5 Branding Ideas for your Luxury Restaurant

There’s no denying that the hospitality and restaurant industry is a crowded and competitive sector. Nowadays, diners are seeking great food, but they are also looking for an experience. You can elevate a guest’s visit to your restaurant with clever use of branding, cementing your establishment in their mind and ensuring that not only will they come back, but they'll recommend your eatery to family and friends too.

Here at Billy Tannery, we have always championed sustainability and creating as little waste as possible. This has meant that over the years, we have developed a strong relationship with the food industry. We’ve worked with chefs looking to use goat meat in their dishes, incorporating the story of farm to fork and beyond, to restaurants looking for bespoke leather items they can use within their branding strategy.

Based on our experience and previous collaborations, we've put together this article on restaurant branding ideas that can help you add a touch of luxury to your non-food offerings, create a strong identity and boost recognition.

Aprons

Aprons are a great way to inject personality into your restaurant. They come in a variety of materials and styles, meaning you can pick ones that suit the feel of your restaurant. They are also great for branding because not only are they practical, but they are also highly visible, especially if worn by kitchen staff, servers, and the front-of-house team.

Leather aprons are a fantastic choice both for style and longevity. The material itself is timeless and comes in a range of colours. Leather also offers great protection for the wearer against heat, grease stains and sharp utensils.

We previously worked with London-based restaurant SILO to create bespoke leather aprons for their team. They were looking for staff aprons that wouldn't need to go in the washing machine, saving both energy and water and we loved that this project was so closely aligned with our eco-conscious values.

Bill presenters

The wallet that holds a diner’s bill is one of the last non-human aspects of your restaurant that your customers interact with before they leave - which is why it’s worth making sure it leaves a lasting impression.

Opting for leather-bound bill presenters gives you the option to emboss them with your restaurant logo, weaving your branding into a diner’s experience from start to finish. The quality of a leather bill presenter also ensures they will stand up to the extensive use they receive and be a feature of your service for years to come.

Coasters

Coasters have long been a way for restaurants, pubs, and drinks brands to capture attention. They may be small, but they have the ability to embed brand recognition every time someone picks up and places down their beverage.

Leather coasters particularly are both beautiful and practical. They offer the surface protection of fabric or card coasters but are easy to wipe clean and don’t absorb moisture. They will also last for a long time and can be customised with a logo or message.

What's more, they can be paired with bespoke leather placemats and table runners for a complete base for your table setting.

Dinnerware

Dinnerware is an important component of a dining experience. The crockery, cutlery and final flourishes all have an impact on a guest’s appreciation of the meal and their perception of the quality of the restaurant.

You can add something special to your tables by choosing items made from leather. With our bespoke service, you can opt for something truly unique. For example, Kol, a Mexican-British restaurant specialising in fusion food, came to us for leather tortilla holders! If you don’t need vessels for Mexican cuisine, then you could always consider items such as leather cutlery pouches, cup holders or even ice buckets.

Menu covers

Menus are one of the most used items in any restaurant, so it makes sense to present them in a way that looks good and reduces the likelihood and frequency of needing to reprint them.

Menu covers are not only the perfect way to protect your menus, but they also add to the enjoyment your customer has when selecting what they are going to order. What’s more, menu covers can help bring the theme of your restaurant to the table and help keep your branding consistent.

Leather menu covers are versatile, long-lasting, and can make a wonderful feature when placed upright on a table. One of our previous projects includes creating leather-bound menu covers for Akoko, a restaurant in London that serves West African cuisine. They opted for classic brown leather, their logo embossed on the front and metallic hardware.