Built for the 4pm before a 240-cover Saturday

The quiet confidence of a well-run kitchen.

Calendar, proposals, invoicing, staff scheduling, packing lists and an AI team member. One workspace your crew will actually open on a Friday night.

Start your 14-day free trial $425/month, everything in

No credit card required. Unlimited team members. Cancel anytime.

Replacing the dusty tools caterers have tolerated for a decade

TotalPartyPlannerCatereaseCaterZenCurateSpreadsheets

Free, no trial needed

Thinking about switching? Get the 11 things to pull out of your current software before you cancel. Three of them never export cleanly.

Get the checklist

Caterers are the last hospitality business
still running on software from 2012.

Outdated interfaces. Missing integrations. Mobile? Forget it. Meanwhile restaurants have Toast, events have Tripleseat, weddings have Honeybook, while off-premise caterers get stuck paying for 2008-era software at 2025 prices.

Apron Desk is what you’d build if you started today.

Everything. One tab.

Built for how caterers actually work.

And Maître AI is woven through every feature on the same chat panel, every surface. Drop a contract, ask a question, get the proposal drafted in your tone. The AI isn’t a separate thing you remember to use; it’s how you interact with the workspace.

Sell more events, faster.

Calendar that drags and drops. Proposals that get signed in the browser. Deposits that clear while you sleep.

Month, week, day, resource, map views
Branded client portal (no PDFs)
E-signatures + online deposits
Follow-ups drafted for you to send

Client portal

Run the day flawlessly.

Auto-generated pack lists, recipe costs, kitchen prep reports, and a driver-dispatch map all wired off the same source of truth.

Recipes → plate costs (rollup)
Floor plan + seating charts
Heating & serving labels (Avery)
Driver dispatch + route map

Pack lists

An AI team member.

Drop in an inquiry email, a vendor PDF, a napkin photo. Maître extracts the details, creates the lead, drafts the reply.

Email → draft proposal
PDF → extracted line items
$50/mo of usage included; past that, cost plus 50%
Every action fully audited

Maître AI

For the owner

The business finally fits on one screen.

Bookings this week, accounts receivable, event pipeline value, staff labor cost per event, tomorrow's run-of-show, all on the Today dashboard, refreshed in real time.

Revenue forecast as-of any date
Outstanding proposals queue
Lost-revenue-by-reason
Two-way accounting sync

See the Today board

aprondesk.com/today

Saturday 13 June

Good morning, Ray.

Maître

$18,420

Booked this week

On today

$7,150

Open balance

4.5 hrs

Maître saved

On today3

11:00Alvarez wedding12/12 crew

14:30Northgate quarterly3/3 crew

18:00Pemberton anniversary4/5 crew

Overdue balances2

Halliday retirement$2,400

Crestline product launch$1,850

For the kitchen

Every plate costed before you quote it.

Ingredient prices roll up through recipes to a real per-plate cost, so a supplier price change moves every menu that used it. Prep sheets and pack lists come off the same numbers, and vary by service style.

Pack list variants per service style
Vendor order lists (beverage, rental, misc)
Low-stock alerts with reorder points
Menu item cookbook PDFs

See pack lists

aprondesk.com/catalog

Braised short rib, red wine

Main · plated · serves 1

On 4 menus

IngredientsCost per plate

Beef short rib220 g$6.60

Red wine, cooking60 ml$0.90

Mirepoix80 g$0.35

Beef stock120 ml$0.48

Butter and thyme15 g$0.22

Plate cost$8.55

Menu price

$34.00

Gross margin

$25.45

Food cost

25.1%

Short rib went up 40c/kg on Tuesday. Four menus repriced, and the two proposals still out are flagged.

For clients

A portal your clients will actually use.

Magic-link page, no passwords and no PDFs. View the proposal. Sign. Pay the deposit. See the BEO. All branded to your logo. Works the same for a wedding couple and a corporate buyer.

Magic-link access (no passwords)
Online deposit collection
E-signature in-browser
Public ordering storefront (drop-off menu)

See the client portal

aprondesk.com/portal/…

TFTwo ForksNo password needed

Proposal for the Alvarez wedding

Saturday 13 June 2026 · 180 guests · Rosewood Barn

Canapés on arrival180$1,260

Three-course plated dinner180$9,900

Wine and bar service180$2,340

Service charge, 18%$2,430

Total$15,930

Deposit due today, 30%$4,779

Accept and signPay deposit

Signed in the browser. No PDF, no printer, no account to create.

For the crew

Each person sees just their shift.

A crew member opens 'My shifts' on their phone and taps Clock in. They see their own call times and nothing else: no client list, no wages, no other people's schedule. Clocked hours replace the scheduled ones in the labour cost on the event.

Mobile 'My shifts' page with one-tap clock in and out
Their own shifts only, never the whole schedule
Emailed portal invite, one private link per person
Availability, open shifts and time-off requests

See scheduling + crew

9:2496%

My shifts

Two Forks

Today, Sat 13 June

09:30 – 17:00

Bar back

Rosewood Barn

Clock in

Tomorrow, Sun 14 June

16:00 – 23:00

Server

12 Pemberton Row

Fri 19 June

07:00 – 12:00

Kitchen porter

The unit

Your shifts only. No client list, no wages, nobody else’s schedule.

For the road

Every drop, in the order you should drive them.

Stops for the day on one map with the route drawn between them, addresses, time windows, contact numbers and who is driving. One tap hands the whole route to Google Maps, because nobody wants to retype an address in a loading bay.

Every stop for the day on one map
Drag to reorder the run
One-tap handoff to Google Maps
Container and heating labels for each drop

See dispatch

aprondesk.com/dispatch

Sat 13 June

Dispatch

Maître

Van 1Sam O.Leaves 08:45 · 62 km

09:30Rosewood Barn
13:15Northgate, 4th floor
16:00Return to unit

Van 2Alina K.Leaves 15:30 · 28 km

16:2012 Pemberton Row
22:40Return to unit

For the inbox

Enquiries get their own address, and file themselves.

Your workspace gets its own address. Put it on your site, or forward the address you already use to it from Gmail or Outlook. Whatever arrives creates the contact, starts a thread Maître can draft a reply to, and shows up in the morning brief.

One inbound address per workspace, plus one per location
Forward your existing address to it from Gmail or Outlook
Auto contact + thread creation, replies threaded
Maître drafts replies for you to review and send

See the inbox

aprondesk.com/inbox

Inbox

Maître

Priya Raman20m

Re: Drinks reception, 12 September

Dan Okonkwo2h

Proposal 1051

Rosewood Barn5h

Access times for Saturday

Hattie Boyd1d

Dietary requirements

Re: Drinks reception, 12 September

Priya RamanLinked to Kestrel drinks

That menu looks perfect. Can we swap the arancini for something without dairy? Two of the partners cannot have it.

Also, is 40 still workable if we creep to 45?

Maître drafted a reply

Suggests the polenta bites as the dairy-free swap, confirms 45 is inside the venue cap, and reprices the proposal to $4,780.

See every feature

29 dedicated capability pages: calendar, catalog, packages, floor plans, vendors, POs, reports, integrations, and the rest.

Built for your business, even the parts we haven’t built yet

Doesn’t do exactly what you need? Tell us. We add it.

Most caterers run unique workflows. Standard SaaS tells them to adapt. We build the missing piece, bill it monthly, and you keep using it for as long as it’s useful.

Custom add-ons from $10/month.Cancel anytime.

If your idea is broadly useful to other catering operators, we may waive the monthly fee entirely and add it to the standard plan. The first conversation tells you which path applies.

How custom features work Request a custom feature

No setup fee. Pay only the monthly rate.

Simple, honest pricing

$425 / month

One plan. Unlimited team members. Every feature. 14-day trial, no card required.

Start your free trial

Unlimited seats

$50/mo Maître AI included

All integrations

Priority support

Usage is metered at what the model costs us and shown live in Settings → Billing. Run out and Maître pauses until the next cycle, unless you switch on overage and set your own cap.

Frequently asked

Answers, before you even ask.

Do I need to import my data?

No. Apron Desk reads TotalPartyPlanner, Caterease, and plain CSV exports. Drop in the file, we map the columns.

Can my team see this on their phones?

Yes. The whole app is responsive and designed to be used mid-event. Crew members see just their shift, clients see just their event.

What's Maître AI actually do?

Drafts proposals from inquiry emails. Extracts items from vendor invoices. Answers questions about your own data (“how many tastings did we do last month?”). Every action audit-logged. $50 of usage is included each month, metered at what the model costs us. Settings → Billing shows what you have used so far. If it runs out, Maitre pauses until the next cycle unless you switch on overage yourself and set your own ceiling.

Do you support drop-off / off-premise caterers?

Yes, we started there. Dispatch map, container labels, public ordering storefront, and express-order flow are all built-in.

What about SMS to staff or clients?

Email-first, intentionally. US carrier SMS rules (A2P 10DLC) make texting on a small business's behalf fragile and slow to set up for a small operator. Proposals, invoices and payment reminders go out by email, sent by you from the event rather than on a timer. Crew get a mobile 'My shifts' page they can bookmark, so nothing has to reach them by text.

What if I need a feature you haven't built yet?

Tell us. We build custom features for individual customers and bill them monthly starting at $10/month. If your idea is broadly useful to other catering operators, we may waive the monthly fee entirely and add it to the standard plan, and the first conversation tells you which path applies. There is no setup fee. See ‘How custom features work’ on the home page or open a ticket from inside the app once you've signed up. Cancel anytime. You keep using it through the end of your current billing period, then it's gone from the next invoice.

What payment methods do you accept?

Default is credit / debit card via Stripe, auto-charged each month. If you can't use Stripe (banned, lost account, restricted industry, country not served, prefer not to), we switch you to manual invoicing. You pay however works best: wire, ACH, check, Zelle, or PayPal. We mark you paid when it lands. No catering business is locked out because of payment processor decisions.

Is my data safe if I cancel?

Download all your data as one JSON file any time, from Settings. Cancelling does not delete it, so you can come back or migrate; email privacy@aprondesk.com when you want it deleted.

Your next event is coming whether you’re ready or not.

Start your 14-day free trial

Up and running in under 10 minutes.

Doesn’t do exactly what you need? Tell us. We add it.

Most caterers run unique workflows. Standard SaaS tells them to adapt. We build the missing piece, bill it monthly, and you keep using it for as long as it’s useful.

Custom add-ons from $10/month.Cancel anytime.

If your idea is broadly useful to other catering operators, we may waive the monthly fee entirely and add it to the standard plan. The first conversation tells you which path applies.

No setup fee. Pay only the monthly rate.

$425 / month

One plan. Unlimited team members. Every feature. 14-day trial, no card required.

Start your free trial

Unlimited seats

$50/mo Maître AI included

All integrations

Priority support

Usage is metered at what the model costs us and shown live in Settings → Billing. Run out and Maître pauses until the next cycle, unless you switch on overage and set your own cap.

The quiet confidence of a well-run kitchen.

Caterers are the last hospitality businessstill running on software from 2012.

Built for how caterers actually work.

Sell more events, faster.

Run the day flawlessly.

An AI team member.

The business finally fits on one screen.

Every plate costed before you quote it.

A portal your clients will actually use.

Each person sees just their shift.

Every drop, in the order you should drive them.

Enquiries get their own address, and file themselves.

Doesn’t do exactly what you need? Tell us. We add it.

$425 / month

Answers, before you even ask.

Your next event is coming whether you’re ready or not.

The quiet confidence of a well-run kitchen.

Caterers are the last hospitality businessstill running on software from 2012.

Built for how caterers actually work.

Sell more events, faster.

Run the day flawlessly.

An AI team member.

The business finally fits on one screen.

Every plate costed before you quote it.

A portal your clients will actually use.

Each person sees just their shift.

Every drop, in the order you should drive them.

Enquiries get their own address, and file themselves.

Doesn’t do exactly what you need? Tell us. We add it.

$425 / month

Answers, before you even ask.

Your next event is coming whether you’re ready or not.

Caterers are the last hospitality business
still running on software from 2012.

Caterers are the last hospitality business
still running on software from 2012.