Supper clubs are having a renaissance as Gen Z shuns nights on the town

• Global trend forecaster WGSN says Gen Z is bringing back supper clubs.
• It comes as young people are seeking social activities that don't involve alcohol.
• A Gen Z supper clubber said she and her peers are "graduating" from their clubbing phase.

When Ananya Sharma, a 25-year-old marketing manager, moved from India to London in 2023, she knew next to no one.

Having grown up in a tight-knit community where close friends or family were never too far, isolation dawned on her.

"I felt like, 'I'm pretty much the only person in London that doesn't have friends'," she told Business Insider.

While there's no shortage of events and apps geared toward in-person socializing in cities like London, Sharma wasn't a fan. They're "intimidating," she said, and often make you feel as if "you almost have to perform a little bit to appeal to people."

At the same time, like many Gen Zers, the idea of going to a bar or nightclub to meet new people had lost its charm. As Sharma puts it, she's "graduating" from her clubbing and drinking phase into enjoying "more wholesome activities."

Options limited, Sharma turned to supper clubs — a dining concept that commonly involves hosting friends and perfect strangers for a meal in your own home.

Although supper clubs date back to the 1900s, global trend forecaster WGSN says they're making a 21st-century comeback with an increasing number of young people "hosting their own supper clubs, themed parties, and unique dining experiences for their chosen families."

A connection you can only find at home

Sharma likes to call her version of a supper club an "at-home café."

When she started it last year, the first iterations were relatively low-stakes — the guest list comprised a couple of neighbors, her landlady, and her landlady's daughters, and the menu included coffee, matcha, and homemade cookies.

Things soon picked up. After posting about her supper club online, Sharma said hundreds of strangers started reaching out — some of whom have become friends.

"I recently did one with a bunch of my friends that I've made through TikTok," Sharma said. "It was a great way to sit down and have conversations in an intimate setting."

For Aidan Brooks, a professional chef who runs an established supper club called Eleven 98 from his home in east London, the young generations' fascination speaks to their changing values.

"Each subsequent generation is becoming more health conscious, more environmentally conscious," he said. "If people are looking for a more socially and health-conscious type of thing to do, supper clubs kind of pop up at the top of both of those lists."

In an era when prices are rising yet dining options seem endless, Punam Vaja, host of another east London supper club called Khao Suppers, told BI that supper clubs offer young people a chance to form connections over a more budget-friendly experience that you "probably won't find in a restaurant."

Unlike restaurant chefs who stick to certain menus, supper club hosts can easily take "creative liberties," Sharma, the Gen Z supper club host, said.

"I've seen so many other people who do regional cuisines or themed dinners or lunches," she said. "I heard someone do a 1980s Italian disco-themed supper club, which I thought was so cool."

Looking for friends, IRL

In the years since the pandemic, Gen Z has developed a reputation as "Generation Stay At Home." They care less about climbing the corporate ladder, are more health conscious, and very much enjoy spending weekends "bed rotting," aka tucked between the sheets with snacks, TV, and books on rotation, rather than at a bar.

That doesn't mean they aren't social. On the contrary, supper clubs may go to show that they are even more open to connecting with others than older generations.

Vaja said young people are more open to a supper club experience that requires entering a stranger's house than "older people" who "might be a bit hesitant" because they're used to restaurants.

To Ariel Pastore-Sebring, a supper club host based in Portland, Oregon, the supper club renaissance may be a symptom of how Gen Z missed years of socializing during the pandemic.

"It's so intimate, and I think that's what this next generation is craving, especially after COVID," she said. "I could see why the idea of cramming into some New York City apartment with strangers at a candlelit table sounds pretty cool."

As a night out on the town loses its cool, 2025 could be the year of the supper club.