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chef outdated and often burdensome.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.”

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