Hotel Banquet, Room Service, and Restaurant Menu Designs Monastery Hill Bindery showcases its hip, stylish, customized hotel menu designs and record of customer satisfaction.
The blue leather check presenter with the Sofitel
name and logo on the front cover is used for banquets and room service. The black
leather menu covers display the name of the restaurant or the name of the bar on
the inset. The Sofitel picks up the design theme and echoes it on the check
presenter for the bar. [click on image to enlarge]
The shorter, green leather cover is an all-purpose check presenter from
the Greenbrier Hotel. The longer, brown cover is a dessert menu for Sam Snead’s
Restaurant. The cover material is durable and easy to clean synthetic leather. [click on image to enlarge]
The menu cover chosen for the RT Lounge, a sushi and drinks place, is a
wall-covering textured-type of material, very durable, and easy to wipe clean. The
logo design is from the Jones Group and is presented on a silver, metallic
inset on the front cover. The muted gray and sliver colors were chosen to
complement the bold, deep reds in the lounge. What is the true measure of a
trendy and successful menu design? Belinda Chang coyly says, “We have had an
unusual number of menus removed from the RT Lounge." [click on image to enlarge]
This menu cover has a cloth, textbook cover feel to it. The Tuscan
yellow was chosen to enhance the old-world charm of the Italian eatery. It is a
larger cover with the weight, feel, and warmth of a comfortable book. It, too, is well received by the customer. [click on image to enlarge]
The cover for this old-fashioned steak house menu is a black,
leather-like material that stands up well under heavy use, including spills. [click on image to enlarge]
“Hotels are seeking new materials with a unique look or texture for their menus,” says Blair Clark, president of Monastery Hill Bindery. “The menu is often the first touch point and impression of the restaurant for a guest. A quality cover with nice design should match the guest’s expectation for the entire dining experience.”
Here, in its 2007 showcase, the company presents images, customer testimonials, and insights into the design and creation of its luxury embossed menu holders and check presentation covers.
Hotelier Choice
Jean-marc Jalbert, corporate director of food and beverage for Accor, NA (Hotel Sofitel), feels strongly about providing high quality menus to their guests and patrons. “People spend a lifetime talking about the lighting, music, décor and uniforms. The menu holder becomes an afterthought when actually it is a vital part of the total customer service experience,” says Jalbert. “The weight, the feel, how it opens, how it holds the paper, etc, all come together to make an impression on the customer, and that impression or that emotion has to be part of the design."
He notes that “Monastery Hill has helped us look at the essence of our hotels, then tactfully presented their suggested options in design, dimensions, and materials for the menu cover.”
Gunnard Cunningham, director of food and beverage at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, agrees that the foundation of the restaurant should be reflected in the menu cover or in anything that you put in the guest's hands. As a visual piece, a décor piece, and a tactile piece, the importance of the quality of the menu cover cannot be overstated. Cunningham is so pleased with the quality and service of Monastery Hill that he recommended them to the Greenbrier's operations department to do the hotel’s front desk and in-room pieces.
Design Process
Clark explains that a client, often the F&B director, will “come to us with the restaurant's concept and visual design. Our job is to select the materials to match the décor of that space and accomplish their goals. For instance, we might suggest black leather in Manhattan, but a teal colored, tropical linen in the Cayman Islands.”
For example, restaurant development and management company Cenitare [www.cenitare.com] handles food and beverage operations for the restaurants in the new Westin Chicago North Shore. Rick Tramonto and Gail Gand are the guiding personalities of Cenitare. They also operate Tru in Chicago. “In the food world, they have the same high-end name recognition as Wolfgang Puck or Emeril,” says Clark. They came to us and said, "We want to use printed paper, but we know it's not durable. What would you suggest?"
Together as a team, Clark brainstormed with Tramonto, executive chef; Gand, executive pastry chef and Belinda Chang, director of wine and spirits, to develop striking menu covers that reflect the individuality of three unique restaurants under Cenitare's management.
Professional Credentials
Monastery Hill has a relatively youthful fifteen year history designing upscale hotel, resort, and casino menus, but they have been a book bindery for 140 years and still bind books on a limited basis. Great-Great-Grandfather Clark started Monastery Hill in 1868 after arriving in Chicago from Germany. The company specializes in fine menu presentation covers, incorporating all types of materials including wall coverings, textured linens, synthetic leathers, and a variety of durable fabric menus for hotels, resorts and casinos.
