I'm Alex — I've been designing and building websites & software for the past 12 years. Most recently I led the 2023 Wikipedia redesign. I also love to cook (lately lots of Detroit-style pizza). Over the years I've found so many good recipes online, so I am grateful to you all. Recently I've been thinking about the experience of discovering and cooking recipes, as well as the experience of writing, publishing, and selling recipes.

These days so many recipes are being published on social media and in newsletters — it's a wonderful explosion of creativity and knowledge sharing. But the experience of cooking from these recipes often falls short of what it could be. Imagine if we had well-formatted recipes with built-in timers and a hands-free mode (so we didn't have to scroll our screens with messy hands). Easy ways to make personal notes, substitute ingredients, scale quantities, and convert measurements. And if everything was well organized and easily searchable.

Writing and publishing recipes should also feel effortless while still respecting the craft's nuances. Imagine a tool that you actually enjoy writing recipes in, where your creative process is supported rather than hindered by technology. Where you could easily iterate, track changes, and refine your work. And perhaps most importantly a tool that helped your business grow.

More and more people are willing to pay for digital recipes, as shown by platforms like NYT Cooking and Substack. But what exactly are they paying for? Yes, they want great content, but they also want a thoughtful, purpose-built experience. The ability to bookmark recipes, create collections, and access recipes in a format designed specifically for cooking. And while monthly subscriptions are proving successful, there's room to explore other models too. Some creators might want to sell individual recipes or curated bundles. Others might want to enhance their brand partnerships or affiliate relationships in ways that feel natural and valuable rather than intrusive. The key is having flexible tools that support whatever business model works best for you.

With more and more people leaving the WordPress+Google Adsense model behind, and moving toward a creator-to-subscriber model, we're at an exciting moment of change. The success of NYT Cooking has shown how important a purpose-built interface can be. That's why I'm building Recipe.Site — to combine modern monetization tools with an exceptional cooking experience. A platform that serves both creators and home cooks better than anything that exists today.