Where should we go to dinner?
These six little words find their way to my lips practically every weekend. Once again, you’re trying to decide which Boston restaurant to go to while browsing OpenTable, hoping for an open reservation at the perfect spot. Needless to say, you’re met with a plethora of options including trendy restaurants and tried-and-true favorites in the Hub. Maybe you find yourself Googling the menus – some of which contain culinary terms you’ve never heard of, nor can you pronounce. God forbid the menu have an actual “glossary” attached to it.
Sadly, this sort of dining dilemma happens to me more than I’d care to admit. It’s tough choosing just one restaurant amongst Boston’s many dining choices – until now.
One local startup is simplifying the way Bostonians make everyday dining decisions. The Boston-based app, FotoDish, provides accurate, professional quality photographs of restaurant dishes for diners to view before ever setting foot inside the eatery.
The app's creators at Farseer Inc., which recently raised $100,000 in funding, are making it possible for locals to see restaurants' food without digging through hundreds of Yelp reviews.
The team behind the app, which has now photographed dishes at more than 500 restaurants in the Boston area, insists that FotoDish sends their own photographers to the restaurants. There are no artificial touch ups and photographs are taken of the food as it leaves the kitchen.
“We are all ‘foodies,’” Han Wang, CEO and co-founder of Farseer Inc. tells BostInno. “So we wanted to make the dining experience easier for people to try new cuisines and restaurants. But at the same time, we wanted to help local restaurant owners expand their business.”
Karen Hu, a FotoDish representative, tells us that the app’s team builds strong relationships with each affiliated restaurant, allowing them to provide accurate information such as location, pricing, ingredients, etc. “Eventually the app will also be able to address any dietary restrictions people may have,” says Hu. The app can also tailor to proximity and displays restaurants that are close to the user. FotoDish users can search by taste preferences such as by food heritage, taste, or even ingredients.
“Our goal is for people to have a more enjoyable dining experience, starting from the decision-making process of where to eat. We want people to spend less time deciding and more time eating, connecting, and enjoying,” Hu explains.
Fortunately for local diners, the FotoDish app launched their newest version just last week. Key features of the updated app include a visual menu guide; a “favorites” folder, where users can keep track of dishes they like; a restaurant newsfeed where restaurant owners can alert nearby users of special deals, sold out dishes, special events, and other restaurant news through their feed; and “FotoMenus,” with easy access to restaurant menus.
What differentiates this FotoDish food photography from Yelp’s or #FoodPorn Instagram pictures is that they aren’t user-generated content. Given that many restaurateurs and chefs have recently banned food photography in their restaurants, this app should prove useful to both owners and diners. Not only will it ensure proper photography of the restaurant's food but it will also allow customers to see accurate photos of local dishes – without an Instagram filter.
But Hu insists that FotoDish isn’t just a photo menu for users. “Our focus is the communication between restaurant owners and customers, she explains. “Restaurant owners have a lot of information and great dishes but it’s hard for them to share all this with their customers.”
For more information about the FotoDish mobile app, check here and let us know what you think of the new dining experience in the comments below.
Images via Facebook and Website
