Fancy a mouthwatering meal from a chef who has served celebrities? Or want to rustle up a gourmet dinner? It now seems possible to do all that by just logging on to a new social networking site designed exclusively for chefs.
ChefHost, an online peer-to-peer marketplace and community connects chefs and hosts for private dining and exclusive catering services.
“Like a LinkedIn or Facebook site, ChefHost is an online community that connects chefs and hosts,” says Abhinandan Balasubramanian, Founder and CEO of the startup.
The platform has 250 chefs, including celebrity chefs plus over 50 culinary consultants, and partners signed up.
So for a plain dinner or a fancy wedding, consumers who want the services of a professional chef can log on to the networking site where the chefs have advertised their services.
“It is very straight forward; hosts can search for a chef based on cuisine, budget, etc. and enquire online about the chef’s availability. On acceptance of the booking by the chef the hosts pay online. The chef does the homework -planning, and shopping- and on the day of the booking, cooking and cleaning!” says Balasubramanian.
Launched in June this year in India and HongKong, the website currently has over 2500 subscriptions and claims to have over 15 high profile bookings lined up till the end of November.
“We are also launching the premium feature ‘Fly home a chef’ where hosts can hire international celebrity chefs for bespoke dining. This is a luxury category, and we already have two booking enquiries for this service,” says Balasubramanian.
Prices to hire a chef start at Rs 1500 per person depending on the type of menu and the type of experience (buffet or plated), and the quality of the chef.
ChefHost has also signed an exclusive partnership with a food and beverage conglomerate that has 11 restaurants and a combined six Michelin stars.
“We launched the platform at WebSummit in Dublin and are also looking to launch the concept as a mobile app tentatively by January 2015,” says Balasubramanian.
Celebrity chefs like Ajay Chopra, an ex judge at Masterchef India, Ripudaman Handa the winner of Masterchef India (Season 3) and high profile chefs from Hong Kong are on board.
“To be a member of the site one has to be a professional chef or be reviewed by food critics or come recommended. We will obviously require some basic identity for security purposes from both the chefs and hosts,” says Balasubramanian.
Chef Ajay Chopra, executive chef Satrwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc and one of the most sought-after by Bollywood celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Hrithik Roshan and Aamir Khan, has been a part of the network for the last three months and is enthusiastic about the concept.
“I feel that it is a superb platform for both very professional and semi professional chefs to get a buyer of their cuisine with cities or countries not being a barrier. I can envision we are flying chefs of the likes of Atul Kochar and Vivek Singh from London for laying out a gourmet affair for the gourmand who is ready for that very different experience,” says Chef Ajay Chopra.
Ripudaman Handa who has cooked for rap artists like Honey Singh and multinational brands like Cox and Kings, Shillong Tourism, Yours Foods Australia, Nestle and Philips, says it is an innovative platform for not only the new and upcoming chefs, but the seasoned and tenured chefs too.
“Partnership with ChefHost started in October 2014. I like the idea and blueprint with which the ChefHost team approached me. This will also be a very good forum for anybody who loves food or is related to the hospitality industry,” says Handa.
