SUNNYSIDE — A pair of foodies from Queens are launching a monthly dinner club where participants can explore the borough, one eatery at a time.
Astoria chef Jonathan Forgash and food writer Joe DiStefano will host the Queens Dinner Club, a new event series in which they'll invite diners to join them at different restaurants to enjoy what they say are the two best things about Queens — the people and the food.
"Queens is like the UN of global neighborhoods," said Forgash, who ran his own catering company for years. "The idea is that it should be an affordable meal for neighbors and new friends to get together and try something."
He and DiStefano, the writer behind the popular food site Chopsticks and Marrow, will curate the monthly events.
The first will be held April 14 at Tangra, an Asian-fusion restaurant in Sunnyside that also has a location in Elmhurst and serves up Chinese and Indian-inspired cuisine.
For $40, participants will sit down for a four-course family-style meal created by Tangra chef Peter Lo, where the menu will feature 10 dishes including Singapore curry noodles, fish with hot garlic sauce and kulfi ice cream.
The meals will be a way for attendees to check out new eateries in Queens as well as a route for local restaurant owners to gain exposure.
"It's a way to introduce themselves to maybe new people, a new crowd," Forgash said.
Future Queens Dinner Club events may also feature food paired with beer from one of the borough's many micro-breweries or other local food and drink vendors, he said.
"There are these interesting things we can mash together and not give people just a great meal and good time, but something unusual, something special, something outside the box," he said.
The first Queens Dinner Club will take place April 14 at 7 p.m. at Tangra, located at 39-23 Queens Blvd. in Sunnyside. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased here.
