Please let us know what you think.

Interesting new site. So interesting in fact that I felt compelled to write a blog post on this one: http://blog.rou...-by-best-chefs/

I like the concept and business model but from a user perspective I’m mixed. I like the clean design, search and browse functionality. I also like that they filter through content for the user.

I’m not sure I agree that these recipes necessarily represent the best of the best. Nor am I convinced that they will be able to build a strong author supported community but I’ll be watching. Best of luck Will & the Cookstr team. Their roster certainly contains some of the very best chefs, but I have to say, not all cookbooks print recipes that work.

I guess my biggest challenge from a user perspective is the claim that these are “trusted” recipes. Trust implies that recipes on Cookstr will work when in fact, a recipe is only as good as the home cook that is executing it. So while Jamie O. might have the best X recipe, let’s not give the world at home the false expectation that they will be able to recreate a Jamie masterpiece (or a recipe from any other great cookbook author on the site for that matter).

For those with some skill & technique background, I believe that Cookstr is as good as any place to gain some excellent culinary inspiration from some “trusted palates” – maybe even a bit better than some of the other major players in the online food space.

1) Are the recipes good recipes? (ie, are they clearly written? do they work? etc.)

2) Does the site make it easy for me to find the right recipe? (ie, is it cleanly designed and easy to navigate? does it offer smart and useful filters? etc.)

These seem to be Cookstr’s priorities, and I think there’s always room for another recipe site that puts these two things first.

Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com

However, I am not convinced that AllRecipe’s orange is just seasonal, nor am I convinced that Cookstr’s orange isn’t seasonal either.

So I am back to square one; they both use orange.

Thanks for the many great points, including the one about relying overly on the chefs and authors to answer questions and the like. We are doubling our efforts to get our community features up and running. I should also add that by having so many cookbook authors participating on the site, we have been able to include lots of people who are extremely admired but who aren’t household names, and many of these people love engaging with cooks and readers and are excited to do that on the site. But the reminder about the importance of having our own voice is a great one, too.

It has been five months from first meeting to launch — so it’s already been quite a wild ride. But that’s one of the reasons I’m having so much fun. Definitely not publishing lead times.

Thanks for the good wishes and great suggestions.

I’d like to welcome Will and his staff to the techcruch comment system.. it’s pretty harsh, but it’s a good way to get your feet wet and get free feedback. Half of what is said here is useless, but there are morsels of helpful feedback you can use to help shape your site before it gets out to the masses. Use your instincts to take what you want and grow from it. The rest of it ignore because most of these folks have never created anything.

Now that I’ve welcomed you and your team… I agree with Yongfook about transparency. Members like to feel that they are talking to a real person on the other end of the recipe – that’s why true food social networks (none of which are mentioned in the article above) are so popular.

You mentioned that your chef talent is going to be answering questions and so on… seriously? We work with talent and brands all the time and from my experience it’s highly unlikely that they have the time or the desire to create a genuine connection. I would say forgo the Q&A and add personal content from the talent – home videos.. candid photos… anything to make it seem like the profile is legit and not corporate and that doesn’t need to be monitored or updated. Also, with a small development team you’re setting yourself up for a lot of time management issues and could find that the Q&A doesn’t get you that much mileage with SEO or traffic. It just gives your team more work to do. Plus, it creates a “pass-it-on” opportunity.. “see Jamie cooking in his own kitchen… making a mess.. whatever”

Regarding the look and layout.. you may want to give your site a “voice”… something that helps create your brand. Yongfook and I are both pretty transparent on our sites.. who will your members be able to talk to when they need help? Jamie Oliver? Most likely not.. so then who is going to welcome them when they join and be there for them when Jamie doesn’t get back to them in a timely manner? Something to think about…

A few comments above mentioned the colors of allrecipes.. they do have a point. (sorry!) While it may give some visitors a sense of familiarity, you might want to give the site a less corporate feel. Plus, Allrecipes is probably not a good target for emulate… they mainly build out their own features instead of buying sites. The further you can get away from their look the better. Plus, it’s not that warm of a look.

I think building momentum in an already crowded space will have its challenges – while I agree with Will that there is a lot of room still for a variety of food themed sites, it’s going to be tough. No one likes to be the first at the party. So growing a member base and gaining momentum will be a slower than you anticipated… that’s for sure.

The business model of using cookbooks to generate revenue is a good one and Will obviously has the experience to understand sales forecasts and the connections to get exclusives/special offers. The only thing that concerns me about this model is that it seems more like a feature than building the entire site around these branded cookbooks and the authors. It’s always better to build the community and have the authors participate in it. That way your members feel they are part of something they are helping build. By allowing them to be friends with the chefs and buy their cookbooks.. that’s just a cleaver way to market the cookbooks.. not build a community. You may want to push your community out asap – there’s no telling when one of the more established sites incorporate cookbooks and authors.. I’m just saying.

The food sector is extremely competitive – mix that with passion and the speed at which the internet moves and it’s a far cry from the publishing business where you have long lead times from concept to print. You may want to hold on to your hats.. it’s going to be quite a ride.