> Call me a food safety nit, but the idea of eating food prepared by unlicensed strangers does not seem appealing.

But you just said you do it all the time when your friends cook. Is the only difference the profit motivation? As the article says, this is often more of a hobby than a "real" business... personally, I'd sooner suspect a restaurant – with their notoriously thin margins – to cut corners. I think with a decent reputation system (word of mouth, or some established online source) I'd be comfortable taking a chance at one of these establishments.