Katherine Allen was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. A self-described foodie, she also loved to host a good dinner party with friends and family. Allen found the process of looking for a private chef outdated and often burdensome. With a background in business, she saw a need for an improvement in the industry. She knew TableDot was the answer, providing a community of chefs whose passions for making the very best dishes just for you now became easy and more affordable than going out to a restaurant.
“The idea came about in late 2018 and it’s been full speed ahead,” Allen explained. “But starting from scratch was not easy. We already knew there were customers looking to book private chefs but we wanted TableDot to be different, better, faster and essentially take an age-old business process and pull it into the new-age using technology.”
TableDot allows customers to customize their dining experience by adding menu items to their shopping cart and checkout within minutes. In beta testing, the platform brought in over 2,000 chefs from the area onto one site where customers can see a variety of options, take control and customize their dining event.
“A lot of people like to host events or have get-togethers, but they may lack the culinary skills necessary to make it a success,” she said. “Our chefs, who undergo a full background check, pick up the groceries, cook the food, and even clean up afterward.”
Another reason TableDot excels as an innovative company is that the customer can search what type of cuisine they crave with a simple search. There is no pre-cooked delivery, rather a whole experience waiting at your whim.
“Think of Pinterest and Amazon rolled up into one. You search a dish, for example, lamb chops,” she said. “You are then presented with all the dishes within your area. After you find your favorite and provide you booking date and time, you are taken to the chef’s profile, bio and available reviews.”
Once you choose your menu and place your booking for your dinner party, the chef shops for locally grown and hand-selected ingredients on your selected date and time, and cooks in front of all your guests who leave with a lasting memory.
It isn’t just an experience, it’s also a cost saver. Whether guests choose to have the meals served by the chef or prepared for a tableside presentation, Allen noted that booking on TableDot is 20-25% less than booking with a private chef independently.
“Our transparent pricing model makes it easy for everyone to understand the numbers and where the money is going,” Allen added. “By the end of the booking, you know exactly what you the chef is going to serve your guests and how much it is going to cost. No more vague invoices or price per person formats. We are completely reinventing the way everyone thinks of in-home social dining.”
TableDot has been featured on various media outlets and has encountered much success in its early stages, but Allen and the company aren’t content and are looking to make big moves in 2020 including a new round of funding that will allow them to expand to more major metros in the U.S., improve the platform, bring on strategic partners, and much more.
“Just look at what we have done so far,” she exclaimed. “We became trademarked, secured coverage for all bookings made on our platform, ramped up our web and mobile development, gained traction through alpha and beta testing, and garnered media attention galore. That was just 2019! I’m super excited about the amount of growth we can accomplish by the end of 2020.”
For more information on TableDot, check out their website, tabledot.com , inquires at katherine@tabledot.com