HAVE YOU EATEN?
What happens when a hive mind of contributors – led by a food journalist and a software developer – join forces? In Nick Jordan and Louis Lepper’s case, tasty things. Have You Eaten is an interactive food map created by the pair, that lists recommendations for regional and dish-specific cuisine categories across greater Sydney. As a journalist Nick Jordan has been writing about local restaurants for a while, in particular for Broadsheet’s “Local Knowledge” column. “Some people had tried to plot all of the restaurants I’d written about on a Google Map. That got us talking about what we could do on a larger scale,” says Jordan.
The pair sprung into action sourcing suggestions from across Sydney, going beyond typical media streams. “If you want information about what’s popular or well-respected among different groups across Sydney, they’re all represented in different ways.” Jordan spoke to different community bodies, explored Facebook groups and chatted to chefs, depending on the different communities he was seeking to represent. When sourcing these suggestions Jordan also wanted to focus on why they were being recommended, beyond price or prestige. “If they say ‘My family has been going to this place for many years’ or ‘It’s the first place I was introduced to when I came to Sydney.’ Those are places we want to have more conversations about,” says Jordan.
The initial launch phase saw a Google Maps integrated desktop program, which users could access via Patreon [a pay wall subscription service] and over the coming months they will roll out Android and iPhone apps. For Lepper and Jordan, it’s a way of helping others discover something new, be it through specific dishes, or an instantaneous nearby recommendation. “Exploring Sydney in this way is really celebrating its diversity,” says Jordan. “What we’re really hoping to achieve, even in a tiny section of the population, is to educate people about the nuance and variety of different cuisines.” To this end there are 150 different sub-categories ready to be explored, covering both regional cuisines and styles of cooking. Chinese cuisine alone is represented by 21 different sub-categories, ranging from regional provinces, through to styles of restaurant from hot pot to yum cha. Other categories include Brazilian pizza, Fijian-Indian, Ecuadorian and Javanese.
As the platform develops, they want to add more cuisines, develop the search functions and expand the map geographically. “Really we want to make it easier to search and find things,” says Lepper. The process of creating the platform, is one of eating delicious things and learning. “We’re definitely going to make some mistakes because I don’t know all the cuisines of the world like the back of my hand,” says Jordan. “So we’re just going to have to keep talking to people and refine how we categorise things.” haveyoueaten.co