You know you’re in the hands of consummate hosts when you visit Jacob and Danielle Firle in their tidy, clean-lined South Portland home. Before you even get seated – and you’re there to barrage them with questions about the last decade or so of their lives – they ask if you’d like something to drink, coffee or tea perhaps? You say just water will be fine. And they ask, “Still or sparkling?” The Firles don’t entertain often these days at home, where they live with their 3-year-old daughter, Noli, and rescue pooch, Orzo, a golden retriever mix who’s as friendly as they are.
“Jacob and I love to do a special meal at home for just us at least once a week,” Danielle said. “That’s probably the extent of most of our entertaining these days: entertaining ourselves and enjoying the quiet.” For a couple that runs Secret Supper – the destination dining event series in which they entertain scores of paying guests at least once a month at picturesque, eminently Instagrammable locations across the country, from Brooklyn, New York, to Alaska’s Copper River – quiet time is rare.
The Firles will host about 20 Secret Supper events this year. A $285 ticket covers a cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres, a six-course meal, gift bag and other treats. This year’s schedule includes a June dinner in North Yarmouth and another on the Midcoast in August.
Secret Supper is similar to some larger, older dining event series like Outstanding in the Field, which sets up har.
