The Lebanese love feeding people (it’s a Middle Eastern hospitality thing) so dinner parties can be great fun, but sweating over a stove and the post-foodfest cleanup – not so much.
Introducing BiBayti . It literally means “in my home” in Arabic, and the concept is simple: a chef comes to your home and cooks for you. Set to launch at the end of August, it’s an online platform that connects passionate chefs (and their delicious dishes) with hungry clients. Customers sign up on the website, go through a database of chefs and their preset menus, and select their favorite. Together they coordinate on the details and any special requests. The chef will then come over equipped with ingredients, cook up a feast and clean up the kitchen mess when they’re done.
But it’s more than just filling your stomach with food without having to lift a finger. It’s not just food that comes to your house – it’s a person with a story.
“Chefs are really passionate, they discover ingredients, work hard, and put time and effort into their meals,” says cofounder Jean Fares. “It’s sad that some people believe chef is a second-rate job and not as good as, say, an engineer,” he laments (incidentally he is an engineer and a chef).
Fares hopes to promote the profession: “We want people to appreciate the person behind the food, the chef that is passionate about food every single day.”
So far 17 such chefs have signed up. They range from the ages of 22 to the late 50s, some are amateur, and some professional. One of them quit a career in accounting spanning 3 decades, and another was an engineer that returned to Beirut to follow his passion for food. One is so serious about his food that he’s growing certain ingredients because they’re not available in Lebanon. And not all the chefs are Lebanese either; there is already a Spanish chef on board.
“We thought that people would be reluctant to join, but they have been enthusiastic and the market is changing for the best,” Fares says.
To be part of BiBayti, chefs must apply on the website. The company runs a background check and meets with him or her before they can be part of the community. Through BiBayti, chefs get exposure, the armatures get opportunities to cook and professionals get to come back to basics.
Fares explains that when chefs start out in the business all they do is cook, but with time and success, they have to deal with a lot of administrative duties. BiBayti takes care of all that for them, all payments happen online, and they can get back in the kitchen, creating new menus and sharing their love of food with others who appreciate it.
BiBayti is about the experience and not just the food, from the preparation, the service, and an explanation about the food during dinner, all in one convenient package.
“We want customers who are looking to try different cuisines, dishes, and experiences, who will discover, experiment and enjoy the food and the explanation that comes with it,” says Fares.
Fares and his cofounders Fady Kharrat and Makram Raydan all have a great love of food. Fares owns tens of cookbooks and buys at least one new one every month.
“Food is a universal language. Food is a happy moment. Families gather around food. If you visit a foreign country, it’s one of the first things you will discover,” he says.
The partners don’t claim to have invented the wheel with BiBayti.
“The concept exists abroad, but we are bringing to the region,” says Fares.
For now the website will work only for Lebanon, but they’re hoping to expand. Fares clarifies that even though they hope to go beyond Lebanon’s borders, the service will always be localized.