BestChef

Meet BestChef · Public beta on TestFlight

Every dish
has a story.

Discover the world’s best recipes and the chefs behind them. Cook, compete, and share the delights of food with each other. Join the public beta on iPhone.

Join the public beta See every workflow

Our vision: competitions that celebrate great cooking, chef pages full of personality, and $1–$5 thank-yous that give a little back.

Explore the bracketsDesign a chef pageShare a little love
Recipes. Competition. Community. A kitchen of your own.Scroll to explore

A world of kitchens. A place to compete.

Competition format preview

The world's best.
Decided dish by dish.

A family recipe from a tiny kitchen deserves the same chance as a signature dish from a celebrated chef. We're building competitions to discover the best recipes and the best chefs in the world.

Find the best recipe. Different cooks. The same dish. Discover the version people love to make again.

Find the best chef. Follow the people behind great recipes as they prove their craft across challenges.

An example dish competition

The pasta table

Quarterfinals · 8 recipes

Follow an example from the first matchups to the winning recipe. Select an entry to see its story. Swipe the bracket to explore later rounds.

Illustrative chefs, matchups, and results. This eight-entry, single-elimination format is a proposal; competition sizes, schedules, seeding, scoring, eligibility, and tie-breaks will be published with each event.

  1. 01

    Bring your best version

    Choose a dish competition. Read its rules, then enter a complete recipe with ingredients, a method, and photos or video. Entries go through moderation.

  2. 02

    Cook. Compare. Review.

    Make the recipes and share CookProof with your review. The proposed format builds on reviewed cooking votes, so the food gets a fair hearing.

  3. 03

    Watch the field narrow

    At each round's close, results are checked against the event rules. Advancing recipes meet in the next round, all the way to a final.

  4. 04

    Meet the people behind it

    Celebrate the winning recipe. Visit the chef's page, cook more of their dishes, and follow their next challenge.

Great cooking earns its place.

Quick reactions help discovery. Approved, non-anonymous cooking votes drive the current ranking model, including negative verdicts. In the proposed competitions, tips will never buy votes, advancement, or a higher rank.

There's a person behind every plate.

Profile studio preview

Your kitchen.
Your corner of the internet.

Your chef page should feel like you. Set the mood with music. Share cooking videos. Pick your colors, background, type, and layout. Put your signature recipes, your story, and your competition journey wherever you want them.

Make it yours

Try a different look. Everything changes right here.

What belongs on your page?

Files play only in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or saved. Music starts only when a visitor presses play.

Example chef page Design it with the controls
Pull up a chair.

@maya.cooks · Example profile

Maya Rivera

Come hungry. Stay for the stories.

Pasta on Sundays. A little music. Always one more place at the table.

What's playing in my kitchen

Little Satellites · Demo instrumental

From my kitchen to yours

A place for recipe films, quick techniques, and the stories behind the food.

My competition journey

The pasta table · Example finalist

Explore the bracket
A recipe can hold a whole family.

“My grandmother never measured the garlic. She just knew when it smelled like home. These are the recipes I'm learning to pass on.”

With love, Maya
Illustrative mushroom pasta, Maya's example signature recipe
My signature recipe
Sunday mushroom pasta
Open the recipe preview

A fully personal chef page is the vision. This is an interactive design example, inspired by Meerkat's customizable personal pages; the current beta has basic chef profiles.

A little thank-you can travel a long way.

Tipping preview · Coming later

Good food.
Shared wealth.

We spend so much of our money with companies. What if a little more of it went to each other?

Someone shares a recipe. You make a meal you love. A dollar, three dollars, five dollars becomes a small thank-you for the care, creativity, and delight they brought to your table.

That's the idea behind Tip the chef: helping our collective wealth circulate among the people who make everyday life a little better.

On a recipe Thank them for this dish ↗On a chef's profile Support the person behind it ↗

Always optional. Never a requirement to enjoy a recipe or take part in the community. Tips won't influence competition results.

Recipe page preview♡
Mushroom pasta with herbs, illustrative recipe photograph

From Maya's kitchen

Sunday mushroom pasta

A generous bowl, a handful of herbs, and a reason to gather around the table.

35 minutesServes 4Meet the chef ↗
Ingredients & method

For this example: 400 g pasta, 300 g mushrooms, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, parsley, and salt.

Cook the pasta. Brown the mushrooms in oil, then stir in the garlic. Toss with the pasta and a splash of its cooking water. Finish with parsley.

Made your day?

Send a little love to the person who shared it.

$1–$5. A small thank-you, freely given.
A look at what's next. Tipping is not enabled in the current beta. Try the buttons to preview choosing an amount; no payment is taken. Payment availability and any fees will be explained before tipping launches.
Preview only · No payment

A little love
for the chef.

Choose your thank-you

Tipping is coming later. This preview cannot send money.
Illustrative competition entry

Explore a recipe page

Share BestChef.

Invite someone to discover a recipe, meet a chef, or explore what we’re building.

Public beta on TestFlight · Build 34

Cook with us
before launch.

The beta has onboarding, Discover, the Vote deck, Top 100 rankings, a private kitchen, public profiles, recipe submission with moderation, 24 languages, and Sign in with Apple. Twenty editorial seed dishes from ChefTom give the feed something to cook while the community grows.

Join the public beta

iPhone only for now. Anyone with the link can install it through Apple’s TestFlight app.

Home tab. A greeting reads What’s cooking tonight, above tiles for day streak, your rank, and reviews. A Leaderboards section offers All Time, By Dish, By Cuisine, and By Region, and a banner marks the number one dish this week. The tab bar shows Home, Top 100, Vote, Kitchen, and Profile.
Home, as captured todayTestFlight build 34

A recipe is only the beginning.

From the first
“that looks good”
to the last bite.

BestChef brings recipes, a private kitchen, and a community of cooks together around one thing: the dish.

Discover a new version. Learn from the cook behind it. Make it in your own kitchen. Then share a little of what you learned.

See how it all connects
Tacos topped with cabbage and fresh herbs
A weeknight favorite.01
Ribbon pasta with mushrooms and green herbs
A signature version.02
Georgian dumplings served with herbs and sauces
A dish worth passing on.03

One app. Every side of cooking.

Come curious.
Leave inspired.

Choose a way in. Walk through the steps.
You can be all five kinds of cook.

For viewers

Your next great meal starts with curiosity.

Follow a dish from inspiration to a recipe you want to cook.

Captured screen01 / 04
Discover screen with a search field for recipes, chefs, and cuisines, filter chips for All, Recipes, Chefs, Cuisines, and Dishes, trending dishes such as Air Fryer Chicken Wings and Baked Salmon, a grid of top cuisines from Italian to Chinese, and top regions such as Thailand and Italy.
DiscoverTestFlight build 34
One dish. Many ways to make it.

Steps marked “Captured screen” show real screenshots from TestFlight build 34. Steps marked “Illustrative” use drawn stand-ins and are not live accounts, rankings, or competition results.

Every workflow, on real screens.

What you can do
in the beta today.

Captured from TestFlight build 34 on September 6, 2026.
Frames marked illustrative have no capture yet.

01 · 5 screens

Get started

Three quick screens, then you are in.

  1. Choose your languageBestChef reads your device language, and Change Language opens the full list of 24. Recipes show translated when a translation exists, with the original one tap away.
  2. Confirm your ageThe community has user-generated content, so you confirm you are 13 or older before you continue.
  3. Accept the community rulesRead the zero-tolerance policy, open the Terms or Community Guidelines if you want the detail, and continue.
  4. Land on HomeHome greets you with your streak, rank, and review count, plus shortcuts into every leaderboard.
Onboarding screen titled Choose your language. It explains that recipes are shown in your language when a translation is available, with the original one tap away. English is detected from the device, above a Continue button and a Change Language link.
Choose your languageTestFlight build 34
Choose your language list with English selected, followed by Español, Français, Deutsch, Italiano, Português (Brasil), and Português (Portugal), each showing its English name, region, and translation coverage percentage. A note reads App interface language: English, above a Start Cooking button.
Language pickerTestFlight build 34
Onboarding screen titled Age verification. It says the app contains user-generated content and asks whether you are 13 or older, with a button reading Yes, I am 13 or older.
Age verificationTestFlight build 34
Onboarding screen titled Community rules. It states that BestChef has zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive behavior, links to the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, notes that continuing means agreeing to the Terms and the zero-tolerance policy, and ends with an I agree button.
Community rulesTestFlight build 34
Home tab. A greeting reads What’s cooking tonight, above tiles for day streak, your rank, and reviews. A Leaderboards section offers All Time, By Dish, By Cuisine, and By Region, and a banner marks the number one dish this week. The tab bar shows Home, Top 100, Vote, Kitchen, and Profile.
HomeTestFlight build 34

02 · 2 screens

Discover and browse

Search by recipe, chef, cuisine, or dish, or follow what is trending.

  1. Open DiscoverTap the search icon on Home to open Discover with one search field for recipes, chefs, and cuisines.
  2. Narrow it downFilter to recipes, chefs, cuisines, or dishes, or start from the trending dishes strip.
  3. Browse by cuisine or regionCuisine tiles and region chips take you to everything the community has cooked in that style.
  4. Open a dishA dish page gathers every recipe version of it, so you can compare how different cooks make the same thing.
Home tab. A greeting reads What’s cooking tonight, above tiles for day streak, your rank, and reviews. A Leaderboards section offers All Time, By Dish, By Cuisine, and By Region, and a banner marks the number one dish this week. The tab bar shows Home, Top 100, Vote, Kitchen, and Profile.
HomeTestFlight build 34
Discover screen with a search field for recipes, chefs, and cuisines, filter chips for All, Recipes, Chefs, Cuisines, and Dishes, trending dishes such as Air Fryer Chicken Wings and Baked Salmon, a grid of top cuisines from Italian to Chinese, and top regions such as Thailand and Italy.
DiscoverTestFlight build 34

03 · 2 screens

Vote

A quick reaction takes a second. A reviewed vote takes a real cook.

  1. Swipe through the deckEach card is one recipe: full-screen photo or video, the cook, the cuisine, and the ingredient list. Filter the deck by language.
  2. React in a tapThumbs up or down, save, share, or comment. Reactions help people discover recipes; they do not set the rankings.
  3. Cook it and add CookProofFor a reviewed vote, cook the recipe, add a photo of your plate, choose a tier and star rating, and write what worked.
  4. Let it be reviewedReviewed votes go through moderation. Your photo stays private while pending; once approved it appears under My Cooks on your profile.
Vote tab showing a full-screen photo of Shrimp Scampi with Linguini by ChefTom, labeled Italian and Editorial Seed, with a Follow button. Along the right edge are thumbs up, thumbs down, CookProof, comment, share, save, and report buttons. An All languages filter sits at the top.
Vote deckTestFlight build 34
CookProof
  • Your plated photo
  • Tier & star rating
  • Private while pending
Illustrative · not a capture
CookProofIllustrative. Add your plated photo, tier, rating, and notes.

04 · 2 screens

Climb the Top 100

Rankings come from reviewed cooking votes, not from likes.

  1. Pick a leaderboardAll Time, By Dish, By Cuisine, or By Region, from Home or from the Top 100 tab.
  2. Pick a periodToday, this week, this month, or all time.
  3. Know what countsOnly cooking votes with approved CookProof move a recipe, including negative verdicts. Pending, rejected, or anonymous votes do not.
  4. Fill an empty categoryThe beta is young, so some boards are still empty. Submit a recipe and be the first entry.
Home tab. A greeting reads What’s cooking tonight, above tiles for day streak, your rank, and reviews. A Leaderboards section offers All Time, By Dish, By Cuisine, and By Region, and a banner marks the number one dish this week. The tab bar shows Home, Top 100, Vote, Kitchen, and Profile.
HomeTestFlight build 34
Top 100 tab with Today, This week, This month, and All time filters and category chips for All Time, By Dish, and By Cuisine. A Greatest Of All Time banner notes that rankings come from reviewed cooking votes. The list is empty, reading No entries yet, with a Submit a recipe button.
Top 100TestFlight build 34

05 · 3 screens

Cook from your private kitchen

Recipes, pantry, and grocery lists stay on your phone.

  1. Stock your pantryAdd food by hand, scan a barcode, or photograph a receipt or a grocery haul, then review the imported items before saving.
  2. Add recipesWrite one yourself, import a link, paste recipe text, or import from a photo. The source stays with the recipe.
  3. Build a grocery listTurn recipes into a list, combine ingredients, and check it against what is already in your pantry.
  4. Cook in cook modeFollow the method one step at a time. If you leave, cook mode picks up where you stopped.
Kitchen tab. A header reads Your kitchen, 0 in pantry, 0 on list, above Pantry and Grocery tabs, an Add Recipe button, and Grocery Lists. An Add Food section offers Manual Food, Barcode, Receipt Photo, and Grocery Photo, with shortcuts to Grocery, Recipes, Videos, and Pantry.
KitchenTestFlight build 34
Grocery list
  • Pasta · 400 g
  • Tomatoes · 500 g
  • Basil · in pantry
Illustrative · not a capture
Grocery listIllustrative. A recipe becomes a shopping plan.
Cook mode
  • Step 3 of 8
  • Simmer 12 minutes
  • Resume where you left off
Illustrative · not a capture
Cook modeIllustrative. One step at a time, resumable.

06 · 3 screens

Submit a recipe

Choose the dish, tell the recipe, add your media, then let moderation take a look.

  1. Pick the dishSearch or choose from the dish grid so your recipe joins the other versions of that dish.
  2. Fill in the detailsIngredients, steps, cuisine, and the story behind your version.
  3. Add a photo or videoUpload from your phone. Drafts are kept and interrupted uploads can be retried.
  4. Moderation before it goes publicEvery submission is reviewed first. Approved recipes appear in the feed, on the dish page, and in the rankings, with your profile attached.
Submit Recipe sheet at the Select Dish step. A search field reads Search for a dish, above a grid of dishes including Air Fryer Chicken Wings, Baked Salmon, Banana Bread, Beef Stroganoff, Brownie Pudding, and Chicken Piccata with their cuisines. Cancel and Continue buttons sit at the bottom.
Submit a recipeTestFlight build 34
Add your media
  • Photos or video
  • Save a draft
  • Retry an upload
Illustrative · not a capture
Add your mediaIllustrative. Photo or video, private until approved.
Submission status
  • Submitted
  • In review
  • Approved and public
Illustrative · not a capture
Submission statusIllustrative. Submitted, in review, approved.

07 · 2 screens

Your profile and community

Follow cooks, earn badges, and keep the community welcoming.

  1. Set up your profilePick a handle, write an introduction, and show the dishes that define your cooking.
  2. Follow and be followedFollow a cook from any card in the deck. Followers, following, and recipe counts live on your profile.
  3. Collect badges and cooksThe Badges tab tracks what you have earned; My Cooks shows your approved CookProofs.
  4. Report or blockReport a recipe or comment from where you see it, block an account, and review your own reports in settings.
Profile tab with a round CH avatar named Chef, an Edit Profile button, a share button, counts for recipes, followers, and following, tabs for Recipes, Badges, and Activity, and a My Cooks section explaining that approved CookProofs from your votes will appear here.
ProfileTestFlight build 34
Vote tab showing a full-screen photo of Shrimp Scampi with Linguini by ChefTom, labeled Italian and Editorial Seed, with a Follow button. Along the right edge are thumbs up, thumbs down, CookProof, comment, share, save, and report buttons. An All languages filter sits at the top.
Vote deckTestFlight build 34

08 · 4 screens

Settings and account

Sign in your way, pick a language and theme, and take your data with you.

  1. Continue with Apple or an email linkPublic activity needs an account. Sign in with Apple is new in this build; an email link works too.
  2. Choose from 24 languagesChange the app language any time. Translated recipes keep the original one tap away.
  3. Pick a themeLight, dark, or auto, plus presets such as Warm Charcoal, Warm Cream, and Cool Obsidian, or your own custom colors.
  4. Export or deleteExport the BestChef data stored on this device, or a full account export that includes server records, and delete your account from inside the app.
Settings screen. Language & Region shows English with a note that recipes appear in your language when a translation is available. Grocery Delivery has a postal code field used to check ingredient availability. A Kitchen section lists Saved Recipes for private recipes, grocery flags, and pantry inventory.
SettingsTestFlight build 34
Choose your language list with English selected, followed by Español, Français, Deutsch, Italiano, Português (Brasil), and Português (Portugal), each showing its English name, region, and translation coverage percentage. A note reads App interface language: English, above a Start Cooking button.
Language pickerTestFlight build 34
Settings, further down. An Appearance section offers Light, Dark, and Auto theme modes with Dark selected, then Choose a theme to match your kitchen with preset cards for Warm Charcoal, Warm Cream, and Cool Obsidian, followed by Browse themes and Customize Colors rows.
AppearanceTestFlight build 34
Bottom of Settings. The Theme row reads BestChef Warm Charcoal, followed by Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, Data & Deletion, and Support links, then Export device data, Full account export described as a machine-readable copy of your full account including server records, and a Delete Account row. A footer reads BestChef v1.0.0.
Data & accountTestFlight build 34
Try them yourself, join the beta iPhone only for now. Anyone with the link can install it through Apple’s TestFlight app.

The private side of BestChef

Your kitchen.
Your own rhythm.

Some recipes are for the world.
Some are just for Tuesday.

Keep your collection, plan the groceries, use what’s in the pantry, and cook at your own pace. Sharing a recipe is a choice.

Explore the private kitchen
My kitchenPrivate by default
KeepRecipes & sources
→
PlanGroceries & pantry
→
CookSteps & your notes
Publish only when you choose to share.

Built around the people behind the plate.

Good food.
Thoughtful community.

A public community works best when
people have context and control.

Cooking adds context.

CookProof gives reviewed votes a plated photo and a real cooking experience to talk about. Casual reactions have their own place.

Sharing comes with care.

Public submissions and reviewed votes pass through moderation. Report, block, and appeal paths help people manage their experience.

Your kitchen is yours.

Your private kitchen and public profile serve different purposes. Cloud photo processing asks for consent, and imported results can be reviewed.

Notifications & updates Language preferences Themes & personal settings Content & account controls

The rest of your everyday app.

Everything around
the recipe.

01

Get settled

Choose your language and theme. Continue with Apple or an email link to keep a durable identity for public activity. Return to the app from a shared recipe or profile link.

02

Find your way around

Home brings discovery together. Top 100 is for rankings, Vote for voting, Kitchen for private cooking, and Profile for your public identity and activity.

03

Keep conversations going

Follow cooks, read and write comments or replies, mark helpful feedback, and manage notifications and push preferences.

04

Stay in control

Review reports and appeals, block accounts, export local kitchen data or cloud account data, and use account deletion controls in settings.

A few things to know.

Before you
pull up a chair.

How do I join the beta?

Open the public beta link on your iPhone and install BestChef through Apple’s TestFlight app. The current public page identifies build 34. App Store availability will be announced separately.

Can I use BestChef just for my own recipes?

Yes. The private kitchen is a complete part of the concept: recipes, pantry, grocery lists, and cook mode. You can organize your cooking without publishing a recipe or joining a competition.

Do I need to be a professional chef?

No. BestChef is built around people who cook, whether that means a favorite weeknight recipe, a family dish, or a creator’s signature version.

What is the difference between a reaction and a reviewed vote?

Quick reactions help people discover recipes. You can react first, then add a cooking review after making the recipe. Competition rankings come from cooking votes with approved CookProof, including negative verdicts. The tier determines ranking weight; the star rating and optional notes add context. Pending, rejected, or anonymous cooking votes do not affect competition rankings. This policy is implemented locally and awaits deployment.

What stays private, and what is shared?

Your local kitchen is private by default. Public profiles, published recipes, and social activity use online services. Submission media stays private while pending review. Photo processing that uses cloud AI requires consent; review imported results before saving them.

Is this the released app?

BestChef is in public beta on TestFlight for iPhone. The screens on this page were captured from build 34 on September 6, 2026. Bracket competitions, the profile studio, and tipping shown here are proposed additions, not features announced as available in that beta.

How will competition brackets work?

The example proposes eight approved recipes for one dish, paired in quarterfinals, then semifinals and a final. Cooking reviews inform progression under each event’s published rules. The sample results are fictional. Exact formats, schedules, eligibility, scoring, and tie-breaks are still to be finalized.

Can I make my chef page look and sound like me?

That is the vision: choose your colors, background and typography; arrange your story, recipes, cooking videos and competition journey; and add a soundtrack visitors can choose to play. Try the profile studio above. The current beta has basic profiles; this richer studio is a preview.

Where can I tip a chef?

The proposed Tip the chef button appears on a recipe and on the chef’s profile. Choose $1–$5 as an optional thank-you for sharing food and creativity. Tipping is not enabled in the beta, and the preview does not take payments. Tips will not buy competition votes or placement.

There’s a place for you here.

What will
you bring?

Join the public beta

TestFlight build 34 · iPhone only for now. Anyone with the link can install it through Apple’s TestFlight app.