Bookalokal, a social dining network, is launching in metro D.C. on the weekend of April 19–20. The network is headquartered in incubator 1776, but events will be held in hosts’ homes and other venues.
Bookalokal chose the District as its first United States market because of its similarities to Brussels, Belgium, where it was founded in 2012. “Brussels is the capital of the European Union. A lot of expats move in and out of the city. There’s a strong food culture. People are open to ideas,” says Evelyne White, co-founder and partner with Frank Ramirez in the start-up. The co-founders met through CoFounders Lab, a company matchmaking platform in Rockville.
Similarly, she says, “D.C. is the nation’s capital. It’s comparable in population size to Brussels. There’s a large inflow of people. And, you have a diverse population to draw from for culinary experiences.”
White was living in Brussels and Ramirez in New York when Bookalokal was accepted into the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, in Manhattan. “We were thrilled to get in,” said White, who moved to New York to begin the four-month-long program in January of 2014.
Bookalokal held 10 pre-events in D.C. last month to meet hosts and test their culinary expertise. “We had a lot of interest [from potential hosts]. The district has a strong food culture, and so much activity in artisanal products and markets. They liked the concept of exposure to a broad array of visitors,” she says.
With Bookalokal, the host prepares a meal, like a brunch or dinner, or sponsors an event like a wine and cheese tour. The host sets the fee for the experience, although Bookalokal suggests keeping the price to a cost that covers the experience. Guests find a list of experiences and prices on the website, for which they pay. Bookalokal takes a cut of 15 percent of each transaction.
White says most of the experiences are held in private homes, although events for large groups have included a baking class held in a bakery and a chocolate tasting in a chocolate shop.
“Our hosts don’t host in their homes more than twice a month,” says White. “We don’t want people setting up a restaurant in their homes.”
When White originally launched the Bookalokal website in Brussels, she expected most of the users to be travelers to the city. “It was a way to find a local person to share a meal with,” she says.
As it turned out, though, many of the users ended up being new residents of Brussels who saw the website as a way to connect with other residents. “Not only were they Belgians, but people of different backgrounds who’d moved to Brussels,” she says White, who currently has about 3,000 members and 100 hosts in Brussels. She has since expanded the website to other countries in Europe and Africa.
Bookalokal has a staff of seven full-time employees, including the two co-founders, and Jackie Woodbury, who was hired to launch the start-up in D.C. The company is looking for five “ambassadors’ for D.C. – people familiar in their communities and/or the food business – to grow awareness of the website. The ambassadors will receive credit to attend events.
White says the company hopes to match its Brussels numbers by July. It also has plans to expand in the future to Boston and Chicago, and is looking to hire launchers in those cities.