Imagine yourself in a restaurant with elegant surroundings and a sophisticated ambience. You are escorted to a table next to a floor-to-ceiling glass window. You receive the menu the waiter brought to you with delight only to find that the menu is a piece of crumpled paper on which is a messy list of food and drinks printed in a font that doesn’t go in tune with the restaurant. At this very moment, you feel like leaving …
That’s right. Besides food, the design of a menu affects our views about the restaurant. A menu is like a restaurant’s name card, representing the restaurant’s philosophy, story and identity. A good menu should leave a nice impression, with a clear list of food options and price, mouth-watering pictures, while the design should also go well with the business concept and interior of the restaurant, thus help us navigate between dish options and establish the restaurant’s identity. The print materials and the binding of a menu also plays part of our dining experience.
Now, let me share with you the exquisite menus from around the world.
Tropic doodle
The Golden Girl Rum Club
Springfield, MO
Instagram: thegoldengirlrumclub
Located in the United States, the Golden Girl Rum Club is a cocktail bar amid the city which emanates a tropical island ambience, allowing the guests to enjoy tropical-inspired drinks as though they are having a vacation at the beach.
Menu designed by Frank Norton
From the cover to the content, the pink menu is adorned with lovely and tipsy hand-drawn illustrations, making the menu so irresistible to many females.
Grid pattern background, hues of pastel colours, doodles of every single cocktail and tropical decorations, the hand drawing adds a sprinkle of friendliness to this menu. Compared with photos, cocktail illustrations stimulate the guests’ curiousity, making them desperate to find out if the ‘real drinks’ look exactly like what they have in mind. The cute and playful hand-drawing style doesn’t make the bar compromise on how they present the drinks options. You can still have a clear idea of what you will get.
This menu is like a picture book. The tropical hand-drawn illustrations put a smile on people’s faces.
Diario de Gigi
Gigi
Madrid, Spain
Image: Gigi / http://gigimadrid.com/
Presented itself as a woman named Gigi, this restaurant is the epitome of elegance. It has a spacious, bright interior with shades of white and blue. I haven’t met Gigi in person, but I bet she must be a graceful and sophisticated woman.
Menu designed by Ele&Uve
Taking one step closer to the dining table, you find a dairy that reads Gigi. What secret does it keep?
The menu is presented as Gigi’s diary to stay true with the ‘Gigi’s personal space’ concept upheld by the restaurant. The pages are housed in a sturdy hard cover with a sophisticated script font that says ‘Gigi’ and the word ‘Diario’ (means daily). Diners need to open the menu with the key attached with it. Baby blue is deliberately picked for the cover to match the restaurant’s colour tone.
The interior pages have a minimalistic and elegant style that complements the femininity of Gigi through a combination of pastel colours, delightful hand-drawn sketches and borders. The hand-writing type adds a touch of ‘personality’ to the diary.
A Work of Art
Meraki
London, UK.
Image: Meraki / https://meraki-restaurant.com
Meraki is a contemporary Greece restaurant located in the heart of London. The interior is made for a classy dining experience, just like other fine dining restaurants. Will their menus surprise us?
Menu designed by Dutchscots
Wow! These menus are way too much like an art piece! Do you know what these random small embossed fragments of different sizes and colours represent? They are indeed the representations of the island formations of Greece, reproduced in print finishes that result in great compositions and textures, e.g. marble print and foil print, aiming to communicate the Greek concept of the restaurant through a contemporary artistic touch. The black curve line that looks like waves is the logo of Meraki, creating a beautiful picture in harmony with the fragments.
Enjoy the fine details with each island in different print textures.
The configuration of abstract islands is also used on a grey cover for the wine menu, achieving an elegant and quality presentation.
The inner pages are neat and simple.
Unlike the other two menus from the restaurant, the drinks menu comes in the Greece’s shades of blue printed with a pattern formed by the restaurant’s logo, reminiscent of the ocean hugging close to the beautiful Greek islands. It actually can be an art piece to hang on the wall.
The inhouse cocktails get inspiration from different countries. The corresponding maps are printed on the interior pages with a neat but unique presentation.
A Playful Design
L’ECIR
Paris, France
Image: L’ECIR / http://www.cafelecir.com/
Look at the brilliant colours … This coffee shop gives off a laid-back and casual vibe where young people can enjoy a cosy weekend.
The restaurant translates the vibrant and casual style into the design of their logo, which consists of three bright colours. Let’s jump to their menus.
Menu designed by Festin Studio and Madame Bois
The menu echoes the shape of the logo with the logo printed on it big and bold. Together with the paper table cover, they are presenting an intriguing layout as a whole.
The binding of the menu also stands out from the crowd. It is designed to open like a fan, matching the playful vibe of the coffee shop.
Contrasting with the colourful cover, the interior pages contain mono-tone illustrations.
The wood covers are not only great to help protect the interior pages but are also durable and a great way to catch people’s attention.
A slew of food illustrations are engraved on the wood cover.
A Menu of a Tailor Shop?
Doña Hipólita
Zaragoza, Spain
Images: Doña Hipólita / http://dhipolita.com
Doña Hipólita is a sandwich shop of which site was originally occupied by a tailor shop, which had been providing tailor-made suits since 1822. To pay homage to the tailor shop, Doña Hipólita makes reference to the historical tailor shop style by incorporating these elements: the full glass windows, earth-tone interior, rugged and rustic walls and the tailoring work table, all these give an air of historical flair.
Menu designed BY El Calotipo
The most worth-mentioning element is the menu that comes in the form of a sample of fabrics. The tiered coloured cloths in earthy tone each represents one food category. Flipping through the menu, it is as if you are picking your favourite fabrics in this historic store.
The cloths are nicely foil stamped with the names of the food categories. Coupled with the warm earthy tones, the menu carries the essence of low key luxury.
Referencing a fabric stack book, all the cloths are screwbound with a thread in the back for hanging.
The menu is finished off with a neat presentation of the food and drinks items with a touch of antiqueness.
What about you? Have you come across with any nice menus that draw your attention before the dishes are served?
Source of Images and Information:
https://www.underconsideration.com/artofthemenu/
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