Dylan in Fulham
Dinner is at Dylan’s flat in Fulham. Shall I take red or white? Maybe fizz? I could always text for some pointers– but Dylan and I haven’t actually met before. I’ve booked a seat at his dining table through EatWith, one of a handful of peer-to-peer dining websites (see panel, right) that put keen cooks in touch with food lovers looking for a more ‘authentic’ alternative to a restaurant meal.
As I chat to Dylan and his girlfriend Sara in their open-plan kitchen and dining room, he puts the finishing touches to a dish he calls scales: fine slices of mackerel fillet marinated in sherry and cider vinegars and spices, then blowtorched to perfection and served to resemble overlapping fish scales. It’s the first of five courses on a seasonal £40-a-head menu, which could happily grace the table of a fancy restaurant.
Christiane in Paris
EatWith and similar websites are akin to Airbnb in that they enable members to share resources – in this case, their cooking and hosting skills – online with members of the public willing to pay for them. Hosts determine the cost of the meal (or food tour, or cookery class) and bookings are made via the websites, which typically take a commission of 15 per cent.