Ten rules.
The whole game.
Short enough to read at the bar, strong enough to keep the table honest. The system runs itself — confirms feed trust, trust feeds the pool, the pool pays the people who found the Cazuelas. The hidden multiplier amplifies the genuinely under-the-radar.
Two roles. Same map.
- 01
Aficionado · €7/mo or €70/yr. Instant signup, no review, 7-day free trial. Read every Cazuela in your city, save what you love, confirm visits with GPS (+1 trust to that Cazuela). Founding rate · €35/yr Y1 only · first 200 per city.
- 02
Gastronome · €350/yr only (no monthly variant). Application-only. Everything Aficionados get, plus 2 chips on signup, max 4 active, full trust voice (Confirmer levels), notes, disagrees, pool earnings. Founding rate · €175/yr LOCKED FOR LIFE · first 30 per city · closes once.
How a Gastronome plants a chip.
- 03
Each Gastronome gets 2 chips on signup. Plant each on a Cazuela you want to vouch for. Editorial validates the place exists and isn’t a chain. Multiplier locks at chip placement — even if your find becomes popular later, your tier doesn’t change. Want more? Up to 4 active per city, €100 each.
- 04
City slot cap: 80 active Cazuelas at launch, growing by +1 slot per 40 new Aficionados above 1,000. Aficionados grow the cap (more readers = more visits = supports more Cazuelas). 5,000 readers → 180 slots. 15,000 readers → 430 slots.
How a chip earns from the pool.
- 05
Trust drives. Multiplier amplifies. Each chip earns (its trust ÷ city trust) × pool × hidden multiplier. Trust = visits + GPS confirms + thumbs. Aficionado confirm = +1. Gastronome confirm = +5 × Confirmer level (New +3 / Trusted +5 / Veteran +7 / Master +10). Note (Gastronome only) = +3. Save = +1 G / +0.5 A. Disagree = −3.
- 06
Hidden multiplier — auto-scored 0–100% across 4 signals: Google Reviews count, Instagram presence, mainstream media coverage, chain status. Tiers: ULTRA HIDDEN 1.4× / HIDDEN 1.2× / SEMI-HIDDEN 1× / MAINSTREAM 0.8× / CHAIN 0.6×. The math leans against the obvious; the social thumbs-down handles the rest. Famous places can be added but rarely survive.
- 07
Two earnings caps. 10% per Cazuela max (no single place owns the city). 25% per Gastronome max (across all their chips). Pool itself: 50% of fees, then 99% distributed by trust + multiplier, 1% editorial discretionary.
How a chip lives — and dies.
- 08
6-month grace per chip. Nothing dies during grace — protects against unlucky timing. After grace: a Cazuela dies if it gets zero confirmed visits in any 180-day window. 30-day warning before kill — chance to save it or pre-emptively retire. Replacement chip costs €100. Bad picks have a real price; that’s why Gastronomes pick carefully.
- 09
Disagree-majority retire: if disagrees ≥ 2× confirms AND ≥ 5 total in 60 days, instant retire. If you triggered the retire, you can’t claim that freed slot for 12 months — kills the financial incentive to grief. Closure detection: weekly Maps API check, retires within 7 days if the place actually closed.
What we’ll never do.
- 10
No reviews. No paid placements. No gifted meals. No selling member data. No referral commissions to consumers. No editorial bias overriding the 4-factor algorithm. No different prices to different members. The Cazuela never takes a euro from the pool — only the platform’s 50% split at the door + 100% of chip purchases. We close before we break this.