July 20, 2024 • 4 mins
Kiwi businessman Mat Weir's First Table allows Kiwis to get a taste of affordable fine dining.
Founded in 2014, the platform connects diners with venues - with an offer of 50 percent off the bill on the first table of the night.
BloggerAtLarge's Megan Singleton takes a look at the dining options available to customers - read more about her experience with the platform here.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks AB Right.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Time to talk travel now In Joining me is Megan Singleton,
blogger at large dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Good morning, Good morning, Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I love what you're going to talk about today because
we have been talking about for ages now here on
the Sunday Session, about how hard it is for the
hospitality industry and one of the things that we often
do when we go pop into a different town or
a different center and things is head out for a
meal and you've got a wonderful solution here that everyone
(00:40):
benefits from.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Exactly well, that's exactly right. So we've been reading about
the sort of downfall of some amazingly gorgeous food hospitality
venues and our favorites are sort of going under, and
I thought, what a perfect time to discuss the whole
concept of first table dining. So that's what I want
to talk about. First Table is actually ten years old
(01:06):
this year. I've really only just discovered it. It was
founded by a Kiwi businessman. It now has nineteen hundred
restaurants across New Zealand Australia. In the UK, it has
one point five million people registered as foodies in their
online community, and that means there'll be a whole lot
more diners than just the ones registered, because often you
(01:27):
can you go as a group of four or whatever,
so you can only go two, three or four people
and take advantage of this offer. But it's fifty percent
of all meals, so it's amazing. So I used it
to dine at some posh restaurants in Auckland. My sister
used it to dine in a posh restaurant in Hawks Bay.
Try out a new place, get fifty percent off the dining.
(01:48):
Some of the restaurants might put their own terms that
they want on it, so they might exclude, like I
don't know, the crayfish tail or something like that, or
they might say you need to buy a glass of
wine because the drinks are not fifty percent of But
then they go. So it's a great little encouragement for
us to get out. And who doesn't like to dine
(02:09):
early in these dark, cold winter nights. Anyway, do you
have Is there.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Any fee involved to make part of this? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Yeah, so though there is, so for each booking you make,
and the fee ranges from eight to fifteen dollars, so
like the high end restaurants will there'll be a fifteen
dollar booking fee, so that gets paid to first table.
There's no commission or contracts that the restaurants enter into
with them, so I like that, you know they can
come and go see how it works for them. They
(02:37):
also have the option of last table, so when you
go on to make a booking, you can choose first table,
and you look at the dining times available and then
you can actually click the tab for last table, and
that is only like eight o'clock eight thirty and you
could do the end of the night dining. So the
whole idea is to help the restaurant, like create a
buzz early on, people are seated, people are eating. Some
(02:58):
restaurants use it so that the chef can try out
a new tasting menu perhaps And I just think it's great.
And I can't believe I've only just discovered it and
it's team years old.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
No what, I hadn't heard of it either. I don't.
I don't go out to eat a lot, but I
have noticed when we have gone out, and maybe a
bit earlier, it is busy. Earlier people do like don't mind, well,
a lot of the time that's a six o'clock six
seating and then at eight o'clock seating, and you know,
you have to sort of leave the table and things.
So often restaurants are sort of churning through the diners
and things. But I think a lot of people, especially
(03:29):
in winter, quite enjoy going out and eating early. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I loved it. Personally. Our girls' nights often start at
six o'clock and we're done by eight, thank you very much,
home by eight thirty with a cup of tea.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
No, why not? So basically you do the booking through
first Table. You go to first table, Google for restaurants.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah, you look at the city you want to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Like I even looked up London and there's tons of
restaurants in London, and then within London I looked at
Covent Garden. I was like, oh my goodness, Yeah, what
an opportunity. Why not do all of that then go
to a show. I mean that's sort of the idea.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
It'll be amazing, fantastic.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Global, So New Zealand and Australia and the UK, is that.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Right, yes, yes, nineteen hundred restaurants, so that's yeah, probably
more than the whole New Zealand's got all together. Not
every restaurant's a members, so you do jump on have
a little look. But again I say, we actually did
it before a show in Auckland. We did that there,
so that just is reminding me. Even somewhere like Melbourne,
the ideal do an early restaurant book and get fifty
(04:30):
percent off your food, go to a show, go for
a drink after I did.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Thank you so much, Meghan, and Meghan's got all the
information about our first table in a blog on her website,
blogger at large dot com. It is thirteen to twelve.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to news Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks AB Right.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Time to talk travel now In Joining me is Megan Singleton,
blogger at large dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Good morning, Good morning, Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I love what you're going to talk about today because
we have been talking about for ages now here on
the Sunday Session, about how hard it is for the
hospitality industry and one of the things that we often
do when we go pop into a different town or
a different center and things is head out for a
meal and you've got a wonderful solution here that everyone
(00:40):
benefits from.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Exactly well, that's exactly right. So we've been reading about
the sort of downfall of some amazingly gorgeous food hospitality
venues and our favorites are sort of going under, and
I thought, what a perfect time to discuss the whole
concept of first table dining. So that's what I want
to talk about. First Table is actually ten years old
(01:06):
this year. I've really only just discovered it. It was
founded by a Kiwi businessman. It now has nineteen hundred
restaurants across New Zealand Australia. In the UK, it has
one point five million people registered as foodies in their
online community, and that means there'll be a whole lot
more diners than just the ones registered, because often you
(01:27):
can you go as a group of four or whatever,
so you can only go two, three or four people
and take advantage of this offer. But it's fifty percent
of all meals, so it's amazing. So I used it
to dine at some posh restaurants in Auckland. My sister
used it to dine in a posh restaurant in Hawks Bay.
Try out a new place, get fifty percent off the dining.
(01:48):
Some of the restaurants might put their own terms that
they want on it, so they might exclude, like I
don't know, the crayfish tail or something like that, or
they might say you need to buy a glass of
wine because the drinks are not fifty percent of But
then they go. So it's a great little encouragement for
us to get out. And who doesn't like to dine
(02:09):
early in these dark, cold winter nights. Anyway, do you
have Is there.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Any fee involved to make part of this? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Yeah, so though there is, so for each booking you make,
and the fee ranges from eight to fifteen dollars, so
like the high end restaurants will there'll be a fifteen
dollar booking fee, so that gets paid to first table.
There's no commission or contracts that the restaurants enter into
with them, so I like that, you know they can
come and go see how it works for them. They
(02:37):
also have the option of last table, so when you
go on to make a booking, you can choose first table,
and you look at the dining times available and then
you can actually click the tab for last table, and
that is only like eight o'clock eight thirty and you
could do the end of the night dining. So the
whole idea is to help the restaurant, like create a
buzz early on, people are seated, people are eating. Some
(02:58):
restaurants use it so that the chef can try out
a new tasting menu perhaps And I just think it's great.
And I can't believe I've only just discovered it and
it's team years old.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
No what, I hadn't heard of it either. I don't.
I don't go out to eat a lot, but I
have noticed when we have gone out, and maybe a
bit earlier, it is busy. Earlier people do like don't mind, well,
a lot of the time that's a six o'clock six
seating and then at eight o'clock seating, and you know,
you have to sort of leave the table and things.
So often restaurants are sort of churning through the diners
and things. But I think a lot of people, especially
(03:29):
in winter, quite enjoy going out and eating early. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I loved it. Personally. Our girls' nights often start at
six o'clock and we're done by eight, thank you very much,
home by eight thirty with a cup of tea.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
No, why not? So basically you do the booking through
first Table. You go to first table, Google for restaurants.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah, you look at the city you want to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Like I even looked up London and there's tons of
restaurants in London, and then within London I looked at
Covent Garden. I was like, oh my goodness, Yeah, what
an opportunity. Why not do all of that then go
to a show. I mean that's sort of the idea.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
It'll be amazing, fantastic.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Global, So New Zealand and Australia and the UK, is that.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Right, yes, yes, nineteen hundred restaurants, so that's yeah, probably
more than the whole New Zealand's got all together. Not
every restaurant's a members, so you do jump on have
a little look. But again I say, we actually did
it before a show in Auckland. We did that there,
so that just is reminding me. Even somewhere like Melbourne,
the ideal do an early restaurant book and get fifty
(04:30):
percent off your food, go to a show, go for
a drink after I did.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Thank you so much, Meghan, and Meghan's got all the
information about our first table in a blog on her website,
blogger at large dot com. It is thirteen to twelve.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to news Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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