Eat Crow Supper Club offers monthly meals in Independence
Sitting under twinkling lights, guests chat minutes after being introduced to each other. The clinking of cutlery and glasses harmonizes with curious exclamations and “Oh, this is so good!”
Where does this wonderful experience take place? Right on Main Street in downtown Independence, in the rentable restaurant area of Indy Commons. But only if you can get tickets to this coveted food event.
The twice-monthly dinner is aptly described as “a chef and a farmer throwing a dinner party” by its creators and fiancées, chef Lindsay Darling and farmer Eden Olsen, owner of Lucky Crow Farm. The two had been discussing the idea of hosting the Eat Crow Supper Club dinners for several years, but it didn’t come to fruition until earlier this year.
“It would be difficult to have a restaurant, so that’s why we do it,” Darling said. “When you’re faced with labor shortages and food costs, hospitality is the first thing you have to give up because you have to focus on what’s important. So we choose to do it every now and then to make it work.”
How the cook and the farmer came together
In addition to his work as a chef, Darling is also the restaurant and kitchen manager of Indy Commons, where the pop-up supper club is located.
Darling took on the role of chef de cuisine in 2022 after Valkyrie Wine Tavern, where she was a cook, shut down operations at the start of the pandemic. She is the daughter of a chef and has more than a decade of experience in restaurants in New Orleans and California.
Olsen is a sixth-generation local farmer from a family that grew seed in Monmouth. She left the area to study sustainable agriculture, then worked at farmers markets in the Bay Area and on a farm near San Jose. She returned in 2017 to start Lucky Crow on the family property. The farm is now in its eighth season, offering products at farmers markets, an online store and through a Community Supported Agriculture agreement with consumers.
Darling was introduced to Olsen in 2020 and the two have been together ever since, they said.
A project between the two was “inevitable,” Darling said.
Supper club?
The first dinner wasn’t actually intended for the supper club, but was supposed to be the first draft. The couple hosted it last June and donated the food as a thank you to members of Lucky Crow Farm’s CSA, which was held in the office space. To the couple’s surprise, many of them asked when the next dinner would be.
This inspired the couple to come up with a different structure that would accommodate Olsen’s farming schedule without being too burdensome for Darling and her staff to prepare.
The name Eat Crow Supper Club is “hilarious” to the couple. It’s a play on words with Lucky Crow Farm. The term “supper club” comes from Darling’s past with Sunday dinners, a staple of the South, she said. It was a time of happy family-style eating and drinking, and she wanted to bring that atmosphere to the dinners.
However, don’t let the name put you off, as the last thing the couple wants is to be perceived as arrogant.
“We don’t have time for that anymore,” Darling said. “People can eat anywhere, but coming here and having an experience with a staff that anticipates your needs before you know it is hospitality.”
The Supperclub Experience
The Eat Crow Supper Club hosted its first dinner in March. Each dinner has a theme that Darling comes up with based on what’s in season. The April meal was inspired by New Orleans cuisine, while the May meal showcased spring/summer produce.
The meal is a fixed price meal, meaning other than listing your dietary restrictions, all courses are selected by the chef and served to you. There are no substitutions and everyone eats the same dish at each course.
Tickets are available online at the beginning of each month and cost $80 per person. The menu consists of five courses and is served with wine. The courses include field toast, salad, a vegetarian dish, a meat dish and dessert. The meal is leisurely and lasts about two hours in total.
Dinner is not for everyone. If you like a slower dinner, want to be surprised by your meal and prefer a cozy atmosphere, this is an experience you should try.
If enough people sign up for the waiting list in the future, there may be more interest in booking an additional night in the coming months, Darling said.
For more information, visit eatcrowsupperclub.com.
Em Chan covers food and dining for the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @meet Emily.
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