When you're traveling, sometimes the best way to experience the destination is to eat with locals in the comfort of their own home.
But if you don't know anyone personally, there are apps that can connect you with people who will host such gatherings.
Meal-sharing apps like Feastly, EatWith, and Cookapp, are basically like Airbnb for meals. They connect tourists with locals and are changing the way people travel.
I decided to be a tourist within my own city and try out one of these apps. I signed myself up for Feastly, and booked a $42 dinner of unique handmade pizzas prepared by a woman named Michelle, who lives in Union Square, in the center of Manhattan. The three other guests I shared the meal with were all tourists visiting New York City from other countries.
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I chose to attend Michelle's pizza party, but Feastly offers cuisines from all over the world. Prices range from free to around $70 in New York City. The site currently operates in four US cities (New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, DC), but is planning to expand.
Michelle enjoys cooking, and the recipes she tries often don't come from a cookbook. This meal was the fourth she's prepared for guests through Feastly. In the past, she's made dishes like Beef Wellington. She generally prefers to keep groups small: the largest number of guests she's served is eight.
The meal I booked with Michelle started at 7:00 pm, so around 6:45 pm I made my way over to Michelle's Union Square apartment.
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