
Show HN: A new way of eating out – by dropping in - rjohnson008
http://www.cozymeal.com/
======
Ryanmf
It occurs to me that _x_ -sharing startups in the mold of Airbnb/Uber may be
most likely to overcome their regulatory challenges not through litigation or
lobbying, but simply due to more of them popping up and the increased
likelihood that the average person knows someone who has benefitted ("my
friend's daughter who paid her way through law school driving for Uber", "my
cousin the line cook who was offered the opportunity of a pop-up run at an
established restaurant after a few successful months on Cozymeal", etc.)

Also, I wonder if Cozymeal might find opportunities on the
operations/materials side of this equation. I know that e.g. sourcing and
selecting ingredients is frequently a very personal experience for chefs and
restauranteurs, but I can't help but think there could be some upside to
facilitating volume pricing of certain ingredients for members within a
particular region, not unlike how members of hobbyist electronics groups will
organize group buys of components. If ingredients are a bridge too far, they
might apply the same logic to more practical items—flatware, napkins, menus,
and so forth.

~~~
michaelfeathers
> It occurs to me that x-sharing startups in the mold of Airbnb/Uber may be
> most likely to overcome their regulatory challenges not through litigation
> or lobbying, but simply due to more of them popping up and the increased
> likelihood that the average person knows someone who has benefitted

I think there's something sublime about that. It seems the technology drives
culture in many ways and it happens when an innovation goes viral and benefits
people faster than the law can react.

Some technologies don't get the chance to do that. People see harms before
they can feel the benefits and start to turn public opinion and law against
the innovation. Segway's and Google Glass are in that category, I think.

------
bayamos
What about zoning restrictions? Food service licenses? In many places, if you
prepare food for sale to be consumed onsite, you are treated like a restaurant
- most home kitchens aren't going to pass local health department
requirements.

~~~
panarky
Many great new ideas aren't legal. Use your own car like a taxi? Rent your
spare bedroom to strangers? Sell electric cars direct, without a dealer? Share
music, books and movies with your friends? Run a mesh network in your city to
bypass the local monopoly? Trade cryptocurrency for national currency?

Just because it's illegal doesn't mean it's not a killer idea.

Congratulations, Cozymeal!

~~~
gamblor956
In the case of unsanitary food preparation, it very well could be a killer
idea.

By the way, none of those other ideas are illegal (in the US). Taxi drivers
can own their own cabs; some do but most do not due to the expense of
acquiring/maintaining an adequate vehicle. It's always been okay to rent your
"spare bedroom" to strangers--just as long as you occupy the remainder of the
unit (though whether your lease or HOA agreement allows this is a separate
issue). Sharing your physical copy of an artistic work has always been
allowed. Private mesh networks have never been illegal. Cryptocurrencies are
legal forms of exchange (or in this context, "consideration") between two
consenting private parties, just like _any other form of property._

------
iandanforth
Feature request: Sort by distance. I don't live in SF so it would be nice to
see things close to me first.

Edit: Also Facebook only sign in is a deal-breaker. I never use services where
it's required.

~~~
tehwebguy
My guess is that Facebook (or some other nearly ubiquitous account) will
always be a requirement for this site since it's all about inviting people
into your home.

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snasserian
Thank you for your comments and interest in Cozymeal. I am the co-founder of
Cozymeal, which we launched three months ago. What started as a side project
attracted a lot of interest and I am now working full-time on it.

The quality of the food and the experience in general are very important to
us. Every host has to go through a vetting process before he can join our
site.

Our guests use Cozymeal for the great food but also the amazing experience
they get in terms of meeting new people and enjoying delicious food in a nice
ambience without the unpleasant noise and rush you often have in restaurants.

Recently, some of our hosts started offering cooking classes which are also
very popular.

~~~
gamblor956
You need to visit this page:
[http://www.sfdph.org/dph/eh/Food/Permits/default.asp](http://www.sfdph.org/dph/eh/Food/Permits/default.asp).
Then you need to talk to a lawyer and have a serious discussion about your
liability issues (and the liability issues for your "hosts") and come up with
a plan for helping your hosts understand just what they're getting into when
they use your site to run a "one table restaurant."

You've created a cute site, but now that you're running it as a business that
interacts with the real world you need to step up to the plate and treat it
like a real business. And that means dealing with the unsexy stuff like
licensing (for yourself or your hosts).

In two weeks, if you haven't added something to your site about this, I'm
going to personally call the SF Department of Public Health myself.

~~~
samstave
Fuck you.

Seriously - the world is not as black and white as you would want it to be...
we do not need regulation of every single little aspect of our lives.

Have you fucking eaten at restaurants in SF? Try Sam Woo you asshole - that
place was an SF legend; and it was one of the most disgusting places.

~~~
tptacek
Wow. What a terrible way to respond. First, opening with "fuck you" and
calling another commenter an asshole is uncivil and drags the site down.
Second, the insults you chose to hurl at the commenter are empty and boring;
they're written solely for your benefit and not for any reader, including the
commenter you're replying to. And if you're upset about the commenter's threat
to call the health inspector, howling insults at them is (a) unlikely to
change their mind and (b) certainly going to make this thread more memorable,
lessening the chance that they'd simply forget to make good on the threat.

~~~
samstave
Dude,

Threatening someone on HN with "if you fail to do X Ill call and report you by
Y date" deserves my response.

I stand by that comment. Your comment is written solely to make your self look
so much "better" than me, is it not.

Get off your high-horse Patrick.

~~~
tptacek
I'm just not sure what you're trying to accomplish. I read both your comments
and those of the commenter you're replying to, regularly. Confidently: he
doesn't care what you think.

~~~
samstave
So, I am NOT supposed to be concerned with what he thinks of my comment - yet
I am supposed to be sensitive to your qualms with the term "fuck you"?

Patrick, either you are on the side of me being able to voice my opinion, or
you are in favor of me censoring it due to your, or some poster's, concern for
sentiment.

I am concluded that you're more in favor of me being censored when you can
have your apologist worldview unoffended and you can continue to feel morally
high.

Look, we have never agreed on HN, I feel you are an apologist and you may feel
I'm an extremist; but let me tell you one thing I am not: one who censors the
opinions of others - I am one who engages another in my beliefs.

Why don't you take a stress pill, sit down calmly and think things over...

~~~
tptacek
My name isn't Patrick.

~~~
samstave
hahaha

You are correct! My apologies - I have no idea why I typed that so many times,
Bill.

~~~
wglb
Bill here. I agree that the expletive you used here is not appropriate.

------
rdl
Site seems down, but assuming it is meals at home with people, I like the
concept. I wouldn't want to drop in to a dinner with a family or something,
but if you did themed dinners ("crypto hackers dinner?" "YC applicants
dinner") it would be both more appealing AND legally a lot safer -- even a
heavy handed government would be wary of censoring free association and speech
with incidental food, rather than purely commercial food.

~~~
snasserian
The site is back now.

~~~
dalek2point3
its still down for me :(

~~~
snasserian
Yes, the site went down again. We are working hard on bringing it up. Sorry
for the inconvenience.

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tommoor
The photography of the meals is spot on, could seem like a small thing but
glad that you took a leaf from Airbnb's book to make sure that the meals are
presented in the best possible way.

~~~
amenghra
I second that, the photography is amazing!

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jdreaver
It would be incredibly unfortunate if this were found to be illegal. You take
many of the same health risks when eating at a friend's house. The only
difference is you don't pay your friend.

~~~
gamblor956
The exchange of payment is precisely what makes this endeavor subject to food
safety/preparation laws and (in many jurisdictions) illegal. It changes a
social event into a commercial transaction: you pay someone else to eat food
they prepared.

This is not remotely the same thing as friends splitting up the cost to buy
food, or reimbursing one friend for purchasing food for a social gathering. We
don't regulate social gatherings between friends because they have other means
to deal with issues that could arise, even, if necessary, the tort system.

There are different expectations when dealing with commercial food
transactions--and some of the major expectations are that the food be safe and
prepared safely.

~~~
amenghra
Without judging if it's a good thing or a bad thing, some of these services
(e.g. Lyft in some cities) use "suggested donations" instead of payment. It
changes the legal & tax consequences.

~~~
gamblor956
No, it really doesn't, especially not for tax purposes.

The law (and especially tax law) looks at the _substance_ of the transaction,
not its form. Calling a payment for commercial services a "donation" doesn't
make it a donation. If it did, every business would ask for "donations"
instead of payment. Indeed, as a matter of tax law, calling the Lyft fees
"donations" actually makes it worse for the drivers--they can't offset the
"donation" income with their Lyft-related expenses. (Lyft can't recharacterize
the donations it receives on behalf of the drivers as fee compensation when it
remits payment to the drivers because it takes the position that they're
independent contractors and it is merely acting as a collection agent.)

------
zacinbusiness
This is a very cool concept and I love how it can work together with AirBnB.
If there were a similar platform for long-distance travel then I think the
sharing economy will help people explore the world in amazing new ways. Not
that ride-share and similar services don't exist, but some means to travel
international would be amazing. But I can't even imagine the legal problems
such a service would face.

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imc
Genuinely awesome concept. I hope you find a way to make it work within
food/zoning regs because I think this is much more positive and communal than
many other 'sharing economy' ideas.

It'd be great if you could figure out a way to provide social trust that
wasn't through a FB login though.

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nawitus
Thanks for showcasing vegan dishes.

~~~
Egregore
Also a filter for vegan only dishes will be great.

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samstave
I AM IN!!!!

This is amazing, and my wife and I cant wait to try it.

We need to book a sitter and plan a date night around this.

They site should include the option to "book and Uber to and from"

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ASquare
Does the site offer hosts/guests any protection (a la AirBnB) in case
something goes wrong?

~~~
snasserian
Cozymeal has a lot of safety mechanisms to ensure a safe and good experience
for both sides (vetting of ALL hosts, mandatory Facebook registration for
hosts/guests, etc.). In addition to that, Cozymeal will soon offer an
insurance to hosts/guests similar to that offered by AirBnB.

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lukio
The site seems to be down for me. Can someone describe what's it all about?

~~~
amenghra
You can view one page here:

[https://web.archive.org/web/20140101130924/http://cozymeal.c...](https://web.archive.org/web/20140101130924/http://cozymeal.com/)

Hopefully the site will be back up soon :)

~~~
rjohnson008
Site is back up.

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ssos
Nice looking site. But sites like this are only continuing to influence the
many public health worries that we face today. There is no nutritional
information on any of the meals on this site! Just another social site,
looking at the wrong aspect of health.

~~~
ndarilek
Meals have been social for much longer than they've been nutritionally
quantified. IOW, we've shared food and community for thousands of years just
fine without a list of nutritional facts for the buffalo or potatos we've
eaten. I'd say this site is bringing things back to their roots, not focusing
in the wrong direction.

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amccloud
Is this legal?

~~~
gamblor956
It's completely legal...as long as anyone who uses CozyMeal to run a food
service business goes through the process of registering as a food service
business. This largely means inspections to assess the cleanliness of the food
preparation, storage, and delivery areas, and a liquor license if alcohol will
be served.

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Elof
hacker news broke the cozymeal :/

~~~
rjohnson008
It's back.

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samuel1604
pretty cool concept, i like it

