This is a hybridisation of the Masterchef phenomenon with increased singledom. I’m calling it just+1.

At the risk of sounding like a bad lonely hearts idea, this involves the hijacking of a local restaurant on the one night a week that they are closed, or perhaps a cafe that is only open during the day. There is one designated cook on a rotating roster who has the privilege of cooking for a whole bunch of strangers, serving up the food to whomever comes in through the door. At the cost of a normal takeaway alternative, diners have a home cooked meal in their local neighbourhood where they can drop in and leave as they please, or hang out with new friends.

Purpose? So that when you’re working late and get home to an empty apartment, you don’t have to think about cooking. And you have somewhere non-committal but interesting to go on a rainy Monday night when you really don’t want to be alone watching reruns of American sitcoms. Whether it serves a niche on a continual basis is yet to be determined, but the novelty factor exists.

I think this has the opportunity of building community, and hopefully won’t stop in its initial gestation period and not hit the ground running.

What we need to make it work:

• a mailing list of interested people willing to participate both as cooks and diners
• a willing restaurant/cafe space (is this where Kinfolk comes in?) that will allow non-chefs to use their space and equipment
• regular droppers by
• financial backing for ongoing operations as well as funding for food

What do you think? Are you on board?