ugh a window, handed an envelope with $150 in twenties and tens (receipts were not available) to a receptionist. The cash represented a 50 percent deposit to reserve two spaces at a dinner for thirty to be held by the NY Bite Club, a members-only dining club started last year by two enterprising young chefs that, despite its secrecy and dubious legality, nonetheless has a Web site and an e-mail listserv. )