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2013 · US · Mobile · Hospitality · Consumer

Village Anchor — a rich-media restaurant menu app

A single-restaurant menu app with full descriptions, videos, favourites, ratings, and entree-driven pairing recommendations for desserts and wines.

Mobile Hospitality Consumer
Village Anchor — a rich-media restaurant menu app

In one breath

  • Rich-media menu app for a single restaurant brand
  • Entree-driven pairing recommendations for desserts and wines
  • Favourites, ratings, and dish videos built into the menu experience
iOS + Android

Platforms

Text · Photo · Video

Media types

Entree-driven

Pairings engine

01 · The challenge

What was broken, what was at stake

Village Anchor wanted the menu to do what a good sommelier or server does — show the dish properly, and guide diners to pairings that actually complement their choice. A PDF on a tablet wasn't enough.

02 · The approach

How we thought about it

Scoped as a branded menu companion, not a discovery app. Depth per dish was the priority — description, photo, video, rating. The pairings engine was the differentiator: pick an entree and the app suggests desserts and wines the kitchen actually recommends.

03 · What we built

The actual solution

Mobile app on iOS and Android with full-media menu browsing, dish favourites, ratings, and a pairings engine that surfaces dessert and wine suggestions based on the diner's entree choice.

04 · The results

What shipped, what changed

A branded menu experience that extended the restaurant's hospitality onto the diner's phone — useful for regulars planning visits, new diners previewing, and the kitchen quietly steering pairings.

Timeline

Phase by phase.

  1. 01

    Discovery

    1 week

    Menu photography planning. Pairings rules with the chef and sommelier.

  2. 02

    Design

    2 weeks

    Media-forward menu UX. Pairings flow. Brand visual language.

  3. 03

    Build

    4 weeks

    Parallel iOS and Android. Pairings rules engine.

  4. 04

    Launch

    1 week

    Menu content seeding, staff onboarding, store submission.

Stack

Tools and tech used.

iOSAndroidMedia-rich menu CMSPairings rules engine

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