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The Dermatitis Herpetiformis Online Community Blog
| This weblog (blog) is a place for me to post articles of interest for people with DH and coeliac disease and enables me to communicate notices to site visitors. If you'd like to be advised when new posts are added, please either subscribe to the web feed or sign up for email notifications.
Annie Barnes (Site Admin)
Finding a feed on the flyI thought this was a good idea, which more cities and towns would do well to take up. It seems it could be a useful resource for people with dermatitis herpetiformis and coeliac disease.Finding a feed on the fly Source - news.co.au EATING out is a way of life for many Sydneysiders and it's now easier than ever to book a table. Passionate diner Stewart Noble launched 1300 Eat Out in September as a way for would-be diners to book a table on the fly. As a mortgage broker running three franchises, Mr Noble was accustomed to eating out five times a week but he says it became frustrating trying to find new places to eat, especially when eating out was a last minute decision. "I thought how great it would be if I could just call a single number." 1300 Eat Out allows callers to do just that. They specify which area of Sydney they'd like to eat in, what kind of food they are in the mood for and how much they want to spend. The call centre staff do the rest. While the caller is on hold, they call a suitable restaurant and make a booking on their behalf. If no tables are available, other restaurants are contacted until a booking can be confirmed. If the restaurant is closed at the time, the customer gets their booking confirmed through a callback once the restaurant has opened. Diners can also specify dietary requirements such as gluten-free meals, vegetarian or low-fat meals. About 250,000 Australians suffer from coeliac disease, a medical condition which results in a permanent intestinal intolerance to gluten. If left untreated, coeliac disease causes permanent damage to the lining of the small intestine, which results in the body being unable to properly absorb essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients. The only way to treat the condition is for sufferers to commit to a lifelong gluten-free diet, which means avoiding all grains of the type commonly used in bread, cakes or pasta. The result is that eating out can be a minefield. "One of my team members and her mother are both coeliacs, yet they love eating out," Mr Noble says. "So, when I launched the service I wanted to make sure it was sensitive to the needs of those with this condition, as well as other dietary sensitivities." Although there are online restaurant booking services available, 1300 Eat Out is the only such service in Australia which has a call centre open 24 hours a day. "Most people research restaurants online these days, but that can be hard when you're short on time or on the road," Mr Noble says. "We see the service as a mobile food guide for the convenience age." About 45 Sydney restaurants have signed up to the service with another 250 expected to join next year not just in Sydney but in Melbourne and Canberra too. 1300 Eat Out's Sydney restaurants inclue the likes of Yipiyiyo, Sails on Lavender Bay, Portofino, Una's, Oh Calcutta and Zest. Mr Noble thoroughly researched the market before launching the business. They assessed competitor offerings, conducted extensive market research with restaurants and employed a statistician to crunch the numbers to make sure the business plan was actually viable. About 1.3 million people eat out in Sydney every week and about 400,000 of those diners book ahead. "I've always wanted to start my own business completely from scratch," Mr Noble says. "I'm getting to combine my passion for dining out with my passion for business." Future plans include SMS capability, a frequent diner program, expansion to regional areas and other major cities, and an enhanced service which is designed to help with large-scale events. Bookings through 1300 Eat Out are free. Member restaurants pay $4.95 per booking and a fee of $495 a year.
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