Imagine a social media that connects friendly home cooks with hungry guests worldwide – that media is TastePlease. With the latest version of the platform to be released this November, finding new dinner partners has never been easier.

Joining a local dinner party can be as simple as ordering take-away – all it takes is a few clicks on your phone. Thanks to Danish startup TastePlease, chefs and home cooks of all kinds can sell tickets to their private table through an online platform and app.

The platform first launched in March, and so far dinners have been limited to specific dates. However, with the introduction of events ‘by request’, hosts and guests will have a more flexible scheduling option. According to founder Frank Lantz, this leaves users with a wider range of dining offers.

“Some of our aspiring hosts are hesitating to set up new events, because they don’t want to be tied up on a date before there’s an interest in the dinner,” he explains. “With the ‘by request’ function, we are making it easier for them to coordinate new dinners with potential guests.”

Airbnb for food

Expats and local chefs in Copenhagen, Athens and Vilnius have been among the first to embrace the concept and invite new people in for dinner, but the future visions reach much further. The company was recently spotted by Forbes and looks forward to welcoming new hosts from all over the world.

“One of the great things about social dining is the diversity of experiences,” Frank Lantz emphasizes. “At TastePlease there’s room for imagination – we let the hosts get creative and simply leave it up to the guests to decide where and with whom they would like to dine.”

For the same reason, TastePlease has no vetting process in place for new hosts. Instead, all guests have the chance to leave a rating and review, just as they would on other sharing economy platforms like Airbnb and Uber.

As one of the startups selected for the ALPHA programme, fast growing social dining platform TastePlease will be among the exhibiting companies during this year’s Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

Anyone with an interest in food communities, social media and new technology will have the chance to chat with TastePlease founder Frank Lantz in Lisbon, this November. The man behind the food app recently mentioned on Forbes will be present at the upcoming Web Summit, where he looks forward to not only exhibit but also share ideas and experiences with like-minded startups and established professionals.

“We are very proud to have been chosen for the startup programme,” Lantz states. “It’s a great opportunity to discuss the future of dining and social networking with some of the brightest, most creative minds in the tech community.”

One to watch

With users from 100+ countries, TastePlease – while still very young – has already entered the global stage. Since the official launch in March, the Copenhagen born startup has allowed professional chefs, passionate home cooks and social foodies to connect both online and offline, combining a marketplace for food experiences with the best of social media.

Curious diners can enjoy home cooked meals in the company of friendly local hosts, potentially anywhere in the world. Those same hosts can easily share photos or recipes on the platform, allowing the rest of the community to get a taste of the food, even if they cannot attend themselves.

From Middle Eastern dinners on a balcony in Athens to Italian pasta in the very heart of Copenhagen. Only imagination rules when it comes to the shared meal experiences welcomed by TastePlease – and if you ask the founder, this is one of the biggest strengths of the concept.

For everyone, everywhere

Unlike other players in the social dining business, TastePlease has no vetting process in place for new hosts. Instead, all guests have the chance to leave a rating and review, just as they would on other sharing economy platforms like Airbnb and Uber.

“One of the great things about social dining is the diversity of experiences,” Frank Lantz emphasizes. “We are always happy to advice our users if they have questions about the events, but we don’t want to decide who can host and who cannot – we prefer to simply let the guests decide where they would like to dine.”

Når Danmark Spiser Sammen løber af stablen i november, er der fokus på de indendørs spisefællesskaber i en tid hvor mørket sænker sig udenfor. Det er Folkebevægelsen mod Ensomhed, der endnu engang står bag kampagnen, men for særligt ét af medlemmerne rækker initiativet langt ud over uge 45.

Hos den københavnske iværksættervirksomhed TastePlease arbejder medarbejderne alle årets 52 uger på at gøre det lettere for danskerne at mødes omkring maden. Virksomheden lancererede tidligere på året en dele-økonomisk platform, hvor private kan finde og udbyde madoplevelser – lige fra enkle pastaretter til storslåede gourmetmenuer.

Konceptet bygger på moderne fællesspisning, hvor værter og gæster ikke nødvendigvis kender hinanden på forhånd men mødes over et måltid i hjemlige, ofte uformelle rammer. For manden bag, kok og iværksætter Frank Lantz, handler det om at skabe mere nærhed i hverdagen.

“Vi har ofte for travlt til spontant at invitere naboen eller det nytilflyttede par til middag,” fortæller han. “Men jeg tror der er mange, som egentlig godt kunne tænke sig at lære flere i nærområdet at kende – derfor vil vi gerne gøre det lige så nemt at finde et lokalt middagsselskab som det er at bestille takeaway.”

Til middag hos..?

I efteråret vil man bl.a. kunne deltage i en række middage hjemme hos Frank Lantz, der med glæde påtager sig værtsrollen fra tid til anden – og med alt fra kartoffelpizza til franske klassikere på menuen, skulle der være noget for enhver smag. Virksomheden opfordrer desuden private til at gå i grundlæggerens fodspor og selv blive værter for nye middage.

TastePlease stiller ikke krav til brugernes baggrund, men alle gæster har mulighed for efterfølgende at anmelde deres vært – præcis som man kender det fra tjenester som Airbnb og Gomore – og indtil videre er der stor begejstring at spore blandt brugere på platformen.

En af gæsterne, Lars Ørgaard, beskriver eksempelvis sin første TastePlease-middag som “en fantastisk oplevelse – med rigtig god mad, super værter og ikke mindst nogle søde og dejlige medgæster.”