Launches & Releases: Meet FohBoh, "Facebook For the Restaurant Industry"

More than a few food folks have submitted their predictions for the trends of '08, but we're fairly certain no one predicted the arrival of online social networks for the restaurant and service industry. Because we just know that Alice Waters has been waiting in vain for a social outlet other than Facebook (curiously enough, she's still not on the Eater page), we present FohBoh. The name is short for "front of the house, back of the house" and the site is focused on creating an interactive community for restaurant folk to be social and do business, so get excited, people.

As it stands, FohBoh has a similar layout to other social networking sites, with a section for restaurant news and industry-centric groups like Restaurant Design, Branding and Wine Lovers. Us? We're just delighted at the (probably imaginary) prospect of chefs asking other chefs to be their friends, and very grateful that there's finally a platform to ponder and pose valuable questions like "What's new and exciting in food PR?"

On that note, the PR color follows:

It's the new interactive community for hourly employees, chefs, vendors and service providers--anyone interested in connecting, socializing and doing business within the industry. Because food is such an integral part of our lives and we consume it at least three times daily--it's clearly an important area of interest and frequent topic of conversation.

"There's not been a major online social gathering spot for folks in our industry until now," says Michael L. Atkinson, CEO and co-founder. "MySpace and Facebook are clear leaders in generic social networking today and have educated the market, but they are entirely horizontal, so they don't cater well to niches of specific interest. This is where FohBoh excels." Restaurants, casinos, bakeries, wineries, breweries, lounges, bars, hotels, resorts, caterers, concessioners and cruise lines can come to promote their businesses, hire, discuss industry issues and more. "A restaurateur in Australia might give someone in Chicago a terrific idea on how to better promote their restaurant."