London Restaurant Menu Illustration: Commissioned by Elijah Productions for Turkish Mediterranean Eatery, Lara Grill

In the months of August and September of 2017, I had the pleasure of working with London-based design and branding studio, Elijah Productions, on a small project requiring me to create an illustration for one of their culinary clients.

The Brief

Lara Grill, is a Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant, located in Dagenham, London. My brief was to create an illustration for the menu cover, to replace their current menu design.

The client wanted an illustration inspired by my Mediterranean Food Illustrations: Italian, Moroccan and Turkish Culinary Tour, featured previously on the blog.

The Process

Although the client wanted an illustration that reflected the Turkish and Mediterranean food culture, I noticed that the branding of the restaurant leaned towards minimalism, with select touches that spoke to the Turkish cuisine.

I had a quick look at their social media accounts to understand the kind of aesthetic the restaurant was generally going for, also looked at the pictures in their TripAdvisor page to get a better idea about their colour palette and general restaurant look and feel.

I gave the client several options, and soon after formed a good idea about how they preferred to stay within a minimalist aesthetic. The brief also included their wish to feature some of the items on their menu, mainly, fish, chicken, and meat, in addition to the iconic Turkish tea cup. And that’s how this menu cover illustration was developed, and later on approved.