Would you cook or host a meal for strangers....for a fee?

[eclecticchef]

There's a few new startups doing an Airbnb for food (including yours truly http://bigtable.co) looking to help connect chefs and diners to experience something different from the typical restaurant scene.

In some cultures, opening up your home to strangers for home cooked meals is not uncommon. In France it's called Tables d'hôtes. Curious to know if it exists in other cultures, and if it's something that could catch on in US homes?

There are a number of "supper clubs" in Southern California which work that way. Nothing really new and some people claim it to be one of the "next new trend"

Curious, but are these "supper clubs" typically open to the public or more underground?

[CeeCee]

In some cultures, opening up your home to strangers for home cooked meals is not uncommon. In France it's called Tables d'hôtes. Curious to know if it exists in other cultures, and if it's something that could catch on in US homes?

The Dutch have been infamous for cooking the right amount for just family members, leaving unexpected guests out or asking play date kids to go home on time. I guess this would make it uncommon here, but the so called huiskamer (livingroom) restaurants have been on the rise in the bigger cities. Albeit not completely legal, it's not very common yet.

There is a new phenoma called http://www.thuisafgehaald.nl, where you can subscribe in order to share home cooked meals or bakes and/or pick them up from someone else in your area. Haven't tried it myself, but some foodie friends have offered their food through this. I think it's great in these economic times and would be a great solution for me and my cooking hunger if I were living alone, since I cook big portions and don't want to eat that much of the same thing and not everything is as suitable for freezing.

Another thing is a social project to help integration, where Islamic families open up their homes to share their Iftar meal. I think there aren't any costs involved in this case. A friend of mine tried this and liked it, but the timing has been off for me so I still haven't tried this so far.

On a personal level I'm used to opening up my house. From my very young age, my mom brought home students from all kinds of nationalities who missed the opportunity to cook at their housing and had trouble adjusting to local food. So we had loads of international home cooked dishes to sample at these occasions. This meant our Dutch neighbours got upset over all those weird and pungent smells (I heard many stories of Dutchies even complaining about the smell of the use of 1 or 2 garlic cloves, so we were lucky that they only complaint about these big gatherings then). They had never seen weird stuff like coconuts being cracked open in our back yard in those days.

Nowadays I still do things like these, but not with complete strangers.

[basquecook]

There's a few new startups doing an Airbnb for food (including yours truly http://bigtable.co) looking to help connect chefs and diners to experience something different from the typical restaurant scene.

In some cultures, opening up your home to strangers for home cooked meals is not uncommon. In France it's called Tables d'hôtes. Curious to know if it exists in other cultures, and if it's something that could catch on in US homes?

There are a number of "supper clubs" in Southern California which work that way. Nothing really new and some people claim it to be one of the "next new trend"

Curious, but are these "supper clubs" typically open to the public or more underground?

At NY Bite Club, we have a list of about 4 to 6 thousand members. We have had a few people through the years who have spent many hours vetting people. It's a fairly basic membership but, I would still call it underground as our address is not listed or location revealed.

Edited May 30, 2013 by basquecook (log)

[furzzy]

Around the greater Chicago area they're referred to as "Underground Supper Clubs" and require an "invitation" through some connection. You usually don't know until a day or two before the event where it will be.

I've attended a few; they've been really fun & interesting. Menus run several courses, all paired with appropriate wines. There's usually a "meet & greet" when we arrive, with cocktails & hors d'oeuvres. This is because you may know only the person you came with. By the end of the evening, you've had a really good meal, and maybe met some potential new friends.

In this area, they're usually pretty pricey ($85 - 200 pp ...as much as some of the higher end restaurants) although some can be found for less. I guess it depends on who you know, & what sort of connections they have. Someone mentioned that they're not really legal - certainly not inspected. But they sure are fun!

[furzzy]

You asked about the meals served at farms in France.

They're called 'ferme Auberge' and there are lots of them.

http://www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/recherche/index/restauration/2643/?q=&ferme_auberge=1. (click on the link at the top 'Voir les résultats sur la cart.) This is a link to one association of them. As you can see they're all over France.

Each one is different and usually they feature local products & cooking. One near us, for example, featured roast sanglier (wild pig). This farmer had fenced in a few acres and kept wild pigs there. We had soup, a starter, the main course, some cheese and dessert plus unlimited wine. The cost was reasonable.

Mostly they will be family style with everyone at one large table. Great for one's France and, usually, a lot of fun.

If on vacation in France I'd urge anyone to try one.

We've done this several times in France. Without exception, the food has been delicious; the proprietors, lovely; prices, very reasonable. We've obviously enjoyed it, because we keep doing it.