How My Little Garden Became Bexx Secret Supper Club — and Then blossomed into

Bexx Secret Garden

My father owned restaurants, so I grew up around food and hospitality. And at 91, he still has a large garden and is whipping up delicious meals.



My parents were divorced, and my mother was a teacher. Many nights after teaching all day, my stepfather would have friends over, which meant my mother would come home from work and prepare delicious food and entertain everyone. Looking back, I realize I was surrounded by people who knew how to make gathering around food and friends feel special.

Holidays were spent with my grandparents, where my grandfather ruled the kitchen and the food was always at the center of our gatherings and celebrations.

As a young mother and wife, I was all about Martha Stewart—creating themed gatherings and parties, trying new recipes and making everything into an occasion. I made most of the décor for my events and our home myself, and I even reupholstered some of my furniture. That creative, make-it-yourself spirit definitely came from my mother, too. She was always painting furniture, making crafts and creating all kinds of things. I guess I was paying attention!

Holiday gifts were always large baskets filled with homemade goodies. Christmas was a production in our family: gumbo on Christmas Eve, a big Christmas morning brunch where guests could come and go, and then rib roast with Yorkshire pudding, all the trimmings and plenty of desserts.

Even while I was performing, I always managed to create new and fresh recipes for my family. To this day, both of my kids are great cooks because they aren't afraid to experiment and create something new. They grew up in the kitchen with me.

After having stage 3 colon cancer and having to leave my performing career in Las Vegas, I eventually found my way to Los Angeles with my husband. But I still had the desire to sing and perform—and for a while, my husband and I started performing around LA.

Eventually, though, we grew weary of the loading, unloading and setting up of all the equipment. We didn't want to perform out anymore.

During that time, we started gathering with all of our new friends in the garden. Everyone loved hanging out there. At the same time, my fans kept asking, “When are you going to perform again? And where?”

Secret supper clubs were all the rage at the time, and I suddenly had an idea.

Why not combine my love of entertaining on and off the stage with my love of cooking and creating?

And that's how Bexx Secret Supper Club was born.

I designed the menus, created every dish and spent the evening visiting with our guests. And, of course, I was also expected to perform.

The problem was, stopping to take care of myself, change clothes and actually doll myself up has never been my strong point.

Singing, however, is.

At one of my first supper club events, my gay friends finally realized that I was never going to stop long enough to get ready. They literally pushed me into my bedroom, put my performance outfit and heels, and shoved me back out of the kitchen to perform!

The guests had come not only for the food, the garden and the company, but to hear me sing—and apparently my friends were determined that they were going to get their show! 😂

People absolutely loved coming to the supper club. They loved the food, the music, the garden and the whole experience. Guests would linger long after dinner was over and often didn't want to leave.

Before long, people started telling me, “You should open this place to the public!”

The funny thing was, I had absolutely no idea how to run a business.

I'd been involved in my husband's production business and had worked in my father's restaurants from a young age. At one point, I even thought I wanted to open a restaurant—which my husband was completely against! But starting a special events venue was something entirely different.

What I did know was how to create, how to entertain, how to handle food and how I wanted people to feel when they walked through the door.

I'd always had high expectations when I went to a restaurant. It wasn't just about the food. It was the entire experience—the ambiance, the cleanliness (my husband calls me the “Dirt Queen” because I don't miss a speck of dust!), the staff, the service and, of course, the food.

So I took everything I'd learned from the food and hospitality industry, combined it with my years as a performer, and decided to give it a shot.

I started completely organically. I built a little website, put my little business idea on Yelp and waited to see what would happen.

There was no big business plan. No roadmap. Just my garden, my cooking, my creativity, my love of entertaining and a feeling that maybe people would want to experience it too.

That was 15 years ago.

Since then, there have been hundreds of events, countless menus, a whole lot of cooking, designing, entertaining and problem-solving—and I think I might finally have a handle on it all!

And somewhere along the way, Bexx Secret Supper Club became Bexx Secret Garden.

But really, the heart of it has never changed: good food, good people, creativity, music, a beautiful garden and a reason to gather.