Scan Magazine | Culinary Feature | TastePlease
Authentic food experiences, anywhere, anytime Imagine stepping off your plane, checking into a hotel and getting ready for dinner. It is not hard to do. To most, this is a familiar routine. However, instead of dining in the hotel lobby or a busy restaurant nearby, you go on to enjoy a home-cooked meal with a friendly local. Text and photos by TastePlease
New encounters
The small apartment could belong to any 20-something Copenhagener. Its primary resident is a former expat who right now prepares to greet a mixed group of international guests. With a little help from a friend, the final touches are added to the appetisers just before the doorbell rings.
foods and live music. The host is a vegan musician with a creative approach to life and cooking. Most of the guest do not share her dietary restrictions, but they all share the love of good food – and one thing is clear: no one misses their meat tonight.
As the new arrivals find their seats around the table, thoughts and tips on life in the Danish capital soon intertwine with travel tales from the Andes and beyond. The menu of the night may be Chilean, but the atmosphere is clearly all about Danish ‘hygge’.
Either of these scenarios could have been taken straight out of a foodie’s wanderlust daydream – or perhaps the memoirs of a well-connected globetrotter. Yet, not only are the two experiences real; they are no longer limited to the lucky few.
Meanwhile, in Athens, a charming balcony sets the stage for a true feast of fresh
Social dining platform TastePlease allows home cooks and food lovers of all
26 | Issue 103 | August 2017
backgrounds and nationalities to connect and share a new type of dining experience. Since March, dinners like those in Athens and Copenhagen have started to pop up all over the globe.
The theme and menu vary from event to event, but they all have one thing in common: the hosts and guests do not know each other beforehand. A shared interest in a specific cuisine, a social mindset or general curiosity is all that binds them together; but with the food as a natural icebreaker, there is no need to fear awkward silences. TastePlease founder Frank Lantz is himself a frequent user of the platform and has hosted many events already. It is his experience that the social dinners often lead to new connections between the guests and hosts, who could be any mix of curious travellers, social expats and hospitable locals.