Restaurant Recommendation Startup Chefs Feed Launches Android App And Names New CEO

Want to know where to eat, but don’t trust all the user-generated ratings on Yelp? Ever wonder where people who cook professionally go when they’re hungry? Chefs Feed hopes to provide insights to solve the problem of restaurant recommendations by leaning on the people who should know best — chefs themselves.

After launching an iOS app a few years ago, the startup is coming to market with an Android version. And, to help grow its business, Chefs Feed has hired former Zinio co-founder and CEO Rich Maggiotto to take over as its chief executive.

Chefs Feed was founded by brothers Steve and Jared Rivera, who previously worked as publicists for a number of chefs and ended up using those connections to build their own spreadsheet of great places to eat. The idea for Chefs Feed sprung from that experience, as they hoped to provide chefs with their own platform for sharing that info.

Today it has more than 1,000 chefs on board to give recommendations to users. In return, those chefs are able to interact with diners who wish to check out their restaurants or specific recommended dishes that they want to try out. There have been more than 23 million chef-to-user “connections,” with more than a million dishes eaten or planned since the app launched.

Now on Android, that growth should ramp up due to the larger potential user base.

Maggioto, who founded digital newsstand startup Zinio, is taking over the CEO role to provide some help in recruiting talent and growing the business. That will include increasing revenues through advertising, sponsorship, and providing actionable analytics to restaurants and chefs themselves.