When you're traveling to new places, it's best to eat as the locals do. VizEat, which describes itself as the biggest social dining platform in Europe, is a website (and soon, an app) that pairs travelers with local chefs who can cook up gourmet, community-inspired meals in their own homes.
The platform, which launched in Paris back in 2014, currently operates in 65 different countries and has around 60,000 members and 10,000 local hosts.
The hosts range from professional chefs — like Food Network star and personal chef Danushka Lysek — to locals who simply want to cook and meet new people.
Since Lysek is based in New York City, we decided to test out the platform by trying out a multi-course meal she prepared for us in her own apartment. Here's what it was like.
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Our host was Danushka Lysek, a private chef who has cooked on shows like Food Network's "Chopped", "Cutthroat Kitchen", and "Food Network Star". She was also a live-in chef on the VH1 series "Supergroup" and has cooked for celebrities like Ted Nugent and Scott Ian of the metal band Anthrax.
VizEat users can choose between various menus that hosts list on the site before meeting up for a meal. Lysek hosted us in her New York City apartment.
Hosts typically post pictures of themselves and what they cook, and list the languages they speak and the alcohol pairings they plan to serve.
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