My office is stacked with boxes of boxes. Cookie boxes. And menu covers. And check presenters. How did this happen? It’s because you can’t print one of anything. Or even 100. More like 5,000.
You think I’d know this. I grew up in the printing business. My grandfather owned a printing business on Callowhill Street. My father owned a printing business. I even worked there – answering phones, proof reading and taking the train to NY to make deliveries. (Funny, I’m still commuting between Philadelphia and NYC.) Anyway, when we were little kids, my father always brought home the greatest wrapping paper and giant sheets of baseball and football cards that we’d cut apart! Maybe that’s why my brother, Eric, and our neighbor Jim Pinheiro, both went into the printing business.
Eric, Jim and James Monroe, who works for my friend Ellen Diamant at Skip Hop, created the menu covers (no more using plastic sleeves!), check presenters, gift cards, comment cards and cookie boxes. They had great advice on paper and colors. We used the color palette from Alison at Blue Bell so that it’s all part of one “family” or “look.” Like a great basic wardrobe that keeps changing and evolving.
My inspiration for how to package everything for Alison two came from shopping overseas. Everything always comes so beautifully wrapped that the packaging is almost as fun as what you buy – almost. Whether it is a pint of raspberries at Paris’ Bon Marché, or a single chocolate from Brussels, where chocolate is displayed like jewels. At Laduree, a bakery in Paris, I ate the macaroons but saved the wrapper. I wasn’t looking for fancy packaging – but simple and clean. 
I discussed my ideas with James, Eric and the folks at Fox Group and Jim at Pearl Pressman Liberty Communications Group. They were great to work with and I was delighted with what they came up with. They really paid attention to detail and were extremely accommodating. What kind of paper should we use? What ink? What colors? What weight should the paper be? What is the memory of the folded cards? Should it be coated or film laminated? They even made dummies that I could see, feel and adjust, as necessary. I felt that I was in good hands.
The cookie boxes are especially a lot of fun. I think it will make an awesome gift. It’s just the type of hostess gift I’d like to get – more than another bottle of wine – it’s one of a kind.
Well, this week we start serving lunch at Alison two – so that’s one more box of menu covers I’ll get to move out of my office and into the restaurant. Hope it’s not too long before I can actually move around the office without jumping over and around boxes of boxes.
First two photos taken by Alison on her iphone. Gift card and A Cookie Box photos ©2008 Courtney Grant Winston.
Alison: Just wanted to tell you how much my husband and I enjoyed our recent meal at your new restaurant. My husband had the scallop gnocchi truffle entree but it was so good that he would only give me a couple of tastes. We had to go back a second time so I could order it. And I love your desserts – my favorite at your first restaurant is the chocolate pot de creme – I was happy to find it on the menu at your new place. How nice to have such a hip, new restaurant in the neighborhood so we don’t have to schlep to Center City (and for pay parking) when we want good meal!