EatWith:本土美食在线预约平台是一个可以让旅游在在路上的旅行者，有机会与当地人一起共进晚餐，同时也可以了解当地的本土风情，进而真正的融入到土著人的生活中去。

启发他创业的是自己一次难忘的旅行经历。他和家人到希腊游玩，恰巧被当地人邀请到家中共进晚餐，他吃到了一路上的餐馆里没吃到的道地食物，还和主人聊天聊得十分愉快，了解到了不少当地的风俗文化。所以 Michlin 决定创办 EatWith，让当地居民把自己的餐桌和厨艺分享出来，为用户提供均价 30 到 50 美元之间的餐点，招待在路上的旅客，而 EatWith 会从中抽取最多 15% 的佣金。

首次进入EatWith主页的用户，需要根据自己的口味注册一个账号，接下来就可以选择成为旅客预订餐桌，或是成为主人提供餐桌。对于当地居民来说，EatWith 帮助他们在家里做起餐饮小生意增加收入，同时也给了他们结识不同人群的机会。而对旅客来说，他们可以以相近的价格享受到非标准化的美食，还能在餐桌上遇到同样来旅行的人，认识新朋友，并且从主人的口中了解了解当地的特色，哪里好玩，哪里坑爹，减少被导游忽悠的几率。

为保证提供的餐桌和餐点质量，EatWith 现在采取人工认证的方法，就是亲自到那些居民家里试吃食物，确保质量后，会在网站上给提供餐点的居民发放认证。但 EatWith 希望日后用户量逐渐积累起来，能把认证这个工作交给用户点评来完成。同时 EatWith 还会和第三方机构合作，提供一百万美元的保险，免去招待旅客引发食物中毒等问题的忧虑。

不过目前 EatWith 还只对以色列的特拉维夫市和西班牙的巴塞罗那开放，网站上现在有 130 个可提供餐桌的居民，但正有成千上万的餐桌租借申请从世界各地涌来，他们计划下一步对纽约市开放。

On one very memorable evening in 2010, while vacationing on the island of Crete, I had the extraordinary privilege of dining at the home of the Papadakis family. The connection was made through a friend of a friend.

It was a small two bedroom apartment in a suburb of Heraklion (the main city in Crete). They were so excited to host a traveler for dinner that they invited their neighbors and their cousin from Athens to join. The main topic over dinner was the Greek financial crisis and how every family had at least one family member that was unemployed. Theirs was a perspective I definitely had not gotten from the headlines.

They offered me tips on places to visit, told me about restaurants where the locals eat, and even gave me a bottle of local Cretan liquor as a gift. I still have the bottle - it's empty. For dinner, we had an absolutely delicious Cretan dish known in Greek as, "makaronia with kreas vodino and tiri athotiro [on top]." Translation: spaghetti with meat (beef) and a local Cretan cheese (athotiro) on top. It was amazing!

After four hours - and I'm sure no one was looking at their watches - it was time to say goodbye. I originally planned on being there only two hours, but wow, how the time flew! Truly a unique experience I will never forget.

In all my years of traveling, connecting with the locals has always made my experiences more meaningful. I enjoy tours, museums, tourist sites, and eating at great restaurants. But as a tourist, it's easy to feel disconnected, like you're walking in a bubble. The best way to break the bubble and enrich your connection to a place is to interact with real people in their own private spaces. After my evening with the Papadakis's, this is exactly what happened.

I was inspired. When I returned home, I shared my experience with my friend Shemer, and we began to envision a global community of enthusiastic guests and passionate hosts. We imagined a website where users could discover amazing hosts around the world, delicious homemade cuisine, and recount their stories of unforgettable experiences.

So there you have it. That's how EatWith was born. If you're as passionate as we are about meeting new people, eating amazing homemade dishes and doing something a little different, then we would love to extend you a warm welcome to join our growing community!