Chef/Restaurant websites (merged topic)

[Cucina]

Curious to know which chefs and restaurants have the best websites? Provide a url please and describe what you like about the design, content and any special outreach or functionality that involves customers.

Note: This post orginally started a new thread, but we elected to merge that thread with a recent thread on the same subject.

[robert40]

I really am impressed by Babbo's website which has a world of information.

I also admire the fact that Mario will give a plug to other businesses in the neighborhood, which is very rare to see.

It is easy to navigate, and is updated monthly. Well, other then the menu that is.

http://www.babbonyc.com/

[Cucina]

I really am impressed by Babbo's website which has a world of information.

I also admire the fact that Mario will give a plug to other businesses in the neighborhood, which is very rare to see.

  It is easy to navigate, and is updated monthly. Well, other then the menu that is.

http://www.babbonyc.com/

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Thanks. That's really good feedback - especially the part about being supportive of other businesses in the neighborhood. Do you use the website regularly or subscribe to their newsletter? Have you or would you buy a cookbook or other item through it? If not, why? Do you use it to make reservations? Do you check back to see if the menu changes? The reason(s) I'm asking are obvious. Just got a new client and we're going to be redoing the website. Would like to have a better understanding of what features, functionality people find appealing and useful and why.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Daniel is the one I most enjoy ...

beautiful layout and easy to use for information.... reflects the essence of the restaurant in design and high quality.

33 Liberty because it contains information on all areas of interest: recipes, favorite purveyors, upcoming events, writings by the chef and his wife, awards, etc.

Gary Danko beauty and elegance, user friendly for all items ... truly San Francisco.

[bentherebfor]

Alinea's site, which I believe is still under construction, is absolutely amazing.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Chef websites I enjoy reading ....

Norman Van Aken

Charlie Palmer

Jean-georges Vongerichten

[Cucina]

Daniel is the one I most enjoy ...

beautiful layout and easy to use for information.... reflects the essence of the restaurant in design and high quality.

33 Liberty because it contains information on all areas of interest: recipes, favorite purveyors, upcoming events, writings by the chef and his wife, awards, etc.

Gary Danko beauty and elegance, user friendly for all items ... truly San Francisco.

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Thanks. These are all good recommendations. I like 33 Liberty the best - graphically, it's not as fancy as the others, but it loads quickly and it's very easy and intuitive to use. I particularly like the "Ask the Chef" function on both the Daniel and 33 Liberty site. The Send to a friend function on Daniel is also nice. 33 Liberty's Chef's recommendations are very useful too. Gary Danko's site uses a font that's way too small but the design itself is attractive. It also takes way too long to load unless you have a broadband connection.

Kudos also for a sampling from around the country!!!

[Cucina]

Alinea's site, which I believe is still under construction, is absolutely amazing.

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Do you have a link to it? And if not, how do you know?

[Cucina]

Chef websites I enjoy reading ....

Norman Van Aken

Charlie Palmer

Jean-georges Vongerichten

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Melissa - thanks for these too! Very helpful. Charlie Palmer's is hands down the best from a design, loading time and functionality standpoint.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Kudos also for a sampling from around the country!!!

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I rather thought that one "biggie" from each coast and then, something smaller and more intimate, might be representative of restaurant websites.

Actually, I have a special spot in my heart for smaller, personal sites which offer ways to "connect" with the owner/chef ... and, because 33 Liberty is within my region of the Southeast .. shameless plug for that forum fully acknowledged!

[Cucina]

Kudos also for a sampling from around the country!!!

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I rather thought that one "biggie" from each coast and then, something smaller and more intimate, might be representative of restaurant websites.

Actually, I have a special spot in my heart for smaller, personal sites which offer ways to "connect" with the owner/chef ... and, because 33 Liberty is within my region of the Southeast .. shameless plug for that forum fully acknowledged!

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Good choices and variety. Could plan a trip around it!!! And no apologies necessary for the shameless plug. I used to be from Atlanta myself and have been pining for good southern cooking all day. It was very much appreciated.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Alinea's site, which I believe is still under construction, is absolutely amazing.

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Do you have a link to it? And if not, how do you know?

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Alinea website

[Cucina]

Alinea's site, which I believe is still under construction, is absolutely amazing.

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Do you have a link to it? And if not, how do you know?

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Alinea website

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Visually - it's very interesting BUT - like many of the others, it's designed primarily for use on broadband which limits who will use it and how much it will be used.

[Cucina]

Tana -

Gifted Gourmet graciously just turned me on to this thread. I had started another at: What Chefs/Restaurants Have the Best Websites

Moderator's Note: We've merged the two threads under the more descriptive topic title and the link entered above will take you back to the merged thread you've been reading.

These are all good insights. Restaurants are no different than any other business that uses the web to reach customers. I have my own PR/Marketing/Stragetic Consulting company (shameless plug) and many of my clients are in the technology sector. Tech companies - software - hardware - services - don't typically have the most beautiful websites but you learn a couple of things working with them that are valuable and applicable to other industries.

First, smart ones learned a long time ago to stop using flash. What is the purpose? It wastes your prospective customer's time. Doesn't matter how "cool" it is - you should never waste your customers time. The only people who like flash are website designers because it's a fun project.

Second, the load time should be fast for all pages. If you want to use video and other features, it's best to have high speed and dialup versions of the website to choose from so you don't lose the interest of prospective customers. Even for high end chefs and restaurants, it is a mistake to assume that because you are targeting a more upscale clientelle, they will naturally have high speed access. At work? Yes. At home? Not necessarily. And if you happen to be in a major city and be an international restaurant that might cater to up scale visitors from a particular country, you should be especially cognizant of the adoption rate of high speed access in that country.

Third, it is all about content and communication. The website menus should be very intuitive so people can find what they're looking for fast. Useres should only have to rely on a site map as a last resort. The content should be interesting and updated often enough to attract repeat visits. Be brief whenever possible. Studies show users don't typically like to scroll down. Make sure the site is designed to be printer friendly. Many aren't.

You measure a website's success in part by how many unique visitors (new) you attract in a given month, how many returning visitors, and the average number of pages they browse. It's worth it to invest in tracking software (not very expensive and typically an add on from your hosting provider) because it will tell you alot about what areas of your website are popular and which ones could be improved. Another good indicator is how many people are registering to receive information from you. If you have this feature, make sure you have a way to regularly communicate with your customers who do register. Otherwise, what's the point? And if someone uses the "contact us" or "ask the chef" feature, by all means, reply to every person - even if it's a standard reply. It's a reflection on your customer service.

In terms of the design or look of the website, I agree with previous posts that it should be a reflection of the restaurant itself and the experience you're trying to create. Music is annoying - don't do it - and if you do, invest in that tracking software because I bet many people never go past the first page.

Yes, do show off your architecture and interiors if they are something to write home about. Absolutely show off your food and if the chef has a personality and presence that can be captured on film, show that off as well. BUT - again, make sure the load times for all of these pictures are fast.

Many architects and interior designers have moved into graphic design and branding and have extended that into website design. Same is true for graphic design and advertising shops. On the other end of the spectrum, many web design shops also tout their design capabilities. In my experience, however, these are two unique skill sets. Some are competent at both, but few excel at both. As a result, you see a lot of websites (many in this thread included) that are visually stunning but fail functionally. I advise my clients to let their designer create their brand and the rules of how to present it - and then have them collaborate with an outside website design specialist to marry form with function. If doing that isn't in the budget and you have to choose one or the other, you're better off working with a website design specialist who is competent in graphic design. It's far easier to upgrade your look down the road than it is to correct functional deficiencies.

Truth in lending - last week I took on my first restaurant client so I'm not an expert in this particular industry although I am an expert in that particular chef's restaurant having been a regular for some time. My other clients are an eclectic mix including software companies, a technology trade association, a law firm and a high profile non profit. My philosophy has always been to pay attention to best practices in your own industry but to look outside of it for best practices in others that can raise the creativity bar and increase your success.

Anyway, that's my two cents. What i'm curious to learn from others is what you like about certain restaurants websites and why? What content do you find useful and why? Which ones are easy and intuitive to use? Any takers?

[tanabutler]

What timing. (I'm sorry to see "Judging a book by its cover" removed as a thread title, since that really is what happens, emotionally, when we visit web sites, and it predated this other thread significantly.)

My work on the Manresa web site culminated last night in my reward: a 20+ course chef's tasting at the restaurant in Los Gatos, which I shared with five people. They included:

• my husband

• his daughter (who'd worked in kitchens starting at age 14, inspired by the kind of cooking she learned from me)

• an adult friend

• my daughter, who turned 16 in September

• my daughter's friend, Dom, also 16, who was one of the missing hikers in the Bargetto family last month in the freakishly early blizzard in the Sierras

I was hired for the job of overhauling the site, which needed (we thought) minor tweaking. I agreed to work for trade as I have had Chef Kinch's cooking on several occasions, and think what he's doing is, if not pure genius, exhibits a commitment to artisanal ingredients and techniques that is unsurpassed. It's not the kind of place I could otherwise afford to eat, hence the trade.

I learned a lot in the process—the site had a structure that we didn't want to change too much, but there was lots of fine-tuning and some aesthetic choices to be made. Chef was very clear that he didn't want photos of the food on the site: he finds "food porn" uninteresting. I learned a great deal about the European sensibilities and training, which he demonstrated when I asked for examples of how it's done. As in, "That's simply not how it's done." At Manresa, they know how it's done. It was my job to manifest that on the website. Chest-beating and egotism is discouraged as being too American. Things should speak for themselves. (These are my distillations of studying certain aspects of American vs. European way of promoting one's work, especially insofar as it applies to work in the service industries.)

The biggest thing I noticed was how important good photography is. I'd been working for some weeks with the old content and photographs, and had grown used to them. When I showed up to photograph Manresa, late on an autumn afternoon when the light was slanted and golden, the first thing I asked was, "Did you just paint?" They hadn't! The old photos were so lackluster: sterile, cold, even corporate-looking.

If you've got a nice room, by all means, capture it at the right time of day. Does it look better at night? Shoot at night. Get candlelight, if needed. Make it pretty. Or make it homey, electrifying, avant garde, whatever you have. Find the essence. Is it warm or cool?

There are other questions to ask about the photography. People or no people? I generally prefer "no people," unless you're trying to attract people who go to places to be one of the crowd being portrayed. I can see "hot spots" and "family restaurants" being in that arena. Maybe others. It's tricky.

There is one place here in town that is considered a Very Nice Place. But their ads are dated, and they've been running the same Romantic Couple Gazing Over The Waterfront for at least a decade. I look at that and can't see myself in the place. People in photos make you run the risk of judgment. ("I can't go there. They're way too trendy for me!" or "I can't go there! Those people look positively unstylish! Those shoes are so last year!")

We deliberately made all the pages short enough so that there should be no scrolling, with the possible exception of the index page. The reviews, which have grown into a long list, now generate a pop-up page. Sometimes scrolling is inevitable. We implemented PDF files of menus, so that visitors could see the actual pages: all of this was done in a way intended to carry the vision of the chef to the world beyond.

Finally, in the Manresa revamp, we decided to kill the Flash. A new splash screen is in the making, but we all kind of came to the conclusion that it was more annoying than useful. I have come to think that the incessant use of Flash is a pissing contest for show-offs enamored of their own bandwidth.

Here is a solution to a Flash screen that still has some life in it, designed by the amazing Nashville graphic artist/designer, DG Strong: Nashville's Germantown Café. (I did production on the site, with some minor creative input such as brightening the rollover photos.) DG wrote all the copy; there is no one alive I like working with more than him. Note in the photos, the people are blurred. I think they look great that way. I don't know if he did that deliberately, but he'd never let it stay on if it weren't just right.

Now that I'm nearly done with Manresa's site, I'm still on the quest for good sites.

Of those linked above:

I lost all patience with Norman's broadband: if you need a thermometer, you're too slow for me!

I like the Charlie Palmer one, very much, despite the Flash. It was so nicely done that I sat through the whole thing. On second thought, every single restaurant has new Flash? Break out the buckets, we've got a contest on our hands.

33Liberty is very clean and clear.

Never liked the J-G sit: too cold and tiny and alienating to me. It may be good reading, but I often cannot get past a bad first impression.

The Alinea site under development does nothing for me, though I am sure the restaurant will be exemplary. The elements embedded in the Flash are crudely clipped (jaggy edges), and the music is (like most music on restaurant sites) annoying, and does nothing to enhance the mood. Extraneous clutter. I don't think it reflects the caliber of his work, but then again, it is a work in progress.

Here's a question that bears consideration: why do so many have music that sounds like soft-porn/rave soundtracks?! (The two exceptions that come to mind are Akalare and Olivier-Roellinger.)

Finally, you brought up web stats. I have found excellent hosting with many features, including amazing web stat tracking, with WebHost4Life.com. They're only $5/month, they have 24/7 tech support, and a bunch of other great features that are well worth it. (Note: link above goes to my referral ID, as they also pay commission for referrals. I am migrating all my clients there one by one. I've been very pleased with the service.) The web stats include browsers, platforms, unique visitors, number of hits, countries, domain names, referring URLs, searchbots, and basic WHEN/WHO stats that can be dissected in many ways.

That's all for now. I see a big list upthread that I haven't been able to visit. If I get a chance, I will.

And now, a nap is in order. I'm still yawning from digesting twenty courses and a dozen different kinds of wine.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Thanks for all you have done here and on the Manresa website! Having had the tasting menu at David Kinch's restaurant, I can see why you are so pleased! This restaurant needs the kind of site you have created to represent what it offers to its guests .. kudos to you both!

[Phatlouie07]

french laundry, le bernardin, danielnyc(like the graphics), wd-50(the pictures that sam mason took of one of the cooks were amusing). don't like jean georges because it's too bland and boring and not well updated. the pictures i think are..but i don't understand why they don't show a menu like the other restaurants(e.g. le bernardin and daniel).

[tanabutler]

Some restaurants don't show menus because they are spontaneous. A vendor might stop in with a once-only offering of foraged mushrooms, which are very seasonal and unpredictable. You can't write that onto a static menu easily.

[tanabutler]

Posted in a California thread, a link to Clementine in Los Angeles. I love the colors. It's so clean and light. Beautiful.

[johnnyd]

Germantown site was great. Strongs' picture gallery was amazing; dupes and stacks of plates and ladles conveys that this place is in the food business, period. Meals looked good. Interesting point about the blurred faces: anonymity preserved but a sense of motion introduced. Nicely done.

[tanabutler]

Germantown site was great.  Strongs' picture gallery was amazing; dupes and stacks of plates and ladles conveys that this place is in the food business, period.  Meals looked good. Interesting point about the blurred faces: anonymity preserved but a sense of motion introduced.  Nicely done.

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DG himself is a long-time restaurant worker, so he really was tuned into what it's all about. I love the tickets on the wheel, too.

I'll pass along the praise.

[Phatlouie07]

i like daniel boulud's website because not only it provides the menus and things like that, but also provides a background on his chef de cuisines, sommelier, etc. jean georges' site lacks a lot of stuff. it's too bland for me and it stinks he doesn't mentions the guys who keep his restaurants running, like tony disalvo or johnny luzzini.

[chefwoody]

Can I stoop to shameless self-promotion and list my site here? Besides the horrible pictures (which I am in the process of replacing) and the lack of prices (we are very affordable and every menu is customized to the client - which makes listing prices almost useless), I think the structure and general feel of the site is pretty clean.

http://www.kouboucatering.com

I agree with all the kudos on Akelare's site. I have admired it for quite some time now, for its sharp, representative photography and its very spare, clean design.

Tana, sounds like you really got the sweet end of the deal trading web development for food with Chef Kinch!

[tanabutler]

Can I stoop to shameless self-promotion and list my site here?  Besides the horrible pictures (which I am in the process of replacing) and the lack of prices (we are very affordable and every menu is customized to the client - which makes listing prices almost useless), I think the structure and general feel of the site is pretty clean.

http://www.kouboucatering.com

I agree with all the kudos on Akelare's site.  I have admired it for quite some time now, for its sharp, representative photography and its very spare, clean design.

Tana, sounds like you really got the sweet end of the deal trading web development for food with Chef Kinch! 

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V. v. v. v. nice, Chef Woody! The pictures aren't horrible: they're in focus, well-lit, well-composed, and they don't look like autopsy shots (zoomed in so that everything is a moist, glistening pile of food).

I love your clean lines. Kudos! Or is that "Koudous"?

One tiny comment: it's odd to see a Hotmail e-mail address if you have your own domain. I wondered if the tech side of things challenged you, until I remembered you worked at Trio (and did web work)...

Congratulations on your great site.

[Daniel]

I like zarella's website.. A restaurant in Nyc.. She gives a list of her favorite restaurants and gives recipes.. I like a website that gives you some recipes. Babbo does that too.