(Before and after: Tabla's menu. Via the NYT)
What's in a font? Or, better yet: what goes into that elusive synthesis of typography, colors, white space, and carefully chosen adjectives that make up a great menu?
A great deal, if you are a restauranteur fighting for customers in a dismal economy:
Tabla is just one of the many restaurants around the country that are
feverishly revising their menus. Pounded by the recession, they are
hoping that some magic combination of prices, adjectives, fonts, type
sizes, ink colors and placement on the page can coax diners into
spending a little more money.
The use of menu engineers and consultants is exploding in the casual
dining arena and among national chains, a sector of the business that
has been especially pinched by the economy. In response, they are
tapping into a growing body of research into the science of menu
pricing and writing, hoping the way to a diner’s heart is not only
through the stomach, but through the unconscious.
More.
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