Seems like everyone wants to fancy themselves a foodie these days, but who knows good food better that the top chefs in several U.S. cities? Users in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago can tap into the taste buds of local culinary superstars through the new app Chefs Feed, available for iPhone and iPod Touch.
The team behind Chefs Feed asked more than 100 chefs for their favorite food options in their cities, and compiled a user-friendly guide for food fanatics. An account is required to use the app, but I made the unusual decision (for me anyway) to use Facebook Connect to gain access to Chefs Feed. I’d recommend this over creating a separate account, since the app won’t post anything to your Facebook unless you want it to.
Once you’re in the app, you can view local chef information, which serves up the chefs’ photos, their restaurants, a few facts and their favorite dishes — helpful if you’re in Chicago and want to know Art Smith’s or Stephanie Izard’s local faves. You can rely on the “Feed me now” option to find favorite picks nearby, so you can eat a great pick whenever you’re hungry. And if you aren’t hungry now, you will be after reviewing the included dishes.
Or you can view the food picks in an alphabetical list by dish, restaurant or filtered criteria, plus you’ll be able to see popular options — dishes selected by more than one chef will be denoted with a trophy icon. Once you enter into a dish description, you’ll be treated to the chef’s explanation of why the item is so worth trying. If you’ve had the item, you can mark that you “ate it” (this is where the account requirement comes in). Chefs Feed also includes built-in sharing via Facebook, Twitter and email when you hit this option, and you can also include a photo. You can rate a dish and store the info in your profile, or hit “plan it” to add a dish to your meal itinerary (a list of saved dishes to ensure that you don’t forget).
Chefs Feed is only available in a few cities, but watch for your area — more cities are in the works.
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