TO REALLY experience a place, you've got to eat like a
local. Review websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor help out-of-towners
dodge overpriced tourist traps, but what about travellers seeking a
unique, home-cooked meal in a foreign land?
The rise of the sharing economy has
already transformed finding somewhere to stay while on holiday, through
sites like Couchsurfing and Airbnb.
Now several start-up companies aim to connect tourists with amateur
cooks who open their homes to provide an authentic meal outside of the
restaurant setting.
"We're encouraging people to discover new cultures and break down stereotypes," says Audra Pakalnyte, co-founder of PlateCulture, a food sharing start-up based in Kuala Lumpur that launched in June. "The ultimate goal is to make the world smaller."
To participate in a shared meal, people
can search through events posted by hosts. Cooks can specify the menu
they plan to create, or give an approximate idea, such as "organic
vegan", along with the price. The sites rely upon both diner reviews and
in-person visits from appointed representatives who verify chefs'
identities and kitchen standards.
Sites geared towards locals looking for a new culinary experience in their town have also sprung up.
HomeDine, based in San Francisco, allows people to sign up for dinner alerts in their area or follow the home-chefs they like.
Food is only part of the equation, though, says Cédric Giorgi, co-founder of Cookening,
based in Paris, France. His site, launched in May, has 4000 members in
12 countries, and he counts people's interest in socialising as the
reason for its growth. "People sign up because they want to have a very
nice meal, but they leave with new connections," he says. Similarly,
several diners have told HomeDine founder Sagiv Ofek they found romance
over dinner, and one landed a job with his culinary host.
That helps explain the broader rise of the
sharing economy on the internet, though it hasn't been without growing
pains. Earlier this month, the New York state attorney general subpoenaed Airbnb to hand over customer data as part of an investigation into whether or not some of them are violating state rental laws.
Legal issues were on Pakalnyte's mind when
she created PlateCulture. For example, home gatherings of fewer than 25
people are not regulated in Singapore and Malaysia, but each country
has its own regulations. "At the moment we're operating in quite a grey
area," she admits.
Rather than force firms into old legal frameworks, Arun Sundararajan
at New York University's Stern School of Business argues that laws
should be tweaked to accommodate them. "Restaurants, hotels and yellow
cabs are the old analogue to the sharing economy, and regulations were
needed to keep them running," he says. "In this new digital marketplace
some regulations don't fit."
As the concept takes off, Ofek imagines a
future in which people will be able to open a mobile app and choose from
dozens of home-cooked meals nearby. Instead of deciding between
restaurants, he says, "you'll just choose who the person is that you
want to meet today".
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