Sudburian and foodie Stephanie Piché has created a way for local restaurants to take the lead in providing the advantage above the rest, with a secret dining club.
Sudbury Secret Foodies was formed to act as a fun resource to show where the local food-loving Sudburians are eating, what they are eating and how their experience was.
The way it works is Piché created an anonymous survey for each “foodie” to complete upon their dining experience. Each foodie has a unique User ID and each survey is completely confidential.
The survey identifies five factors (Food, Service, Ambiance, Value for $, Overall Score, Noise Level), which is later compiled into reports that can be shared with the restaurants upon request.
“We like the idea of a trusted forum like Secret Foodies,” said Bev Wills, Fionn MacCool's, Sudbury.
“In our business the guest experience is key and we fully recognize that while we may see many 'out of towners' in our pub, it's the people of Greater Sudbury who are coming in day in and day out and we value what they have to say.”
The submissions will be collected and will then create a “Top 5” list of restaurants in Sudbury as made up from the reviews from the secret foodies. Piché currently has 50 people involved and is looking for more to assist.
Piché explains why the group was created.
“I was unhappy with the types of reviews that I was seeing on Facebook, Yelp and Trip Advisor since they are mostly written by people passing through the city,” she said.
“The restaurants in Sudbury greatly depend and appreciate the patronage of our locals. Their opinions are also the ones that tourists would appreciate to see when choosing where to eat.”
Piché is calling out to the community to assist in growing the foodie group. If you are interested in joining the Sudbury Secret Foodies or are interested in contributing a prize to the foodie volunteers, send an email to [email protected].
Piché plans to launch her own podcast, Flying For Flavour, in which she'll share her experiences with food and wine as well as interviews with guests and other travel experts.
