FOOD TALK
In recent years, there has been a culinary explosion in Dhaka. What was once a part of exotic Travel and Living shows is suddenly everyone's cup of tea. Hangouts and dates have shifted to increasingly diverse restaurants of varied cuisines and the traditional food complemented by styles and tastes from China to Italy. With new restaurants popping up everywhere in Dhaka, there has been a sudden crowd-sourcing of restaurant reviews and foodie discussions on the web. And what better medium for the people to interact than Facebook – and with that Taskin Rahman, who once reviewed restaurants for different publications and TripAdvisor, decided to make his own group for like minds to review and discuss.
The Food Talk, a closed Facebook group was formed when Taskin wanted to give everyone's opinion on restaurants and food items a platform where others could engage and participate. Dismissing the idea of a blog for its meagre reach in the country, he decided on Facebook where the number of Bangladeshis is exponentially on the rise. Not one for snobbishness – Taskin says, “Anyone can be a food critic. If you are paying for your food, you have the right to be its critic.”
The group, opened about three months ago, was initially an open group, with members increasing every day. It hit off instantly when he initially asked about the best halim and jilapi in town during Ramadan and people started pitching their preferences and favourites. Taskin decided to make it a closed group, and restrict the number of members when he saw that some people were abusing the platform. He says, “It is good to criticise the food and restaurants, but when it turns into a fight and people stop being civil, the environment is ruined.”
Three months old, and The Food Talk already has 3400 members and Taskin intends to keep the number within 4000. What set Food Talk apart from other similar groups on social media is the cosmopolitan vibe of its members. Taskin, whose job takes him around the world fosters this and the discussions range from varieties of cheese, to international restaurants to personal sharing of recipes.
The group focuses on different aspects when discussing a restaurant and rating it, going beyond the usual rating of one to five stars. The Food Talk reviews based on the taste, quality of service, ambience, price and presentation so as to provide a holistic evaluation.
The interest in the Facebook group led to The Food Talk Meet Up, where invited members got together to discuss aspects of the group and its future plans.
The event focused not only on food reviews but also on related subjects of food photography and the use of technology to properly distribute this information. The Food Talk arranged a food photography session by renowned product and food photographer – Sohel Rana Ripon. Ripon has been in the photography industry for 30 odd years and the session was a lively one promising content set apart from the usual Instagram feed.
The Food Talk also ran a “Best Restaurant in Dhaka” activity where each table could nominate a restaurant they thought has been the most consistent in terms of its ratings. Some of the names that came up were Saltz, Bella Italia, BBQ Tonight and Izumi.
Farzana Afroz Urmi, an active group member, presented bread making tips and tricks. She brought along a basket of breads and buns for the audience to try and everyone was delighted with the taste. With finger food provided by Tarka, the event was a definite success as members discussed the best and worst of food in Dhaka and introspected about our own culinary identity.
The Food Talk, not afraid to say so if they don't like a restaurant, also likes to promote new names in the industry. The event promoted Pizza Roma and their success story. Pizza Roma started in late 2013 as a venture of the Ferri family which bakes and home-delivers authentic Roman pizza.
The group, based on member's reviews gives out what they call “The Circle of Recommendation” to their favourites. Tarka was awarded for being the favourite Indian food place while the most consistent restaurant that stood the test and taste of time went to Bella Italia. The participants ranged from the expat community, students, restaurant owners and most importantly the consumers.
The popularity of the group and its approach promises a consistent, organised and most importantly interactive platform for food connoisseurs and critics alike. The Food Talk plans to hold future events, details of which will be shared on the group's page www.facebook.com/thefoodtalk which is open to everyone.
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