The problem
Kept started because I would try a good bottle of wine at a restaurant or see something interesting in a shop, then forget the name later. A photo buried in the camera roll was not enough, and a rating for the whole restaurant did not tell me which specific things were worth ordering again.
The same problem applies to food. One dish can be excellent while another at the same restaurant is forgettable. I wanted a small personal record that could say, for example, the pasta was a 9 out of 10 but the steak was not something I would recommend.
What I built
Each entry is about the individual thing being remembered, whether that is a wine, another drink, a dish, or a full meal. It can keep the venue, a rating, a photo, and a short note about why it stood out. The log and profile then turn those separate memories into something searchable instead of leaving them across photos, notes, and receipts.
Kept is private by default. I also planned a social layer where someone could intentionally share a recommendation with friends, especially when a friend is visiting a restaurant and wants to know what to order. That part has not been implemented yet, so the current product remains focused on personal logging and history.
Decisions and tradeoffs
Rate the item, not the venue
A restaurant score hides the difference between the things on its menu. Kept records the bottle or dish itself so a recommendation can be specific enough to use later.
Private until deliberately shared
The log is personal by default. A future social feature would share selected recommendations with friends rather than publish every entry or turn logging into a performance.
