Whether it’s a secret supper club, a pop-up restaurant or an immersive dining event, eating out is all about the experience these days – but it hasn’t always been easy to find out about these more unusual ‘under-the-radar’ style events. All that has now changed, however, with the arrival of WeFiFo (short for We Find Food).
Almost like the foodie equivalent of Airbnb, this online platform enables home cooks, supper-club hosts and professional chefs to bring their local communities together through food and drink while making a small income on the side.
“These days, there is such a passion in the UK for cooking – and for sharing food with others,” says Jon Stefani, who co-founded the organisation with his wife, Seni Glaister, in the summer of 2016. “You only have to look at the numbers of people sharing pictures of their creations on Instagram, and watching cookery shows etc, so we wanted to tap into that passion.”
Just two years after the organisation was formed, they have certainly managed to do just that. Today, they have hundreds of members, have facilitated numerous events across the UK and are even expanding into other countries such as Scandinavia and Russia.
They have also facilitated dining experiences at such diverse locations as a yoga yurt on the beach, a woodland in the Surrey Hills and a narrow boat on a canal – and, coming soon, a hot air balloon! However, there hasn’t yet been anything quite on the scale that they are planning for the next big showcase event of their own.
On Sunday September 2, they will be hosting an afternoon street party in Horsham’s East Street – the town’s foodie ‘district’ – with a trestle table spanning the entire length of the street. What is more, the table will be manned collectively by around ten of the town’s restaurants – ranging from independents such as Michelin-star restaurant Tristan to high street names such as Wagamamas, Ask, Bills and Nandos to small Thai chain Giggling Squid and popular pub, the Brewhouse & Kitchen – who will each be responsible selling tickets for their own section.
“We’re all so excited about this event,” continues Jon, who lives with his wife and their four children on a farm in Slinfold, West Sussex. “One of our main aims at WeFiFo is to bring cooking into unusual locations – and that includes civic and commercial spaces. So, when we found out that the Horsham year of Culture was coming up in 2019, we began to think of how we could celebrate that through food.
“One of the ideas was to stage a celebratory foodie event, with a mile-long table through the town, so this will be our test run for that, as it were.”
So far, thing couldn’t be going better with everybody in the town embracing the idea – from the council to the local restaurants to the residents themselves. With the aim very much to involve the whole community, the event will also be as inclusive as possible, with price points for every budget and special provision for those with mobility issues.
“It’s a street party without having to care about the Queen,” laughs John. “I mean, God bless her, I have nothing against the Queen but there needs to be other reasons to bring people together too – and what better reason than showcasing and celebrating the diversity of food on our high streets?”
Here at Local Food Britain, we couldn’t agree more!
Tags: supper clubs
