By Jin Lovelace, HSM team writer & filmmaker

In a show of hands: how many of you are a fan of culinary arts?

It struck you as odd that the start of this article is an inquiry on the art of food? I assure you, the feelings were mutual when I logged into Home a while ago, traversed right over to the x7 Club to see the early content release, and saw that not only had VEEMEE released a Personal Dining Experience, but Juggernaut had returned with their latest content in the form of the Culinary Adventure Pack. 

I’m not making this up, seriously.

I know there are many Home users who desire this sort of content to be on here — to meta-game a dining experience — and this is something I find rather unique, and…well, cute. But what intrigues me the most is that this is the next step toward the social experience that we all have longed for on Home. Is it weird to plunk your cash into content that won’t give your avatar extra stamina or increase their strength by twenty percent? I personally say yes, but then again, we’re talking about someone who would veer over to the fashion section first before any of this. So much thought, I find this to be a fascinating experience, not just to see these items on Home, but possibly enhancing the social experience we’ve all longed for.

Instead of games, you can create a dining experience of your own for your guests with the Personal Chef Bundle. My first impression was of the Hibachi Grill Restaurants where the Chef would serve you your dinner with a bit of theatrical flair in the mix. The experience comes not just from how they play with their tools, but the quality of the food and service provided. As a social experience, it creates a fun, elegant feel for everyone to gather around and enjoy the meals.

With the Bundle now on sale, you can create your very own experience, be it for social gatherings, functions, or in an intimate setting at a Log Cabin at sunset. The options are endless! The Personal Dining Experience comes with two optional Personal Chefs (BBQ and French) and can be purchased for $2.49, or $3.49 for the Bundle.

The Culinary Adventure Pack, on the other hand, has an “Iron Chef America” vibe. It comes with an assortment of cooking utensils and Chef attire, with which you can live out your fantasies facing off against Chefs Mario Batali and Bobby Flay. Again, you can let your imagination run wild with this. The Executive Chef attire can be bought for $0.99 and has a very legitimate appeal. Normally I would turn my head from such styles on Home due to a cliché look in the fashions, but I find the apparel to be very well-made and form-fitting to the respective avatars. You have a Chef Hat, two optional color Caps (Pink and Black), a Hand Cleaver (the only $0.49 item on the list), an Executive Chef Jacket for $0.99, and two available colored Chef Jackets, also in  Pink and Black, complete with Chef Pants.

As for the Deluxe Kitchenware Bundle, there are three colors available for purchase: Stainless Steel, Cherry Red, and Leaf Green. All for $5.99 per-bundle, or you can purchase the combined bundles altogether for $9.99. You can also just go for broke and purchase the entire Culinary Adventure Pack for just $14.99.

The reason for the breakdown above is that this year Home has slowly, but surely, started to creep its way back to its original social-network status in content and interactivity. JAM Games released the Painted Bare collection, which shows there are legitimate ways to show off works of art on bare skin. nDreams were the first to ever release LMOs on Home, and they have created premium Dance packs to enhance how you interact with then-empty public spaces; it seems that the Singstar space finally makes sense now that you can do the Carlton in it. And lastly, Game Mechanics released some very exquisite Dining Furniture that would compliment the new Culinary content wonderfully.

With all of this said, I’m amazed that something this cool had me plunking $3.99 on the Executive Chef Bundle, to see how it enhances my experience on Home and to showcase my affection for the Culinary arts. It’s amazing to see such a turn-around, and I hope to soon see more content catering to the social aspects of Home.

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