Home cooked meals entice travellers
One of the things that travellers miss most while abroad is perhaps the joy of a homecooked meal.
A new venture called Mealbook NZ is providing the option for travellers to meet locals over a meal with Far North chefs and home cooks signing up to do just that.
Kaeo vegetarian chef Anna Valentine says a friend had once asked if she could pay Anna to cook dinner for her.
The following week she was sent the link to join up to Mealbook NZ.
Her family’s 140-year-old Kauri villa on Kaeo’s main street provides a unique venue for dinner.
‘‘It works perfectly with my lifestyle, being able to work from home and organise it around my cook school and when I am available.’’
The website offers people the opportunity to select a ‘home res- taurant’ and book a time to visit.
Although yet to have a paying guest through her home, Valentine is looking forward to her first customer.
‘‘I’m sure it will take off, we are quite remote and there isn’t a huge choice.
‘‘We are totally different to everyone else, it will be interes- ting to see how it pans out.
‘‘We [Valentine and husband Gareth] are social people and have travelled ourselves.’’
She says her two young girls will enjoy meeting new people and having different faces at the dinner table.
Valentine cooks with mostly organic and spray free local produce.
Although the new venture is primarily targeted at travellers wanting a meal, Valentine says it might be a good option for locals wanting a change of scenery or people living by themselves.
‘‘It could be good for locals, as it’s nice to go somewhere else for a change or who want something different.’’
A number of hosts from the Far North have also signed on to Mealbook NZ with locations in Kerikeri and the Hokianga.
Mealbook NZ founder Susy Bretherton says the idea of travellers eating with home-based cooks is not new but big overseas.
Bretherton realised a gap last summer when some of her guests from overseas could not find anywhere open for dinner.
For more information: mealbook.nz