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Nothing — Tableside doesn't charge hosts, and there are no platform fees during our launch. You pay your chef directly, and the price you agree to in a proposal is all-in: nothing gets added afterward.

That's the chef's starting rate — a signal, not a price tag. Your exact price is set in the proposal a chef sends for your specific event, and it's locked once you both confirm.

Not directly — menus show you what a chef cooks and roughly what it costs. To hire, post your event (or invite the chef to it) and they'll respond with a proposal built for your date, guest count, and budget. One flow, no side deals, everything on the record.

Exactly one person: your confirmed chef, and only after you've both committed. Chefs never see your address while browsing or proposing, and our terms bar them from ever photographing, posting, or geotagging your home without your explicit consent.

Your chef confirms — that locks the agreed terms so they can't drift. Then a private “Plan together” space opens on the event: share your address, kitchen notes, timing, and a day-of phone number, and message each other directly.

Tap the heart on any chef and they land in three places: the Saved Chefs card on your dashboard, the “♥ Saved” filter on Browse Chefs, and — most usefully — an “Invite your saved chefs” panel on any event you post.

Every chef is personally reviewed — a real conversation with our founding team, not an algorithm. We verify identity, food-safety certification, insurance (if you carry it), and talk through your experience. While you wait, build your storefront: photos, menus, and availability are what hosts compare. Our standard is public on the Trust & Safety page.

It means you told us, and we're honest with hosts about that. Once we've sighted your certificate or insurance documents during review, the marks are upgraded — verification means we checked, and we never imply more than we did.

No platform fees during launch — hosts pay you directly, in full. When payments move onto the platform later, pricing will stay all-in and you'll always see exactly what you receive before you send a proposal.

No. You set your price in each proposal, hosts compare complete proposals — there's no counter-offer machinery and no pressure slider. Their budget is visible up front, so you price it right the first time.

Never. Proposals are sealed — only the event's host sees yours. Competitors never see your menu concept or your numbers.

Your booking window (Profile → Availability) sets how far ahead hosts can book you — 1, 3, 6, or 12 months. Dates beyond it show as “not open yet” on your public calendar.

Enter whichever you think in — the proposal form has a toggle and always shows the conversion (“$85 per guest × 18 guests = $1,530 total”) before you send. What the host sees always matches their event's budget format, so proposals compare cleanly.

Host posts an event → chefs propose (or the host invites specific chefs to propose) → host compares sealed proposals side by side → host selects one → the chef confirms → terms lock, coordination opens, dinner happens.

Chefs can revise before selection — the host always sees the latest version, and history is preserved. After both sides confirm, the terms are locked: what you agreed is what stands.

Your other proposals stay open until the chef confirms — selecting doesn't burn your alternatives. If they decline, you're back to your full pool with nothing lost.

The closer the dinner, the more is owed — our full standard, in plain words, is on the Cancellations & Refunds page. If a chef cancels, the host is made whole, always. And before cancelling, try rescheduling: if both sides accept a new date, nothing is forfeited.

Directly between host and chef — Tableside doesn't process payments or hold funds yet. Agree on deposit terms in your event's coordination thread. When payments come to the platform, the agreed price stays the final price: taxes and any fees live inside it, never on top.

Reviews can only come from events that actually happened — there are no purchased placements or invented ratings anywhere on Tableside. A chef with zero reviews is new, not suspicious. Cancellations are recorded separately from reviews, so quality and reliability are two signals you can read independently.

Only what a dinner needs, shared only with who needs it — the five-line summary at the top of our Privacy Policy covers it. We never sell personal information. Ever.

Contact us — at our size, a founder reads every message, and genuine emergencies are handled person-by-person. You can also email hello@tableside.co directly.