Documenting Your Culinary Adventures
Introduction
Foodie Notes is an iOS app that helps food bloggers, aspiring chefs, and culinary adventurers capture well-organized notes about their fine-dining experiences. I partnered with a developer and chef-in-training to define, design, and develop this experience.
Year
2024 – 2025
Client
Private
Company
Freelance
Role
Product Design, Prototyping
Documenting Your Culinary Adventures
Introduction
Foodie Notes is an iOS app that helps food bloggers, aspiring chefs, and culinary adventurers capture well-organized notes about their fine-dining experiences. I partnered with a developer and chef-in-training to define, design, and develop this experience.
Year
2024 – 2025
Client
Private
Company
Freelance
Role
Product Design, Prototyping
Documenting Your Culinary Adventures
Foodie Notes is an iOS app that helps food bloggers, aspiring chefs, and culinary adventurers capture well-organized notes about their fine-dining experiences. I partnered with a developer and chef-in-training to define, design, and develop this experience.
Year
2024 – 2025
Client
Private
Company
Freelance
Role
Product Design, Prototyping
Context
Culinary tourism is about exploring a destination through its food and drink, seeking out unique, memorable experiences. It’s more than just eating on the go or snapping a quick Instagram shot — it’s about immersing yourself in the details. The presentation, ingredients, pairings, and the emotions they evoke all shape the experience. This is memory-making stuff, and well-worth documenting.
Context
Culinary tourism is about exploring a destination through its food and drink, seeking out unique, memorable experiences. It’s more than just eating on the go or snapping a quick Instagram shot — it’s about immersing yourself in the details. The presentation, ingredients, pairings, and the emotions they evoke all shape the experience. This is memory-making stuff, and well-worth documenting.
Culinary tourism is about exploring a destination through its food and drink, seeking out unique, memorable experiences. It’s more than just eating on the go or snapping a quick Instagram shot — it’s about immersing yourself in the details. The presentation, ingredients, pairings, and the emotions they evoke all shape the experience. This is memory-making stuff, and well-worth documenting.
Capture all the things.
Capture all the things.
Capture all the things.
Challenge
In 2024, I was approached to design an iOS app that would simplify and streamline note-taking while dining — because no one visits a Michelin-starred restaurant just to be glued to their phone the whole time. I’ve long believed that the best app experiences don’t try to be everything to everyone, and this project was a chance to put that philosophy into practice, designing solutions for a handful of specific user needs:
Challenge
In 2024, I was approached to design an iOS app that would simplify and streamline note-taking while dining — because no one visits a Michelin-starred restaurant just to be glued to their phone the whole time. I’ve long believed that the best app experiences don’t try to be everything to everyone, and this project was a chance to put that philosophy into practice, designing solutions for a handful of specific user needs:
In 2024, I was approached to design an iOS app that would simplify and streamline note-taking while dining — because no one visits a Michelin-starred restaurant just to be glued to their phone the whole time. I’ve long believed that the best app experiences don’t try to be everything to everyone, and this project was a chance to put that philosophy into practice, designing solutions for a handful of specific user needs:
01
Keep it organized.
Make it simple to capture notes for each part of my meal and keep them nicely organized for later review.
01
Keep it organized.
Make it simple to capture notes for each part of my meal and keep them nicely organized for later review.
01
Keep it organized.
Make it simple to capture notes for each part of my meal and keep them nicely organized for later review.
02
Streamline my input.
Make capturing notes and photos as efficient as possible so I can get back to my meal and dining companions.
02
Streamline my input.
Make capturing notes and photos as efficient as possible so I can get back to my meal and dining companions.
02
Streamline my input.
Make capturing notes and photos as efficient as possible so I can get back to my meal and dining companions.
03
Connect the dots.
The internet is a cornucopia of information. Find ways to enrich my notes with links to additional details so they’re as useful as possible when I come back to them later.
03
Connect the dots.
The internet is a cornucopia of information. Find ways to enrich my notes with links to additional details so they’re as useful as possible when I come back to them later.
03
Connect the dots.
The internet is a cornucopia of information. Find ways to enrich my notes with links to additional details so they’re as useful as possible when I come back to them later.
Your culinary adventures await.
The meal is the memory.
The meal is the memory.
The meal is the memory.
Structure
When organizing the app, we had two clear paths: group entries by venue or by meal. Feedback from foodie friends made the choice easy. While the restaurant might be the headline, it’s the unique meal experience you remember, even if you’ve been to the same place more than once.
Each meal becomes your own mini time capsule, filled with notes, photos, and impressions. For some, it’s a trip down memory lane. For others, it’s a well-structured reference for professional use. To keep things clear, each meal captures three layers of detail: the venue, the overall dining experience, and each individual course.
Structure
When organizing the app, we had two clear paths: group entries by venue or by meal. Feedback from foodie friends made the choice easy. While the restaurant might be the headline, it’s the unique meal experience you remember, even if you’ve been to the same place more than once.
Each meal becomes your own mini time capsule, filled with notes, photos, and impressions. For some, it’s a trip down memory lane. For others, it’s a well-structured reference for professional use. To keep things clear, each meal captures three layers of detail: the venue, the overall dining experience, and each individual course.
When organizing the app, we had two clear paths: group entries by venue or by meal. Feedback from foodie friends made the choice easy. While the restaurant might be the headline, it’s the unique meal experience you remember, even if you’ve been to the same place more than once.
Each meal becomes your own mini time capsule, filled with notes, photos, and impressions. For some, it’s a trip down memory lane. For others, it’s a well-structured reference for professional use. To keep things clear, each meal captures three layers of detail: the venue, the overall dining experience, and each individual course.
Your collection of past meals.
Your collection of past meals.
Your collection of past meals.
A fully-populated meal object with all your details and notes.
A fully-populated meal object with all your details and notes.
A fully-populated meal object with all your details and notes.
A fully populated course object, including notes, photos, and wine pairing.
A fully populated course object, including notes, photos, and wine pairing.
A fully populated course object, including notes, photos, and wine pairing.
Keep it organized.
Keep it organized.
Keep it organized.
01
While every fine dining experience is unique, most share the same underlying structure consisting of multiple courses and beverage pairings. To simplify what is often a tedious note-taking process, we created a simple, extensible meal template to ensure notes and photos on any aspect of a meal always have a place to go.
01
While every fine dining experience is unique, most share the same underlying structure consisting of multiple courses and beverage pairings. To simplify what is often a tedious note-taking process, we created a simple, extensible meal template to ensure notes and photos on any aspect of a meal always have a place to go.
While every fine dining experience is unique, most share the same underlying structure consisting of multiple courses and beverage pairings. To simplify what is often a tedious note-taking process, we created a simple, extensible meal template to ensure notes and photos on any aspect of a meal always have a place to go.
Streamline my input.
Streamline my input.
Streamline my input.
02
With each meal packed with details worth capturing, we looked for every opportunity to automate the easy stuff. Give us the venue name, and we’ll automatically log the date, time, and location of your visit. Adding a course? Start with a list of common course labels so you can jump straight to your notes. Capturing a wine label? Yeah, autocorrect will have a field day with that. We’ll run OCR on your label photo to extract the name for you. It’s not foolproof, but when it works (about 90% of the time), it's magical. And in any great app experience, a little magic goes a long way.
02
With each meal packed with details worth capturing, we looked for every opportunity to automate the easy stuff. Give us the venue name, and we’ll automatically log the date, time, and location of your visit. Adding a course? Start with a list of common course labels so you can jump straight to your notes. Capturing a wine label? Yeah, autocorrect will have a field day with that. We’ll run OCR on your label photo to extract the name for you. It’s not foolproof, but when it works (about 90% of the time), it's magical. And in any great app experience, a little magic goes a long way.
With each meal packed with details worth capturing, we looked for every opportunity to automate the easy stuff. Give us the venue name, and we’ll automatically log the date, time, and location of your visit. Adding a course? Start with a list of common course labels so you can jump straight to your notes. Capturing a wine label? Yeah, autocorrect will have a field day with that. We’ll run OCR on your label photo to extract the name for you. It’s not foolproof, but when it works (about 90% of the time), it's magical. And in any great app experience, a little magic goes a long way.
Connect the dots.
Connect the dots.
Connect the dots.
03
Throughout the app, we looked for smart ways to automatically enrich your notes with external context. Have a venue name and Michelin star rating? We’ll link you directly to its Michelin Guide profile. Snap a photo of a wine label or type in the name and year? We’ll pull up tasting notes from wine-searcher.com. These details aren’t just nice to have, they’re what help future-you track down that unforgettable bottle or follow a favorite restaurant’s rise over time.
03
Throughout the app, we looked for smart ways to automatically enrich your notes with external context. Have a venue name and Michelin star rating? We’ll link you directly to its Michelin Guide profile. Snap a photo of a wine label or type in the name and year? We’ll pull up tasting notes from wine-searcher.com. These details aren’t just nice to have, they’re what help future-you track down that unforgettable bottle or follow a favorite restaurant’s rise over time.
Throughout the app, we looked for smart ways to automatically enrich your notes with external context. Have a venue name and Michelin star rating? We’ll link you directly to its Michelin Guide profile. Snap a photo of a wine label or type in the name and year? We’ll pull up tasting notes from wine-searcher.com. These details aren’t just nice to have, they’re what help future-you track down that unforgettable bottle or follow a favorite restaurant’s rise over time.
Don't be a ray of sunshine.
Don't be a ray of sunshine.
Don't be a ray of sunshine.
Don't be a ray of sunshine.
Considerations
Fine dining often means low lighting — and typing on a bright screen isn’t exactly subtle. To keep things discreet (and your dining companions happy), we included a dark mode option for more considerate, low-profile note-taking.
Considerations
Fine dining often means low lighting — and typing on a bright screen isn’t exactly subtle. To keep things discreet (and your dining companions happy), we included a dark mode option for more considerate, low-profile note-taking.
Considerations
Fine dining often means low lighting — and typing on a bright screen isn’t exactly subtle. To keep things discreet (and your dining companions happy), we included a dark mode option for more considerate, low-profile note-taking.
Fine dining often means low lighting — and typing on a bright screen isn’t exactly subtle. To keep things discreet (and your dining companions happy), we included a dark mode option for more considerate, low-profile note-taking.
Your collection of past meals.
A fully-populated meal object with all your details and notes.
Course screen in dark mode.
Your collection of past meals.
A fully-populated meal object with all your details and notes.
Course screen in dark mode.
Your collection of past meals.
A fully-populated meal object with all your details and notes.
Course screen in dark mode.
Your collection of past meals.
A fully-populated meal object with all your details and notes.
Course screen in dark mode.
Design systems make everything better.
Design systems make everything better.
Design systems make everything better.
Design systems make everything better.
Systems
This project gave me a chance to put a personal design system framework I’ve been refining on the side to good use. With a fully connected system and adjustable variables, I was able to move quickly, stay flexible, and streamline everything from prototyping to cross-functional collaboration. It also made pre-development user research faster and more focused, helping us learn and iterate without getting bogged down in the details.
Systems
This project gave me a chance to put a personal design system framework I’ve been refining on the side to good use. With a fully connected system and adjustable variables, I was able to move quickly, stay flexible, and streamline everything from prototyping to cross-functional collaboration. It also made pre-development user research faster and more focused, helping us learn and iterate without getting bogged down in the details.
Systems
This project gave me a chance to put a personal design system framework I’ve been refining on the side to good use. With a fully connected system and adjustable variables, I was able to move quickly, stay flexible, and streamline everything from prototyping to cross-functional collaboration. It also made pre-development user research faster and more focused, helping us learn and iterate without getting bogged down in the details.
This project gave me a chance to put a personal design system framework I’ve been refining on the side to good use. With a fully connected system and adjustable variables, I was able to move quickly, stay flexible, and streamline everything from prototyping to cross-functional collaboration. It also made pre-development user research faster and more focused, helping us learn and iterate without getting bogged down in the details.
Foodie Notes design system (light mode.)
Foodie Notes design system (light mode.)
Foodie Notes design system (light mode.)
Foodie Notes design system (light mode.)
Time for learning.
Time for learning.
Time for learning.
Time for learning.
Next Steps
The first version of the app is now in the hands of a few trusted food-loving testers as they eat their way through France. Their feedback will give us fresh insight into how intuitive the experience feels, and help us better understand where the input process could be streamlined further. Once we’ve gathered and synthesized their feedback, we’ll roll it into the next iteration, building on what works and refining what doesn’t. Stay tuned.
Next Steps
The first version of the app is now in the hands of a few trusted food-loving testers as they eat their way through France. Their feedback will give us fresh insight into how intuitive the experience feels, and help us better understand where the input process could be streamlined further. Once we’ve gathered and synthesized their feedback, we’ll roll it into the next iteration, building on what works and refining what doesn’t. Stay tuned.
Next Steps
The first version of the app is now in the hands of a few trusted food-loving testers as they eat their way through France. Their feedback will give us fresh insight into how intuitive the experience feels, and help us better understand where the input process could be streamlined further. Once we’ve gathered and synthesized their feedback, we’ll roll it into the next iteration, building on what works and refining what doesn’t. Stay tuned.
The first version of the app is now in the hands of a few trusted food-loving testers as they eat their way through France. Their feedback will give us fresh insight into how intuitive the experience feels, and help us better understand where the input process could be streamlined further. Once we’ve gathered and synthesized their feedback, we’ll roll it into the next iteration, building on what works and refining what doesn’t. Stay tuned.