A Day in the Kitchen: Coding Between the Cutting Boards

If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant or food truck, you know the chaos that builds as service time creeps closer. The prep lists grow longer, pans are flying in and out of ovens, and someone inevitably yells, “Who moved my tongs?!”

For me, it’s not just food I’m juggling: it’s code.

While my coworkers are slicing onions and portioning sauces, I’m standing right there with my laptop balanced on a prep table, typing away. Why? Because every time I notice a slowdown, a misstep, or one of those dreaded “This won’t fly if the health inspector walks in” moments, I start coding a fix right then and there.

Living in Two Worlds: Prep Cook + Developer

The health inspector wants logs of when food was pulled from the cooler? Boom! I write a quick feature to timestamp it.
We need a reliable restaurant labeling system for discards? I plug in support for Avery sheets and thermal printers.
The fryer station is drowning in Sharpie-marked masking tape labels that fade by the end of the shift? Not anymore — we print clear, professional labels.

It’s like running a vlog in my head:

• Scene 1: I’m stirring a sauce, thinking about how to streamline food logs.

• Scene 2: I wipe my hands, jump on my laptop, and add a new toggle to the labeling software.

• Scene 3: Back to plating prep trays before the lunch rush.

Rinse, repeat.

Why I Offer It for Free

Here’s the thing: I used to work for a food safety consulting company that I helped build. And what I saw there? Honestly, it was malicious and predatory. They charged restaurants an arm and a leg for things that the health department already offers for free: like TPHC (time as a public health control) template logs.

That didn’t sit right with me. Restaurants and food trucks are already fighting tight margins; the last thing they need is to be squeezed by people selling “compliance packages” that are literally just PDFs you could download from the city’s website.

So yeah, that’s why I decided this software stays free.

Free Software for Restaurants and Food Trucks

Most companies would charge monthly fees for a system like this, label printing, food logs, health inspection reports, and item catalogs all bundled together. But I decided to release it free.

Why? Because restaurants and food trucks don’t need another expense. They need tools that actually work during crunch time. Whether you’re in a big kitchen or hustling out of a food truck window, this software is built to keep you inspection-ready without draining your budget.

Do I want to be rich? Sure. But here I am, sweating over both sauté pans and IDEs, giving this away for free. (Please laugh with me, not at me.)

Built for Health Inspections, Tested in Real Kitchens

This isn’t just “theory software.” Every feature has been tested in the real, sweaty, stainless-steel trenches:

• Food Logs: Track holding times so inspectors can see exactly when an item hit the danger zone.

• Restaurant Labeling System: Print labels with discard times, names, and notes — no more guessing what’s in the cambro.

• Free Tools: Export logs to CSV or JSON for compliance, without vendor lock-in or surprise fees.

• Flexible Templates: Supports Avery sheets and thermal printers, whether you’re labeling sauce cups or half pans.

The Reality Check

So while other developers dream of unicorn startups, I’m standing in a kitchen coding between rounds of dishwashing and prep. My coworkers joke that my laptop should be added to the equipment list right next to the fryer.

But when the health inspector walks in and everything is labeled, logged, and ready? That’s the kind of smooth service money can’t buy.

Except, you know, if someone actually paid me for this.

Until then, enjoy the free software, stay compliant, and may your health inspections always be painless.