The Dishoom Story Plates

Background

Bombay style café Dishoom, was to open a second 200 seat branch in East London. To attract passing customers looking for authentic Indian cooking, the task was to fill Dishoom with Indian diners.

Idea

Before the restaurant launch the agency went to India to gather stories about the original Bombay cafés. The best anecdotes were retold on the restaurant's plates, each with its own unique typographic design. The Story Plates sit on Dishoom's tables before food is served. Customers pass the plates around, read the stories and learn a little about the legacy of the original Bombay cafés. The stories attracted the older Indian generation who, in turn, attracted a wider cosmopolitan crowd. They too could submit their own plates for printing via a microsite making the activity self-perpetuating.

For Dishoom there's no better advertisement than having a restaurant full of Indian customers. The older Indian community love reminiscing about back home, and the original Bombay cafés of their youth. So we asked them to tell their stories to us.

Each story was typographically designed to echo the personal memories being told and baked onto the restaurant's crockery. Plates that were used to share food now also share the rich culture and history of the original Cafés. Inspired by food and narratives, new customers can add their own stories and return to see their plate doing the rounds.

Results

The creation of customer stories for Dishoom's crockery is ongoing - so far over 150 different Story Plates. Dishoom has seen a 46% increase in covers since the campaign began. That's a 3-fold increase compared to its sister restaurant launch that didn't use Story Plates. They feature on food and design blogs and were showcased at London Design Festival. Dishoom's fans are always coming up with ways of making it their own, with one romantic individual putting his marriage proposal on a plate. Due to demand Dishoom now sells plates too.