As Eric Salit prepped his chicken sorrentino marsala and bucatini arrabiata for a recent Saturday night dinner party, he was confident in the familiar recipes he’d served time and again. But one critical element made this gathering a game changer — he didn’t know any of the guests en route to his Gramercy apartment.
“Never in my life have I done anything like this before,” says Salit, 28, who works in corporate finance by day and claims to have acquired all of his cooking skills watching the Food Network.
Salit is one of a growing number of hosts throughout the New York City metro area using Cookapp, a new Web site that allows outgoing wannabe chefs to turn their apartments into restaurants for a night and adventurous eaters to get gourmet grub for far less than they would spend eating out.
Think of it as Airbnb for diners.
Unlike secret supper clubs that have been in the city for years, details of Cookapp dinners are accessible to anyone with Wi-Fi. Guests are encouraged to make a “suggested donation” — typically $40 to $60 (sometimes booze is included, other times it’s BYO) — to cover the host’s costs.
The “suggested donation” wording is a means of getting around the NYC Health Department, which does not condone selling meals to the public out of a residence.
“These establishments don’t have a permit, nor are they inspected,” says a department spokesperson, adding that the activity could result in fines.
The health police aside, the site has whet the appetite of many. Cookapp officially launched in New York City in mid-February, and already some 6,500 users have signed up for it. It first launched in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in May 2013 and has amassed more than 41,000 registered users there.
To host an event, cooks must submit an application, allow their homes to be vetted for safety and stage an audition dinner. Cookapp sends a professional food photographer to taste and document the meal for the site.
“We have definitely turned people away,” says Pedro Rivas, 35, Cookapp’s co-founder. “Our goal is to promote hosts who we know can provide a consistent, enjoyable experience.”
Salit’s recent guests certainly enjoyed themselves. “We were all friends within the first few minutes,” says Chelly Campbell, 47. She works in morning television and thought the Cookapp dinner might be a fun way to expand her social circle.
Fellow guest Takena Russell, 30, a domain expert for a tech company, gushes about Salit’s cooking. “I wish I would have thought ahead to bring a take-away container,” she says.
Not all Cookapp guests are as wowed by the experience. Donna Goldman, a 50-something who lives in the East Village, attended a recent candle-lit event at the Hoboken home of Alicia Moritz, 40. Goldman, an avid cook herself, thinks Moritz could have done things a bit differently.
“I wish the dinner was a bit more casual,” says Goldman. “The whole thing [should have been] on the lighter side.”
Critical diners are just one potential risk for Cookapp hosts. What about the possibility of more menacing guests — say, someone who steals your silverware?
Rivas says there are no formal security measures in place but notes that Cookapp does collect contact and credit card information from guests. “If anything were to happen, we could track [a person] down,” he says.
Still, Jennifer Chiongbian, 43, a culinary school grad-turned-real estate broker, says that having strangers to her apartment gave her pause.
“I had a few security issues with the idea,” she says. “But the cool thing is that 80 percent of the people you come in contact with have a Facebook account. So you can screen a little bit.”
She needn’t have worried. She hosted her first Cookapp meal, a brunch for five, earlier this month. It was a success, and her guests, like Alexandra Janelli, 32, a hypnotherapist from the Upper West Side, were great.
Sitting down to eat, Janelli exclaimed, “Good thing we are all normal!”