Eat With Everyone
By Elva Carri
You’ve probably heard of couchsurfing. You might have even heard about Berlin’s Bike Surfing. It’s clear we don’t just like to share on Facebook, we like to share in real life and this ethos is growing fast here. Freeconomy, a sharing initiative founded by Irish activist Mark Boyle has just merged with Streetbank, making sharing with neighbours nicer and easier than ever.
And EatWith has arrived, offering a new, sharing experience for foodies. EatWith allows you to host or dine in homes and enjoy scrumptious cuisine and new experiences. Eating out is great but there’s something intrinsically special and intimate about food cooked and devoured in someone’s home. Firstly, it opens up the possibilities of what you eat from ‘trend’ food and established favourites, to age old family secrets or the delights created by those who cook from the heart, on instinct. Secondly, the pace of conversation at a dinner table is blissfully different to that of a restaurant.
Helena Vigodsky, one of the first EatWith hosts in Ireland says, “Food is one of the basic needs and pleasures in life, sharing it is sharing life and creating community.”
How did it come about? One evening in Crete, one of the founders of EatWith, dined at the home of the Papadakis family, a connection that was made through a friend of a friend. They didn’t just enjoy the food but spent four hours chatting. They describe how it ‘broke the bubble of disconnection’ you can feel when travelling. They sat, ate and connected. Now you can too, whether travelling or at home.
