Thoughts on Foodie dating

As of August 16th my free month at Howaboutwe.com’s foodie dating site (in actuality their total site, not a part of) came to an end.  Even with a free month the experience as a whole was abysmal.  I wouldn’t do it again even if they gave me a free year!  Since only paid members could see who else were paid up, I only saw two within the 30-40 age range, and about two in the 20-30 age range.

I had contacted the first guy with a question about how his experience was.  It turned out his was no better, but then he was rather busy with his job and other commitments.  We only had a handful of correspondence, but that died out soon enough.  The guy did send me a message again, but about two day after my free trial expired.

The second guy never responded, although I knew exactly who he was in Champaign-Urbana.  The man was a true food lover’s dream of a date.  Fast forward weeks later I wound up talking to him (after being fortified by two margaritas) and wound up drinking two glasses of what I think was the best muscato wine evah!  I don’t think he was serious about dating – told me I couldn’t cook (at a restaurant level) and pretty much was non-commital.  Oh, well…

All in all I would not recommend this to anyone.  Foodie dating is based on the concept that two people with interest in food could meet up together and build something off that.  It would be better off to start a meet up group and go from there.

Another Eater Dating update

And so I sent a message out to a male subscriber a couple days ago…  Got a response and we corresponded back and forth.  Pretty much similar experience to mine – sent out messages, got no responses, until…  The guy sounds interesting, but alas is quite busy with his job and his other commitments.  Eventually there will be a time we can get together and try out a local place or two.

Yesterday I sent out a similar message to this other guy I was eyeing with interest.  So far I’ve heard nada from him.  Given that we have a embryonic online foodie dating community, shouldn’t you be excited someone who’s a paid member messaged you?  What is the point of being on the site in the first place?  Mind you, there were only two people who NowAboutWe.com felt would be of interest to me within my age group.

When you’re restricted to a limited pool of profiles to contact from, it’s not a fun thing.

Eater Dating update and review

Today I got a response from someone over at Eater Dating about my question concerning how one would know a subscriber from a non-subscriber.  Here’s the gist of her answer:  There’s a section that notes subscribers that a person might like – these folks have paid up. At this point I only saw two profiles.  Supposedly more people are joining every day.  The jury is still out.

Interestingly enough I’m considered a pioneer in online foodie dating in Champaign-Urbana.  For that I got a free month out of this – so hopefully I can spend the time wisely by blogging about it.  So stay tune for daily updates!

On another note I signed up for Foodie Dating Site.  Easy enough – look for, sign up, then check out.  The site design doesn’t look promising – too busy and not really informative.  Overall too many people make it look like Match.com and the other usual sites.  Doesn’t look like it was worth it.

Update:  Wound up sending a message to a local guy.  Don’t know if there’ll be response.  Stay tuned.

Online dating sites and the single foodie

In the world of online dating it was inevitable that specialized sites should pop up.  Sites for religious people, sites for hobbyists, sites for fetishes…  And of course, sites for people with particular food preferences (e.g. vegetarians).  So it comes as no surprise that dating sites for foodies now exist on the Interwebz.  In checking historical stats, it seems single foodie sites have been around for a few years already in one form or the other.

If you happen to type in “foodie dating sites” or similar words into a search engine, you will actually get a handful of sites that offer love for foodies.  But what is a “foodie”?  According to Wikipedia, the coiners of the word define it as “amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.”  This versus a gourmet, a person devoted to searching for and eating the best foods.  Personally I see myself as a cross between the two – a foodie who sometimes loves to eat the finest foods when they get the chance to eat it (in reality I have a very picky palate and stomach).

Here are the “foodie” dating sites available online (I put quotes on “foodie” because while a site may claim they have foodies in one form or the other as members, in reality most are probably people looking to put themselves on a free site):

Foodiedatingsite.com – “Welcome to Foodie Dating Site at FoodieDatingSite.com! We are the Exclusive Dating site for single Foodies, Chefs, and Restaurant Diners! Join today to meet the attractive, beautiful, and cute Food Lover of your dreams! Meet your soul mate today!”  From what I see on their front page, I dunno…

Foodie Dating at PerfectMatch.com – “Meet singles that love food and cooking”

Single Gourmet Dating – “Online dating for foodies!  Join us and meet others with similar interests. It’s fast, free and easy. Why not join now?” Refer to the definition of “gourmet.”  The front page is somewhat of a turnoff for me and the people you see immediately don’t give off foodie vibes (meaning they treat this site like any ordinary dating site)

Date A Foodie – “Love dinner dates?  Meet local foodie singles today!”  Again, I dunno… (especially if I was a guy)

Eater Dating at HowAboutWe.com – This is the one a friend of mine directed me to and I joined for “free”.  Again with the quotes, but as Robert Heinlein wrote “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.”

There are probably more sites out there, including one set up by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver with Match.com, but I’m not in the mood to hunt them all down like they were mushrooms (given that I probably will have better luck finding edible fungi than a “fun guy”.)  [Cue the drums and groan with me now]

But back to Eater Dating…  You have a sense that things suck already when you get hit with the “Join Now” request right after you put in your sex, the opposite sex you are looking for, the age range, and zip code.  If you don’t join you don’t get to see anyone’s profile.  So you join.  Unfortunately the suckage doesn’t end there.  In order to see if anyone has looked at your profile, you have to upgrade.  If you want to message someone or propose a date, you have to upgrade.  If you want to read any messages or date proposals, you have to upgrade.  Getting the picture?  Ya have to “pay to play”.

In this case we have to go back to what I said about people treating this (and any other “foodie” sites) as if it was just an extension of their Match.com, Plenty of Fish, or OkCupid profile(s).  Yeah, there are differences with Eater Dating, namely that you don’t have to really write about yourself (beyond telling people what you do for a living, what your politics and political affiliation are, etc.) but answer one or more of a series of questions designed to let others know something about you.  That and proposing one or a series of possible dates someone else may be interested in trying with you. You can tell a person you’re intrigued about their date proposal or just plain ask them out.

While the idea of all that may be  somewhat cute, Eater Dating reeks of puke.  Being forced to pay to play for even the most trivial of things like finding out who has viewed you (just like Plenty of Fish) is really stupid.  The current business model, or its variances, for online dating sites makes it painful for real people to join and makes the sites infested with fake or dead profiles.  Who would want to pay $60-$100 to join for three-six months only to get nothing but winks or e-mails from phantoms, especially the day after their membership expires?  And unfortunately, Eater Dating’s parent company have mainly gotten nothing but bad reviews because of their business model.

So how can a “foodie” dating site work?  Ideally one aspect of it would be to define what a foodie is or can be (versus making it a vague free-for-all buffet) so that there is a sense of difference.  Do away with the “upgrade to view visitors”, that is so not worth it!  Also, denote paying subscribers without having to “upgrade”.  It would be nice to see who is serious versus the not so serious.  Like anyone else I would like to meet people who are as serious about food as I am.  Heck, add in the ability to make friends with any gender just for the sake of your love of food and drink without having to “date” someone.  I’m all for having dining partners on road trips to Chicago, Indy, or St. Louis without the pressure of a date.

If you want to find someone of similar interest (in this case food) take specialty cooking classes, create your own specialty cooking classes for singles, do road trips to other places and invite singles you know along, the ideas are almost endless (and probably cheaper too in the long run).  The world is your oyster! [Again, cue the drums and groan with me again]

For any local readers of this blog who are single and are foodies, drop me a line and let me know what your dating experience has been like.  If you’re interested in just going out and try some new place in town (that’s not a chain) I’ll be more than happy to join you!