Monthly Archives: March 2012

Meet Our Ifabber Elyse Pasquale

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What’s your job? What do you love about it?

I’m a full time foodie! I travel 100,000 miles each year for 100 great local meals around the world. I worked in theater production for a number of years but my true passion has always been food and travel. I created Foodie International in 2010 and 200,000 miles later, food and travel writing has become a career. Check out Elyse’s website Foodie International http://foodieinternational.com/

Why do you like Invite For A Bite?

As someone who travels the world constantly in search of great local meals, it’s always more fun to share that wonderful culinary experience with someone else. I love the idea that I can meet up with fellow foodies on a global scale.

What have you invited people to on Invite For A Bite?

A few upcoming foodie adventures! In the next month I’m heading to San Sebastian, Spain for a pintxos (Basque tapas) crawl, Addis Ababa for great Ethiopian cuisine and my other home base of Tuscany where I spend four months each year.

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten?

I’m willing to try everything at least once! I’ve eaten scorpions in Beijing, sea cucumber in Tokyo, guinea pig in Lima, whale in Reykjavik, reindeer carpaccio in Moscow, pig face on a Tuscan farm, kitfo (raw ground beef) in Addis Ababa, kangaroo in Sydney and a bacon milkshake in New York City.

What’s your guiltiest food pleasure?

I’m a sucker for Cool Ranch Doritos.

Which women, living now or in the past, would you invite to an ifab dinner party?

I’d love to sit down and share a fabulous meal with Hilary Clinton, J.K. Rowling, Tori Amos and Cindy Sherman.

Where are you from, and when you’re traveling what food from your country do you miss the most?

I live in New York City and a tiny village in Southern Tuscany. When I’m away from Italy too long I crave spaghetti carbonara and fresh salsciccia. When I’m away from New York too long I crave Shake Shack cheeseburgers. I have to say that I don’t “miss” any food because every day is such an incredible culinary adventure. I never know what I’ll discover and fall in love with next.

Name a country you’ve visited whose food you love. What not-to-be-missed dish should people eat there?

There are so many! I’ve eaten my way through nearly 60 countries. My favorite foodie destinations are: Italy (duh!), Turkey for fried anchovies, kokoreç, döner kebap, and some of the best breakfasts ever. Japan for mind-blowing sushi, okonomiyaki, chicken skin yakitori and pork belly ramen.

If you could be in one place right now, where would it be? Why?

I’m so happy to be exactly where I am – in New York City, in transit between Costa Rica and San Sebastian, Spain. Here in New York I have the flavors of the world at my fingertips. However, I’m so excited to travel to San Sebastian in two weeks. The town is a foodie Mecca, the seat of Western cuisine. It’s at the top of my culinary bucket list.

Nosy, we know, but what are you having for dinner tonight?

I’m heading to a friend’s birthday party at a New York restaurant that serves both Italian and Cuban cuisine so I’ll have to decide when I arrive, but I do know that multiple mojitos will most definitely be involved!

What about YOU dear reader? What food from your country do you miss when you’re on the road?

 


Meet Our Ifabber Danielle Donker

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Danielle Donker

What’s your job? What do you love about it?

Soon my boutique guesthouse will open in the Ourika Valley. A beautiful and peaceful valley in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, forty five minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Marrakech. I am currently working on the interior design of the guest rooms.

I also search for and buy vintage Moroccan Berber carpets and other beautiful things which I sell on my website and in the very near future in my boutique.

My work gives me an opportunity to be creative, to travel and to meet interesting people. I love my work!

(Check out Danielle’s website: http://www.beyondmarrakech.blogspot.co.uk/
Danielle is hosting an invite: Dinner in bella Calabria).

Why do you like Invite For A Bite?

It is a very unique and informal way to meet other travelling women who may also be carrying a book or magazine to the dining table for a little company!

Beautiful Calabria

What have you invited people to on Invite For A Bite?

A dinner in Calabria, the beautiful south of Italy!

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten?

Piranha’s in Venezuela.

What’s your guiltiest food pleasure?

Italian ice cream (only the real thing in Italy though!)
Oh, and in Verona (address: Corso Porta Nuova) there is a Japanese restaurant called Ikai which serves the best, most delicious warm chocolate cake topped with green tea flavoured ice cream! Had two portions last time I was there!

Which women, living now or in the past, would you invite to an ifab dinner party?

Buying Carpets In The Souk Of Marrakech

Cleopatra, Mary Magdalene, Maria Montessori, Stevie Nicks, Karen Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Dawn French and I could go on and on…

Where are you from, and when you’re traveling what food from your country do you miss the most?

I am from The Netherlands but before moving to Morocco my home was in Italy. When I travel I don’t really need to miss Italian food because in every city worldwide there is always a great Italian restaurant. The Dutch are not particularly famed for their cuisine but enter a snack bar in The Netherlands and you will not want to leave!

Name a country you’ve visited whose food you love. What not-to-be-missed dish should people eat there?

Morocco, tagine with prunes and almonds! Will definitely organise an invite for atagine bite at my home here in the Ourika Valley!

 

What about YOU dear reader? What food from your country do you miss when you’re abroad?

Meet Our Ifabber Lucy Dodsworth

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Lucy at Symonds Yat in the Forest Of Dean, England

What’s your job? What do you love about it?
I’m a freelance editor and designer and started working for myself a year ago. I do a bit of everything – from proofreading books to designing brochures, doing photoshoots and even painting murals. I love the variety and being able to work where and when I want to (which seems to involve a lot of my sofa!). I’ve also got a sideline as a new travel blogger at www.ontheluce.com which lets me combine my big loves of photography, writing and travel.

Why do you like Invite for a Bite?
I do a bit of solo travel and never liked eating on my own so the site is a great way to meet up with other women from around the world. Plus I’ve moved to a new area recently so it”ll also be good to meet people who live nearby or are travelling here.

What have you invited people to on Invite for a Bite?
I fancy learning to cook something new so have put up an invite to see if anyone would like to do a cookery class in the Forest of Dean, learning to make pasta or tapas or something (and obviously eating it afterwards!).

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve eaten?
I did a wine-tasting tour around Margaret River in Western Australia, and a few wineries in we had a picnic and got to try kangaroo, crocodile and pate made out of mealy grubs. Must have been the wine as I wouldn’t have eaten them sober!

What’s your guiltiest food pleasure?
I love cheese in any form – goats, soft, blue. I did a tasting at Neal’s Yard Dairy in London recently and was in heaven.

Which women, living now or in the past, would you invite to an ifab dinner party?
My mum and grandmothers, Judi Dench, Alex Kingston and Meryl Streep.

Where are you from? When you’re traveling what food from your country do you miss the most?
I’m from Herefordshire in England. My favourite English foods would definitely be a roast dinner and a good cup of tea!

Name a country you’ve visited whose food you love. What not-to-be-missed dish should people eat there?
The food in Morocco was fantastic – don’t miss the tagines with lots of mint tea.

If you could be in one place right now, where would it be?
On a beach in South East Asia, drinking a cold beer and eating freshly caught fish off the barbecue.

Nosy, we know, but what are you having for dinner tonight?
I’m cooking up a roasted vegetable lasagne.

What about YOU dear reader? Why not leave a comment or answer one of those questions yourself right here!

Meet Our Ifabber Andrea Banfi

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Ifabbers like to have fun!

What’s your job? What do you love about it?

I am in charge of record management and adjudications at the London HQ of Guinness World Records. I love our record holders and the sheer variety of my daily work. I love to witness the moments when records get broken, to see how the faces of our record holders change when we announce the success of an attempt. It is often emotional and I love being part of it, it has fed my enthusiasm for the past 6 years.

Why do you like Invite For A Bite?
My team and I travel a lot both in the UK and abroad to adjudicate record attempts. So the idea of a website where I could find another woman to have dinner with sounds great. Often after a long day I prefer to go to bed without dinner to having dinner in a restaurant on my own or resort to ordering room service. I will definitely use it myself and recommend it to my colleagues.

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten?
I don’t count pigeon and frog legs, I had crocodile soup and fried snake, both in China.

What’s your guiltiest food pleasure?
My mum’s cream caramel, the meringue roulade served at the Marshmallow Restaurant & Tea Rooms in Moreton in Marsh, Brazilian cheese bread, I could go on!

Which women, living now or in the past, would you invite to an ifab dinner party?
Harper Lee, Mother Teresa, my grandma and Hillary Clinton.

What food from your country do you miss the most?(Andrea is from Hungary)
The great thing about London is that you can get hold of everything. Except sour cherries. I miss sour cherries.

Name a country you’ve visited whose food you love. What not-to-be-missed dish should people eat there?
The best food I had abroad was in the Middle East, I love mezzes and their fresh herby salads, and in China, Cantonese food is my second favourite.

If you could be in one place right now, where would it be? Why?
On a sunny beach in Brazil, slurping a cocktail. Why? It’s obvious, I think!

Nosy, we know, but what are you having for dinner tonight?
I am cooking a vegetable jalfrezi tonight. Mmmmmh

Hello dear reader, why not choose one of those questions and answer it right here!

Why Invite For A Bite?

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Founder of Invite For A Bite Cressida Howard

A year ago I wasn’t so much a technophobe as a technomoron, a few steps away from a bean can and string. My computer was my boyfriend’s hand-me-down, an unwieldy beast from the late 90s. My mobile phone could have been in a museum, only tolerated ‘in case the car breaks down’. I couldn’t even text. If someone had told me I’d be launching a new social network I would have laughed in their face, and any other body part they cared to show me.

But there’s a certain power, as well as bliss, in ignorance. If you don’t know what you’re letting yourself in for, there’s no fear to put you off. Several months later, you wake up at 4am silently screaming: ‘What the **** am I doing? I don’t know what I’m doing! Why am I doing this?’ But by then it’s too late. Money and time have been invested. Other people have been roped in. You’ve got a face to save.

It was listening to a radio program on the BBC’s Woman’s Hour that gave me the idea for Invite For A Bite. A group of women were talking about traveling alone. Although they loved it, they said the one thing they hated was eating alone. I was in the kitchen poking at my teabag when the thought pinged in my brain: ‘Wouldn’t it be great if there was a website where women who didn’t want to eat alone could hook up with one another and eat together?’

I got very excited thinking about how much I’d love to use it. How I could be anywhere in the world and at the drop of a hat (or a quick click) I’d have a friendly face to chat to. I scoured the internet, but couldn’t find the site I was imagining, so – blissfully and powerfully ignorant of the work involved – I decided to create it. With lots of ideas but a technical skill set hovering above zero, I enlisted the help of two friends, web developer George Farron and web designer Kayleigh Witts-Thomas.

As we worked on the site other ideas pinged into my brain. I thought, you know what, I’d love to use this site at home too. I’d like to meet people who live near me, as well as those traveling through. And maybe – what the heck! – to do stuff together that doesn’t always involve eating. Meet people to eat with, chat, have fun, wherever I am in the world.

Now the 4am screaming has stopped. I’m no longer a technomoron, but a technolover. I love how it’s enabled me to create the site I wanted to join. I hope you like it too and we can meet one day – online or offline – at home or away!

Please drop us a note in the comment box and say ‘Hi’. Tell us what you think of the show so far :)