8.28.2012
This book menu had a lot of thought behind it and I thought it was pretty creative: The book menu is designed by Ane Thon Knutsen for Ylajali in Oslo and it reflects the origins of the restaurant’s name so perfectly. From the restaurant’s website:
“The name Ylajali is taken from the Dreamwoman in the book Sult written by [Knut] Hamsun. She was living in this building at St. Olavs plass 2. St. Olavs plass 2 were built in 1872 as a three-storey apartment house, with two apartments on each floor.”
The menu [book] has quotes from Sult, courses are presented as chapters, and pocket pages that allows them to replace/change the menus as often as needed.
I love that more people are putting more thought into how restaurant menus are displayed and designed these days and I wonder if more restauranteurs are budgeting for great designers now because people forget how important design can actually be for a business.
Menu Reading
“With approximately 40,000 menus dating from the 1840s to the present, The New York Public Library’s restaurant menu collection is one of the largest in the world, used by historians, chefs, novelists and everyday food enthusiasts.” - New York Public Library
The New York Public Library needs your help! They have all these menus to transcribe to improve accessibility and research on food history and obviously, the art of menu writing. The best part, you can help transcribe the menus (dish by dish) online in your pajamas! I helped transcribe the menu from this old restaurant:
I’m not clear on when how long the restaurant stayed open but I loved reading the menu. Grilled cheese for 55 cents? Yes, please!
I look forward to doing more work by transcribing more menus. It’s pretty fun to learn about formerly trendy dishes or read about really, really odd vintage dishes. Escargot sandwich anyone?
(tip via Facebook )
Art of the Menu, a collection from UnderConsideration, examines the design and typography of restaurant menus and stationary goods. The stationary you see here is from Schiller’s Liquor Bar, one of my favorite places to drink and snack.
