Six ideas for a menu that isn’t yours.

Birchwood makes the food. Somebody else’s name goes on it.

That is a hard place to sell from. You can talk about your plants and your formulation processes, or you can walk in with six things the chain could put on its menu next quarter and let the work make the argument for you.

We did the second one.

A chalkboard-bound showcase, one spread per idea.

Each concept gets its name, two alternate names, the build drawn out ingredient by ingredient, and a facing page arguing why it belongs on the menu right now. Meatballs were having a moment. Food-truck cooking was going national. Breakfast was still up for grabs.

I named the products, wrote every page, and art directed the piece.

Chalkboard, hand-lettered, spiral-bound. A menu board, not a sales deck.

Every concept carries a primary name and two alternates, so the client has something to react to instead of something to approve.

The argument on the right-hand page does the selling. A regional dish going national, built for a chain that likes being first.

Six concepts, six dayparts and categories covered, one book.

Concept, naming, copy, and art direction. Presented to the client. Whether any of it reached a menu isn’t something I’d ever know.