for sharing more about The Seasoned Path. Can’t wait for the next one.