The Menu Makeover

Once upon a time,choosing a restaurant was dependent on the meal it offers. Then came the phase when it was the experience that mattered and a gamut of aspects began to be considered,from the interiors to music,theme and presentation. Now,it is time of menu makeovers,not the food but the presentation on the card put before the diners. Gone are the days of bland fonts,cheaply laminated,dull menu cards. Making an entry are bright coloured hues on the pages of the menu. While some are adding graphics,others have professional artists doing the work for them. Substantial creative energies are going into designing the menu,to make sure that it stands out as much as the food. If Brazilian-themed restaurant Flambos offers a corporate lunch menu that changes in form and content everyday,South East Asian haunt Malaka Spice in Koregaon Park has a menu that is the colour of a parchment but dotted with travel tidbits,signposts,stamp pictures and witty phrases.

Customers at Pesto-Pesto in Koregaon Park are handed a menu that looks like a smart mix of a retro fashion magazine and a travel catalogue. The cover is dominated by the profile picture of a woman applying lipstick,while pasta,gnocchi,risotto,and other totem words of Italian cuisine are listed on the left of the cover. Inside,there are vignettes of Italy of the 1950s and 60s,paragraphs that share information,and collages of famous faces that represent the romance of Italy of that era — including Sophia Loren,Rudolph Valentino and Giorgio Armani. Cookery expert,writer and television personality Karen Anand provided the menu designers with the idea and an ample supply of nuggets on La Dolce Vita,to make sure the menu card came out looking the way it does.

Oh! Calcutta too derives great visual mileage out of its geographical association. The big,hardbound menus are full of food pictures,but also have the visage of a cycle rickshaw and other city mascots cropping up. “The menu reflects the way the restaurant functions. After the décor,it sets the theme for the kind of experience you have at any restaurant. A coffee shop cannot have a serious looking menu,or a gourmet restaurant cannot do with a menu with cartoons in it,” says Karthik Natarajan,an architect-designer who is currently working on the menu of a cafe restaurant in the city. He intends to add some fun into the simple menu by including images inspired by pulp fiction novels. “The menu needs to reflect the focus on conversation and the little leaps in innovation in its layout . It is designed like a newspaper,with the timelessness of the layout,” adds Natarajan.

There are other restaurants that like to introduce themselves through the menu. For instance,96K on Fergusson College road reinforces its commitment to serving authentic Maharashtrian fare by having the family tree of its owners printed on the menu’s first two pages.