If you’re a foodie and you don’t already know about Tasting Table, you should be ashamed of yourself. What is Tasting Table, you ask? It’s a website, email publication and app dedicated to keeping you informed about the best food and drink happenings across America. The editors of Tasting Table are passionate about food and want to be that friend who’s always at your side recommending the best restaurants, bars, bakeries, recipes, events — you get the idea. Tasting Table editors have personally vetted all the venues, from the cheapest hot dog stand to the mind blowing Michelin starred restaurant, and give you the stats to make an informed decision when you’re traveling. Now you can take the wealth of knowledge from Tastingtable.com with you using Tasting Table To-Go.
Keep reading to learn more about why Tasting Table To-Go is a jet setters best friend.
Like the article? You should subscribe and follow us on twitter.
Getting Started
Open Tasting Table To-Go and you’re greeted by the app’s bold, punchy design — a screen full of colorful tiles and clever icons encouraging you to discover a delicious recipe, fabulous event or destination restaurant. The app is a hub of information for foodies who love to be in the know. The designers have done a great job of creating a fun atmosphere that’s perfectly suited to the iPhone screen.
Launch the app and discover restaurant recommendations, the latest openings, delicious recipes and fabulous events, left. It’s quick and easy to find your next meal, coffee, cocktail or bottle of wine, right.
Where to begin? Tasting Table To-Go has many uses. If you’re on the go, the ever-changing purple box in the top left corner offers to help you find your next meal or drink. Tap Nearby and the app will filter results based on your location. Got some time to kill on the bus? Catch up on trends and industry news by reading the latest Tasting Table Articles and restaurant openings. Looking for some inspiration for your dinner party this weekend? Consult the Recipes and Cocktails. Daydreaming about your next trip? Whet your appetite with Food Travel. Wanting to take better care of yourself? Check out the Healthful Content. This app always has something new and exciting to keep you interested.
Finding Your Next Meal
Tasting Table To-Go is good for finding your next meal when you’re in an unfamiliar city or planning ahead for your next trip. For on-the-go recommendations, simply tap the Nearby icon to enable location based services and find a nearby restaurant, bar, wine/liquor store or coffee shop/bakery. The app provides search results in order of cost, starting with the most expensive, and you can view all results on a map. Tasting Table To-Go also tells you whether the venue is best for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Tap Nearby to find a restaurant, bakery coffee shop, bar or liquor store based on your location. The recommendations are all from the United States and I live in Ireland, so the app can’t locate anything nearby but still gives some suggestions—you get the idea.
Tap on a venue to find full contact details and call to make a reservation with the touch of a button. You can also check out the venue website. Tasting Table editors have personally vetted every venue, which is easy to see in their thoughtful descriptions. The venue stats are especially helpful for quickly assessing whether or not it’s what you’re looking for (food style, price point, reservations accepted and bring your own bottle).
Recommendations include venue name and contact info, plus the ability to call with the touch of a button and a list of useful stats.
It’s convenient to share recommendations with your friends via email. Tasting Table strives to be an authentic, trustworthy resource and it’s good to see they share the date an editor last visited the venue.
Got some time to plan for an upcoming trip? Search for a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, etc. by city and neighborhood.
Got some time to plan for an upcoming trip? Search for a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, etc. by city and neighborhood. Tasting Table To-Go provides recommendations here from their six core cities: New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami.
Search by city and neighborhood to view your results on a map, left. You can refine your search results on the map page as well, right.
Unlike the Nearby feature, these search results display in a flat list without any stats. On the positive side, you can still view your results on the map and then refine them by price, type of food, best time to visit and atmosphere.
Keeping up on the Latest News
Tasting Table To-Go mines a wealth of interesting articles from the website so you can read them on the bus, standing in line or sitting in a waiting room. Tap Articles to catch up on what’s hot in the restaurant scene and which wines to drink now. Some of the content is sponsored by events, restaurants or wine sellers, but it’s clearly noted and the content fits in seamlessly. It’s good to be able to view national content or filter articles by the six city editions.
Tap Articles to catch up on the latest when it comes to Dining, Wine and Drink, left. Tasting Table draws on a wealth of pieces written by the editors of their website, right.
Keep up to date on the newest restaurants in the Openings section, where Tasting Table provides a description and full contact info so you can get a reservation ASAP. The descriptions are so engaging, you’ll want to get out and experience culture and food you never knew existed right on your doorstep.
Stay up to date on the latest restaurant openings, left. Find out what fun events are happening in your area, right.
My favorite section of the app (as you probably guessed) is the recipes. Tasting Table To-Go updates every few days with new recipes by top chefs. You’ll be inspired by unusual ingredient combinations and clever cooking techniques. The dishes are seasonal, encouraging you to grab the freshest ingredients and get cooking.
The app adds new recipes from top chefs every few days, so you can learn clever techniques and creative flavor combinations.
Recipe steps are clear and simple — no intimidating chef talk here. The Next Step button is really fun; elevating the techniques you’ve already learned by introducing you to something new. For example, the next step for Chef Chris Amendola’s Tomato Salad with Watermelon, Ricotta and Raspberries is DIY Ricotta Cheese. Finally, at the end of each recipe there are options to discover Even More content, save the recipe to your to do list or share it with your friends.
Conclusion
Tasting Table To-Go is a fantastic city guide for foodies. It’s most useful if you’re traveling in the six featured cities: New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami. If you love to be in the know when it comes to the latest restaurant openings and innovative chefs, you’ll love this app. The only negative thing about this app is that it’s simply an attractive mobile version of the Tasting Table website, so reaction times can be a bit slow. You can’t really complain about that, because the app is free. Download Tasting Table To-Go and enjoy all the delicious inspiration, recommendations and recipes that are hot right now.
     |