# Traveling Spoon

> Traveling Spoon is a food-tourism marketplace that lets travelers eat home-cooked meals, take private cooking classes, and tour local markets with vetted home cooks - mostly women - in their own kitchens around the world. Founded in 2011 by Haas MBA classmates Aashi Vel and Steph Lawrence, the company turns a stranger's dining table into the most authentic seat in a foreign city, giving hosts a new income stream and travelers a meal you can't find on any restaurant menu.

- **Founded:** 2011
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founders:** Aashi Vel (Co-Founder & CEO), Stephanie Lawrence (Co-Founder)
- **Team size:** ~16 employees
- **Products:** In-Home Meals, Cooking Classes, Market Tours, Virtual Cooking Classes
- **Notable:** Grew from a 2011 pilot to a network of 200+ vetted hosts across 18+ countries and ~38 cities, Featured by Forbes, AFAR and other major travel publications, Attracted angel backing from former Expedia CEO Erik Blachford and advisory support from Alice Waters

## Products & services

- **In-Home Meals** — A roughly 1.5-2 hour homemade meal in a vetted host's home, with conversation about food, family and culture.
- **Cooking Classes** — A 3-4 hour hands-on class in a local kitchen learning traditional techniques and family recipes.
- **Market Tours** — A 5+ hour experience touring a local market with the host to source ingredients before cooking and dining together.
- **Virtual Cooking Classes** — Online, host-led cooking classes that let people learn regional dishes remotely - expanded during the pandemic.

## Achievements

- Grew from a 2011 pilot to a network of 200+ vetted hosts across 18+ countries and ~38 cities
- Featured by Forbes, AFAR and other major travel publications
- Attracted angel backing from former Expedia CEO Erik Blachford and advisory support from Alice Waters
- Acquired meal-sharing platform Mealsharing to grow its community
- Pivoted to virtual cooking classes to keep hosts earning during pandemic travel shutdowns

## Latest updates

- **2023-11** — Featured in UC Berkeley Haas alumni magazine revisiting the founders' journey and the company's role in culinary tourism.
- **2020-04** — Launched virtual, host-led cooking classes to keep hosts earning income during global travel restrictions.

## Links

- Website: https://travelingspoon.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/traveling-spoon-inc.
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/TravelingSpoon
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travelingspoons/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/travelingspoon

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/traveling-spoon-inc
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-02