I live in Houston, TX--one of the world's best cities for fine dining--and come to Alaska almost every summer. I can say without reservation that AK Supper Club exceeds anything available in Houston, both on conventional criteria and on criteria for which it wouldn't even be appropriate to assess restaurants in Houston--because you're sitting around a table with a few other interesting people in one of the most beautiful places on earth and have such intimate access to the congenial, fascinating, and incredibly skilled chef, with a complete and total lack of pretension.
Assessing the food alone, it would stand against almost anything available in Houston, excelling in some ways because the ingredients themselves (never-frozen wild caught Alaska seafood, just-shucked Alaskan oysters, freshly-picked wild Alaskan berries, herbs, and mushrooms) are unavailable elsewhere in such condition.
Preparation and presentation rival any high-end restaurant in any of the major world cities. There are no lines, no snooty waiters, and you'll feel just as home if you show up in a tailored suit as if you show up in jeans and a t-shirt after a hiking or fishing expedition. This isn't molecular gastronomy, fine; but it is the highest dining with a deep respect for ingredients and preparation.
You receive a personalized menu, personalized courses and pairings (upon request), often served by the chef's wife or other family members (who are extremely friendly and interesting). Dinner usually consists of multiple courses, each with a wine or beer pairing as you request. I highly recommend the oyster dinner; this man does things with oyster shooters (sake-base, friends, sake!) and oysters rockefeller that you will not believe.
The intimacy and complete lack of pretension are what make this place stand out in my mind. If you want to walk back into the kitchen and ask the chef a question, feel free. If you want to try one of the ingredients and have its properties explained to you by the chef, expect satisfaction. If you want to take a break between courses to go play ping-pong downstairs or have a hike on their bluff overlooking Cook Inlet, where on a clear day you can see glacier-topped active volcanoes a hundred and fifty miles away, whales breeching, fireweed blooming--you can do that too.
This kind of experience isn't available elsewhere. The closest approximation would cost me $500 or more per person, whereas you can attend AK Supper Club for a tiny fraction of that. Not only have some of the best dinners of my life been enjoyed at AK Supper Club, but also some of the most rewarding conversations. This is not only worth a six-hour drive down from Anchorage to enjoy, it's almost on its own merits worth a flight from the Lower 48.
I don't know what else to say except that you should go right now, as quick as you can. It's all I can do to not go buy a ticket to go right back to Alaska right now! read more