FOOD & DRINK NOTES The Underground Kitchen

Mystery is part of the appeal of The Underground Kitchen. The Virginia-based pop-up dining event company helps create a sense of fun and excitement by not disclosing details – the menu, participating chef or the dinner location – even to ticketholders, until 24-48 hours before the event.

Want-to-be participants are asked to register at the UGK website (theundergroundkitchen.org) to purchase tickets and for email notifications of upcoming events. The notifications cover basic information only, such as the city, date and time, the price per person and the dinner’s theme. To date, UGK has hosted events in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Charlottesville and Fredricksburg, Virginia.

UGK has announced that the first event in Columbia will be Tuesday, April 5. The dinner theme is “Buds & Blossoms,” a celebration of spring featuring fresh local vegetables, flowers and decor, according to Underground Kitchen program director Zachary McElgunn.

Tickets for the Columbia dinner are $150 per person and include food, wine and gratuity. Expect a five- to seven-course dinner with limited seating (usually 40 guests); tickets are first-come, first-served and limited to two per subscriber.

The Underground Kitchen plans to have six to 12 events in cities throughout Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina over the course of the year.

Related content: Where will you be having dinner? The Underground Kitchen may be an option.

Susan Ardis, sardis@thestate.com, @foodsusan

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 10:58 AM with the headline "FOOD & DRINK NOTES The Underground Kitchen."