stolen image of the appOn Thursday night, our old bowling league arch nemisisisis buddies ClickSuite  launched a new iPhone and iPad app called Fast, Fresh and Tasty. We went along because we were promised food and drink, and you know how good that is at getting us to leave our houses, but we were pleasantly surprised by the app itself.

Fast, Fresh and Tasty is not just another recipe app. Yes, it has over 100 recipes in it, but where the attraction lies is in the freshness. It knows what season it is, and what’s good to eat right now – did you know that Spring is not only a great time for asparagus (duh!) but also certain types of fish? Now you know! Or at least you’ll know when you download the app. Yes, at $6.50, it’s not the cheapest app ever. But how much do cookbooks cost normally? Exactly. PLUS! Just like Angry Birds Seasonal, there will be free seasonal updates, so in winter you can warm yourselves with curries and soups.

The bit that really wowed us about the app though was the shopping list feature – you can add all the ingredients you need to your shopping list and then easily email or tweet that list to someone else. Believe me friends, I will be using this feature next time I offer to cook for you.

You might be wondering what the value proposition is for a web design company to make an app like this. Well, they’ve partnered with a number of food companies like Silver Fern Farms, Rangitikei Chicken, the Seafood Industry Council and Alfa One Rice Bran Oil (thanks Idealog article for providing me with that list!). It’s a model that can be transferred pretty easily to other countries or areas, and we like that a lot. This is exactly the kind of awesome export that Wellington should be producing.

Plus, can we just spend a little bit of time talking about how fucking awesome  Bettys [sic] is as a launch venue? So slick with their image projections, and the service is superb and the drinks delicious. The food was made to recipes from Fast, Fresh & Tasty, but presented with a little extra ingenuity (fresh asparagus and aioli served in cucumber cups), and our glassses were kept admirably full. Very impressive stuff.

So, to summarise: this app looks awesome, and Bettys is great. You should be patronising both.