Buffet Planner

My own product: daily hotel buffet operations (shifts, products, tasks, service tracking) in a single app, in the hands of the kitchen and floor team. Self-designed, self-built, self-deployed.

Role: Founder
Period: 2026
Stack: React, Node.js, Express, PostgreSQL, PWA

Problem

Daily buffet operations in hotels (shifts, products, tasks, service tracking) are typically handled with scattered spreadsheets and a patchwork of tools: each one covers a piece, none holds the whole. Buffet Planner centralizes that work into a single application built for continuous use by the hotel team.

My role

My own product end to end: idea, design, full-stack development, deployment, maintenance, and onboarding of every hotel client. A modern but conservative stack so the product is easy to keep running alongside client work.

Result

Public landing at buffet-planner.com and the application deployed at app.buffet-planner.com, under active maintenance alongside client engagements. Direct distribution per hotel: no public sign-up; I provision access for each client, which keeps onboarding under control and keeps me in direct contact with the people using the app every day.

Stack

React
Node.js
Express
PostgreSQL
PWA

Summary

The end user is the kitchen and front-of-house team, not the guest: the app lives in the kitchen, not in the room. That shapes the whole product: shifts, products, tasks, and service tracking in one place, meant to be checked from a phone during the working day rather than filled in from an office.

Deliberately conservative stack (React, Node.js with Express, PostgreSQL, PWA), chosen so the product stays sustainable solo while running alongside client work.

Public landing: buffet-planner.com. Application: app.buffet-planner.com.

Contact me