Online booking for chefs

In a restaurant kitchen, the front of house takes the tables. But chefs also cook for themselves: supper clubs in a borrowed space, pop-up dinners, chef's table evenings where a few guests eat at the pass, cooking classes, and private dinners for groups. Here the chef is the business, and the booking is theirs to manage.

These evenings are planned around a set number of seats. Ingredients are bought for that number, the menu is fixed, and an empty seat is lost money. When bookings come through Instagram messages, it's easy to lose count or double-book the last seat.

On Book, each kind of evening or class is a service with its own description, and a price if you want to show one. You open a slot for each date and set the number of seats. Each online booking takes one seat, and the evening disappears from your page once it's full. A couple books twice, or you add the second seat yourself from your calendar. Use the description for the menu, the address and the start time. Guests add allergies or dietary needs in the booking note, so you see them all before you shop.

For a private dinner, create a separate service with one place per slot: the host books the date and adds the number of guests in the note.

Guests book without an account, with their name, email and phone, and get a confirmation email. You get an email for every new booking. Reschedule or cancel from your bookings list and let guests know, and your calendar syncs with Google, iPhone or Mac. Book doesn't sell tickets, take prepayment or handle restaurant table plans. It costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited bookings and services, no commission, no contract.