Pictures good enough to eat
If you live in or around the Tri-Cities, WA you’ve probably heard about Foodies. They’ve been around since 2016, and their food has become well known in our area.
But did you know that I used to work for them?
Yup, I was their bookkeeper for 4 years! I came on when they were only a couple of years old and only had the downtown Kennewick location (that’s no longer there). I worked hard to get their books in order and some new systems in place to help them track their financials better. During my time with them they grew from their 1 location to 2 and then opened their food truck, and it was a wild ride. In fact, Foodies was the job I left to work on my business full time!
While I worked there, Joanna (the owner) was going through a lot of life changes. With those changes came some adjustments with the restaurant and a whole new brand refresh for the company. She hired me to take their menu pictures and a few headshots of management. I was stoked to do it because I had just started offering branding photography within the year and she was my first client with a brick-and-mortar location. Up until that point I had shot branding images for people who offered remote or on-location services.
The Project
We decided on a day to bring in the entire staff and made it a training day. The kitchen manager worked with his staff to create every meal on the menu exactly as it should be made, giving them a chance to learn without the rush of a full restaurant how. And the general manager came in with his servers so they could see exactly what each meal should look like when they take them out to the table, doubling up on quality control for service. We planned a separate day for bartenders to come in and test out new cocktail recipes and learn the restaurant’s signature drinks.
And I got pictures of it all.
Joanna was so happy with the pictures that she blew them up into giant metal prints and hung them up in the restaurant. They still hang there today, so when you go into their Richland location the pictures you see on the walls are the ones I took that day! I haven’t had a chance to go to the new Kennewick location by the river, but they may even be hanging there too.
Video of the menu pictures on the walls of Foodies restaurant in Richland, WA.
And here are some of my favorite images from my project with Foodies. What do you think?
If you own a restaurant in or around the Tri-Cities, WA I’d love to sit down and chat with you about how I can create beautiful art out of your menu items. They can be used for a digital menu, to decorate your website, to share on your socials, and even to hang on the walls like Foodies did. I also recently did a shoot for a new local restaurant where I got behind-the-scenes pictures of their staff creating their delicious food. There are dozens of ways to personalize your restaurant branding photos.