New Social Dining Network nibblr Launches in UK

Nibblr members can now book for social network dinners at exclusive restaurants with people of similar interests in London. You can even check out who’s coming to the dinner by viewing their profile online beforehand. Aimed at foodies, networkers, socialites and travelling guests, nibblr is currently building its network in London with hundreds of users and 15 restaurants signed-up already. The company plans to expand across several cities in the UK and Europe – a French version is on the way. Membership to nibblr is free, all you need to do is upload your profile and you can sign up using Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Yahoo or Gmail. nibblr is already developing their mobile phone app which will be available across all smart phones soon.

Founded by entrepreneur Neil Rafferty, the site has been in beta since July, allowing early testers to experiment with the social dining concept and now fully live. Neil says: “Eating has always been a social thing, but finding a restaurant should be a social experience too. We’re trying to bring people together over a shared love of food in a way that is useful and exciting. The whole process of deciding where and what to eat, organising who we’re eating with, through to reviewing how the night went is why we decided to launch nibblr – we felt there needed to be a place to do all of that online. It’s opening up a new type of dining experience.”

So NO more dining alone!

Restaurants signed up with nibblr  tap into a booming market for online foodies and get reviews. Restaurants offer a flexible number of tables and menus for a set price and have guaranteed bookings that night.

From what we saw  it’s incredibly good value too.

nibblr launched at Avista, London in October, 2012 and @alangreenhalgh was there to wet the baby’s head…

Greeted by a glass of prosecco, aubergine canapes and warm words from our hosts Neil Rafferty, of Nibblr and Anne McKale, PR Manager at Millennium Mayfair Hotel.

We wafted into the nicely lit and relaxed dining room of the fabulous Avista restaurant on Grosvenor Square, London for a five star dining experience with new friends including

@nibblr @thefoodtripper @edible_exp @melbrogy @yummychooeats

@hungryLondon @SlowFoodKitchen @StephsBubble and @CameronYorke

nibblrs at Avista Mayfair – new friends on and offline

Head Chef Michele Granziera at Avista

Anecdotes to kick the evening off were about how you never know who’ll turn up at a nibblr dinner – Michael Barrymore, that bloke off Cash in the Attic, strangers from out of town  and media savvy foodies. There are some dining groups developing, such as entrepreneurs, tech, women in business, aspiring performers and even knitters! We were the newbie nibblrs.

The celebrity diner thing took off and by the end of the evening with we’d created our own ultimate reality show  – think Strictly Come Dine With Me Bake Off On Ice.

This is what we ate:

Crab Salad at Avista Mayfair

Our new nibblr friend May drew the long straw and offered round the ginormous grissini sticks. Dinner got off to a great start with Crab Salad with avocado, papaya, basil and lemon sorbet – a real surprise to find a couple of lettuce leaves cradling the roughly chopped crab and as the sorbet melted it gave quite a tart surprise to the creamy avocado. Quite wet, like a lemony green sea.

Vermentino Villa Solais, Santadi – so  this is a social network dinner, iPhones out and snapping anything that moved or served on a plate. This wine bottle came with a QR code which went straight to vineyard’s website in Italian. We had Italian nibblrs @sonia and @guiliano to translate for us.

Risotto with mushroom and foie gras – the aroma from this dish was devastatingly good. If it was a bit dry for some tastes then the olive oil that stayed on the table throughout the meal added the extra lubrication.

Il Glicine

Valtellina Superiore Sassell ‘Il Glicine’, Fay 2007  – of course it’s ‘always a red with risotto’ commented our attentive waiter.

Braque-style Salmon

Steamed salmon with asparagus, béarnaise sauce and Porto wine reduction – beautifully presented on the plate like a cubist artist’s work. Rather like the stuff hanging on the walls. The art, I mean, not the asparagus.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay Fontanell, Banli 2010  – we laughed as we normally fall into the ABC crowd (Anything but Chardonnay) but this wine was perfect. Cold and crisp turning warm on the palette.

Braised pork cheeks with Swiss chard, mustard mashed potato and red wine jus – for me the stand out dish of the evening. The cheeks were rich, tasty and chewy.

Pinot Nero

Pinot Nero Riserva Niedemayr, 2007 – the thing we like about Pinot Nero is this wine is not so likely to leave you with a hangover. The wine flowed but wasn’t overdone. A great menu and a perfect flight of wine.

Plum tart with vanilla ice-cream  – no Mary Berry soggy bottoms here, just a crumbly and custardy pastry.

Finally, Moscadella di Montalcino Florus, Banfi, 2010. Sweet, icy and the perfect finish.

Not forgetting  – Coffee, tea and petit four. Wow!

@nibblr is so much fun. An evening filled with exciting chatter and lots of laughter. You’ve got to try it! A fantastic night, new friends, a superb five course menu at a great price – typical events cost around £35 but our dinner served a la carte would be at least double that price. The set price is usually just for the food menu and if you want to order wine then each nibblr is billed individually at the end of the night for any drinks they have had.

This will seriously catch on. Bite now.

The next  ‘Social in the City‘ dinner at Avista takes place on November 22 @ 7:30 pm but there lots of other events like this one at Sanctum Soho Hotel on 1st November for £30.

Visit www.nibblr.co.uk to find out more and to book your first nibblr experience.