CASE STUDY

Forming a chef’s
first entrepreneurial venture

 

YEAR COMPLETED DEC 2017

TYPE HOSPITALITY
SCOPE RESEARCH, CONCEPT, DESIGN, BRANDING
CLIENTMIRA MIRA

The Challenge

Amira was an executive chef at a renowned hotel with entrepreneurial ambitions. She needed a team to develop a brand, design, and business model to take advantage of the lower barrier to entry at Assembly Chef’s Hall, while still being true to herself and mission to create healthy, Bosnian food for Toronto’s palette.

The Outcome

We built Mira Mira from top to bottom. In collaboration with Amira, and a team of local creatives, her first restaurant came to life in just 10 weeks. The unique design showcases fresh ingredients, and a flexible signage system allows her to seamlessly highlight this commitment to her guests.

PHASE 1 OF 5

RESEARCH

First, we needed to get to know Amira, her food, and her aesthetic. We learned about her cuisine and the characteristics of the ingredients to inform the brand. From there, we did a workshop to sprint on a brief for the graphic and interior designers. 

PHASE 2 OF 5

CONCEPT

A new business venture is always a labor of love. So to pick and chose visuals that represent the vision in one’s own head can be daunting. We worked with Amira and our design team to create a cohesive concept centralized around health, family roots, and eye catching design.

PHASE 3 OF 5

PLANNING & DESIGN

We consulted a kitchen designer to determine a layout most conducive for her menu and cooking style. And then we partnered with Iron x Ivory for the interior design. To really bring the design to life, we had a muralist reinterpret the new brand pattern for her bulkhead. 

PHASE 4 OF 5

BRAND

We partnered with Vishana Lodhi to name the spot and design a brand that could flex from a sticker on her to go box, to the bulkhead of her Assembly kitchen.  The visual palette informed the brand as well as the interior design since they were developed in parallel, coordinated by us. 

PHASE 5 OF 5

BUILD

We delivered concept to execution in 10 weeks. We managed build out of the kitchen, stall, custom units, the and production of all her brand collateral in coordination with our larger Assembly team.