Sunday Supper Club
NXTHVN
169 Henry St.
New Haven
Aug. 2, 2026
We nibbled on earthy Calabrian chili-soaked clam escabeche flatbread and sipped the paired citrusy Sardinian white wine as we considered a question:
The Long Island Sound is prominent for its seafood, and clams have been harvested for generations. The flavor of the clam reflects the water where it grew. If people are shaped by the “waters” they grow in – family, experiences, community – what flavors from your own waters have shaped who you are?
Poet and mental health professional Sahmra “Supreme” Sawyer led the discussion, sharing how the foods and sounds of her mixed Jamaican and Black American heritage shaped her many facets.
It was the third course of a five-course supper, and we were just getting started.
The combination salon-dining event took place Sunday night at NXTHVN’s Henry Street headquarters. NXTHV was the venue for the first installment of a ticketed “Sunday Supper Club.
Twenty-five people attended Sunday night’s supper. Most of the artfully dressed attendees appeared to be creatives of some kind or prominent people in the community. Some people traveled from as far as Philadelphia to partake in the five-course meal.
Sunday Supper Club is the brainchild of New Haven’s Cara Santino, founder of the wine and vinyl listening bar pop-up Little Lion Collective; Angel Dahfay, creator of Sweets and Sounds, a creative organization blending food, music, art and design; and Chef Steve Roberts, founder of Nappé Roots.
Sunday Supper Club will be bimonthly, with the next iteration planned October. They’ve scheduled supper clubs up until February; the founders have ambitions of expanding to other cities.
Dahfay created the look and sound of the event, Santino provided the wine pairings and Roberts created the food. They rightfully marketed the event as a “thoughtfully curated dining experience.”
Stepping off the elevator to the third floor, people were handed glasses of effervescent, blood-orange-hued Aperol Spritzes to whet our palates. I sipped slowly as I admired the bright, airy space. White fabric draped elegantly from the ceiling. White tablecloths and greenery accented with baby’s breath adorned two long tables. An array of sounds from artists like Aretha Franklin, Teyana Taylor and Yussef Dayes filled the room.
Placecards next to each plate featured food-related facts and intentional discussion questions to go along with each course. Guests weren’t just there to fill our stomachs; we were there to connect with one another.
Course One – a crunchy grit cake topped with an ocean-sweet shrimp rillette and paired with a tangy sauvignon blanc/sémillon blend – sparked a discussion that revealed connections within the African Diaspora. Some in the room grew up eating sugary or savory grits; others were children of immigrants who did not. Being Liberian, like the Sweets and Sounds founder Dahfay, I mentioned that I grew up eating “garri,” a grainy West African staple made from ground cassava. Other West Africans echoed my sentiments.
When we talked about rice because of Course Two’s tasty cucumber and tomato with crispy rice combination. Jennifer Quaye-Hudson, who is also of mixed heritage, shared the experience of making Gullah Geechee red rice (from her mother’s side) for her Ghanian family. “That’s just jollof rice, babe,” they told her definitively.
That was the moment I brought up the “jollof wars” and declared to the room that Liberians make the best jollof rice and we know who makes the worst. I think someone gave me the stink eye. I won’t say his nationality.
Between courses, Santino spoke about the history of the wines we were imbibing. We learned that Riesling, along with Chardonnay, is known as a king of white grapes; and that Bordeaux, France is known for their sauvignon blancs as much as their cabernet sauvignons and merlots. Also, it is recommended to pair wines and foods from the same country.
The wines were so delicious, I had to almost physically restrain myself from saying, “Please, I want some more,” like Oliver Twist begging for porridge. There was plenty to sample throughout the evening; I had to pace myself. I did take a picture of each bottle for “research.” Santino deliberately bought affordable wines that would be accessible to the Supper Club audience. The most expensive bottle there was a comfortable $28.
Speaking of pacing, my only complaint is that there was a bit of a lag time between courses. However, that’s to be expected due to it being Supper Club’s first run, especially because they weren’t cooking in a large kitchen. In fact, the kitchen was right in the same space as the dinner, but it was artfully cordoned off with gauzy curtains.
I wanted to sing like Ariel with each moist bite of my main course, a grilled red snapper prepared with jicama, pickled ginger, carrots and the aromatic shado bene, a Caribbean herb similar to cilantro. The wine that went along with it was an albarino with a high acidity that cut through the flavor of the snapper and complemented the garlic in the dish. Other guests munched on mustard and lemon-braised duck breast as they sipped on a fruity, dry Beaujolais. A server walked around, doling out extra servings of rice from a large wooden bowl.
I ended up taking only a few bites of my dessert while on the run. (I left just before the event ended so I could go home to write my review…) As I went down in the elevator, I almost hit the button to go back up so I could taste the dense, spongey London Fog tres leches again, with its accents of Earl Grey, lavender whipped cream and smoked sea salt. It was the perfect level of sweetness.
The founders of Sunday Supper Club achieved their goal of making the event about more than the food and drink. So many connections were made Sunday night. One of the staff members for the event ran into a guest who went to high school with her late mother. I could overhear people talking about where they’re from and what they do. Someone promised to connect another fellow guest to a job opportunity. Instagram profiles and phone numbers were exchanged in abundance.
As city government arts chief Shamain McCallister put it, “It’s lovely events like this that keep New Haven excited. It’s not giving potluck; no shade to the potluck. This is giving us something to do on a Sunday at a high level. Seeing all these different creative mediums come together is really what it’s all about.”
Sunday night, it felt like my palate had been baptized. Even better, I was the perfect level of satiated. What lingered most, though, was the feeling of having participated in something ancient and human, gathering around a table, passing around food and stories.
I felt heartened. We need this gathering of community – especially now.
To find out about the next events, follow the founders’ Instagram profiles here: @sweetsand soundsent, @littlelioncollective, @napperoots.
