A NEW concept has launched in Dorset which encourages residents to host a pop-up restaurant as an affordable alternative to eating out.

Karen Jones and Holly Williams have started up Eat My World, a free service for food lovers which aims to encourage more people to attend and host a supper club, where diners buy tickets for a home-cooked meal.

It aims to bring like-minded people together through their love of food and the setting for the supper club can be as varied as a dining room table, space set up in a garden shed or even an abandoned castle.

Karen said: “A supper club host can be anyone who wants to open up their home, or a chosen location, for an evening and cook.

She added: “Hosts don’t need to have any professional qualifications, just a passion for cooking and a desire to share their passion with others.

“You get to meet new people and share a meal with them, and when attending a supper club abroad, it can be a way to immerse yourself in a different culture and make new friends.”

For more information, go to eatmyworld.com

Make friends while enjoying food

TO try out the concept of the supper club, I go along to one myself in Poole, which is themed around an American feast.

The host lays on a colourful feast with a bourbon cocktail to start and all the food is made with the help of an outside catering company, Dirty Apron, to allow them to sit with us.

While it is a strange feeling at first to be sat around the dinner table with strangers, with just a ticket to a supper club in common, it’s also a nice way to have a sociable evening.

It was a great way to enjoy a meal cooked for you, and the food someone else cooks you appreciate all the more when you can see the hard work that’s gone into it.

Not only does it work out cheaper way to eat out than going to a restaurant, but at a supper club you are bound to meet people from all walks of life and possibly make new friends over dinner.