Making a Menu
Our menu is an ordeal. There are three versions - Lunch, Dinner, and Oyster Bar. Each has its own idiosyncrasies, cadence of publishing, and thought process in how it presents itself.
The Lunch Menu
First off, it’s printed every day. For anyone in the restaurant business, this means that there’s already pre-shift pressure because you’re scrambling to make sure that all of the details are in place before it’s in the hands of a customer. Things that change every day - date, special events (printed at the top), featured items, seafood selection, how quickly we get these things in place and print…if you frequent the restaurant for lunch, there’s a good chance that you’ve sat down without a menu and been presented a freshly printed menu shortly thereafter. Thanks for your patience!
The Dinner Menu
Pretty similar to the Lunch menu, except it’s a new set of special occasions. Dinner has a heavier drink presence, so more focus is placed on ensuring the beer and wine specials are updated and fresh. Back of the menu (similar to Lunch) contains drink specials, a wine list, and the dessert menu. The focus on wine and desserts is meant to align to the frequency of special events - wine and dessert to celebrate, of course.
The Oyster Bar Menu
This one is the wild card. Menu items don’t change as frequently, so printing is based almost entirely on need or drink special changes. No special occasions, so it isn’t necessarily a daily print job. Designed to give off more of a “bar menu” vibe with a heavy focus on sandwiches and drinks. No integrated dessert menu to give more visual room to the drink specials on the back, as well as more room for a full list of our available drinks.
Even though they’re different, each menu is approached with the same overall attention to detail. From the spacing between lines, to the exact words used, everything is considered. There has been more than one time where we’ve had extended conversations about what certain sections should look like or say. The point is - we stress a lot about how we present what we have to offer, and we hope that you think it’s worth it. It might be an ordeal, but only because it’s important to us and we take pride in it. An ordeal of love.