Saint Joseph’s University

5600 City Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19131

BEAUTIFUL SOCIAL:
(byü-ti- fəl) (sō- shəl)
A team of students devoted to working with non-profits and
social entrepreneurs. We help your organization see the beauty
and benefits of social networking (at no cost to you).

A Beautiful Social Report

Kristina Chabrier
Objectives:
This report will guide Avril (Bala Cynwyd, PA) through the complex cyber universe
in order for them to recognize the incredible benefits of social networking. Using
three well known culinary institutions, we can set up a model for which Avril will be
compared to. Stephen Starr; owner of Starr Restaurant Organization, Philadelphia
restaurateur idol, and national culinary “it boy” provides a good perspective on how
design aesthetics, atmosphere, and drama not only allow for a crazy good dining
experience, but also for a successful social media campaign. The Wednesday Chef,
started in 2005 by Luisa Weiss, worked through a mounting of recipe clippings from
the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, but 5 years later the mountain hasn’t
shrunk, but her recognition for an incredibly honest and charming blog has grown
exponentially. Lastly, using the International Culinary Center, Catering & Events
webpage we can see how a small town café compares to the collection of two of the
worlds largest culinary institutes.

Background Research:
1. Starr Restaurants: the epicenter of Philadelphia cuisine, Stephen Starr has created
an empire known just as much for the food as for the experience you have. Starr
likens the experience of dining out to that of attending a theater production “where
the players, props, backdrops, lighting and rapport are integral components of an
overall dramatic effect.” When this atmospheric drama is paired with edgy delicious
cuisine, dining out at a Starr Restaurant becomes entertainment for all the senses.
The restaurateur has certainly set his culinary legacy, but has made an
impressionable statement in the cyber world as well. We can start where Google led
me first, his website (starr-restaurant.org). Introduced with a montage of words
that surely are to describe the Starr kingdom (i.e. “hot”, “dine”, “cocktail”, “cuisine”),
the message of trendy sophistication is immediately assumed. This is a good way to
set up your viewer for what kind of atmosphere both your business assumes but
also as a foreshadow as to what the dining experience at your restaurant will be like.
The modern and sleek vision of the homepage is kept consistently within the ins and
outs of the website; photographs, fonts, etcetera images. Easy to locate are both the
Facebook and Twitter accounts of Starr Restaurants. With what limited means of
beautification one can impose on a Facebook page, Starr Restaurants provides
quality information about any of the restaurants as I presume it would be difficult to
control 23 separate accounts. This is quite beneficial to Starr because if you were
looking to find what specials are going on at El Vez, 22 other restaurants are
simultaneously advertising themselves, all benefiting the Starr Restaurant
Organization. A resourceful, convenient and tactful action plan. Their twitter
account accomplishes similar to what their Facebook wall posts do, informs their
followers about specials, upcoming news, or any relevant Starr facts. The people
they follow seem to largely represent the more popular food
consumer/provider/reporter community. Both social media sites are able to
surreptitiously attack the reader with information about all 23 restaurants without
being too overwhelming.

2. The Wednesday Chef: I figured since Avril is most obviously a restaurant that it
would be too easy to slap on three top restaurants and their respective websites and
call it a night. Instead I chose to include a food blog, from the home of formerly New
York-based (now in Berlin, Germany) Luisa Weiss. As the mainstream press, the
newspapers and official online content is getting more blog-like with social sharing,
user commenting, etc. big corporations must balance the needs of a professional
business with the personable qualities that customers are demanding. What I notice
about failed food blogs and other food based content websites is this overwhelming
sense on myopia (mī-ˈō -pē-ə: a lack of foresight or discernment: a narrow view of
something). The context where the food sits into a characterless void, the chaos of
culture and politics that produce food is left in that hazy background. Good food
blogging contextualizes food. It makes it feel as messy and imperfect as the world
from where it comes and not like it appeared spontaneously, teleported in from
Semi-Home made from Sandra Lee’s kitchen. The Wednesday Chef is a charming
blog packed with a mix of recipes and humorous anecdotes that doesn’t try to
disguise the essence of cooking with perfect porcelain plates, but celebrates the
unedited and raw sides of cooking from the home. Because The Wednesday Chef
isn’t a national organization like the previously mentioned Starr Restaurants, her
Facebook and Twitter serve more as platform for her to reach out to her faithful
foodie fans. Blogging is so much more personal than any other form of social media
news that the brand “The Wednesday Chef” and the person behind it have to fit
cohesively. Weiss does a great job of marketing not only her brand, but her as well
and it’s obvious we live in a time where that is not only celebrated but also
somewhat necessary. More than Starr does, Weiss interacts with her
readers/followers/fans as I’m sure she is grateful for all their support. Her twitter is
a mix of both “The Wednesday Chef” centered tweets along with some personal
Luisa Weiss ones as I’m sure she wants to intertwine the two identities.

3. The International Culinary Center, Catering & Events: Brought to you by the
founders of The French Culinary Institute and The Italian Culinary Academy, this is
obviously a cyber force to be reckoned with. Alone their homepage has me gawking
at the stunning photos of event concepts, venues, and naturally, the food. With the
backing of two of the most prestigious culinary institutes their website could have
easily crossed the line into ostentatious and pretentious with good reason no doubt.
Fortunately, the catering and event planning website is simplicity at it’s finest. A
five-tab navigation menu is all it needs, laid neatly in front of a series of high quality
photographs that document and reiterate the purposes of the website. Everything
about this website illustrates what they want to say about their food; classic, well-
crafted, taste (both in the sense of class and the sense of literal taste). Although they
don’t have a Twitter or Facebook account for the specific catering and events sector,
both the French and Italian institute have, along with YouTube channels and a
Flickr.

Analysis:
Website: The photograph on the left is what struck me first about Avril’s webpage. A
family portrait of sorts (I am not totally convinced they are all related especially the
shady character with the rocking tattoos) is undoubtedly adorable and immediately
the obvious spirit that Christian Gatti, April Lisante, and their costars emit envelops
you like a warm hug or a hot bowl of soup. Enough about the clear star of the
homepage, there are other topics to get on with. While the color scheme of warm
tones of brown is consistent with the warm and pleasant type vibe I get from the
website, the graphics are what turn me off a bit. Obviously I could go on and on
about the photograph, but the Avril logo and mound of baked bread seem to lack
fluidity with what I want so badly to see in terms of style. Aesthetically speaking I
get a sense of antique comfort but staying in the 21st century to avoid being too
kitschy. The graphics should all emit the same kind of tone, but instead I see a
novice graphic logo that rests above a beautiful photograph and an image of bread
that I swear I have seen a thousand times. By just replacing or editing those two
images I think the homepage could improve wildly.
Moving onto what I consider a great indicator of a good website, navigation.
The contact information is easily visible and accessible because what would a
restaurant be if nobody could find them! Further, the navigation menu is divided
into four sections: about, menu, catering, contact us. Easy, accessible, and effortless.
The about is too precious for words and the photography compliments the well-
written short narrative of the evolution of Avril. I Highly suggest whoever is
responsible for that photography should receive credit where credit is due. Next, the
menu and catering sections are rather similar so they can be discussed
simultaneously. The organization stays simple for the convenience of the viewer, but
the font could use a boost as I can immediately indentify it as either Helvetica or
Arial, the more modest of fonts. Not saying that Avril should use something like
this or this but it is essential to understand that while a font shouldn’t overpower
the page, it is a vital to chose one that compliments it. For the small town gem that it
is, Avril’s website could use a lift, but the foundation that is set is great for the
demands of its customers.
Facebook: Knowing full well I could go to the Beautiful Social pbworks webpage to
direct myself to Avril’s Facebook, I instead made a journey to their only social media
site. Of principle note is that their Facebook is neither immediately linked to nor
accessible via avrilbyob.com. Sources like Facebook allow for people to track their
interests without the hassle of actually searching for it, knowledge at their fingertips
so to speak. Google gave me their webpage first, unsurprisingly, followed by large
number of review pages. No Facebook. Since those were my only three options I
finally got a hold of the web address, but alas Avril only exists as a personal profile
and a private one at that.

Best practices:
Continuing with what I believe to be the trifecta of culinary genius from the previous
section (Background Research) I have identified 3 elements that make them
remarkable:

Starr Restaurants, Consistency of theme/atmosphere: Starr Restaurants, although all

varying in their themes, fall within the constructs the make up Starr Organization.
The commitment to sophistication while at the same time producing a dramatic
effect it was holds all 23 restaurants together. The culinary styles and motifs may
vary from location to location; there is a strong devotion to keep the standards and
quality of each location the same. Starr believes in making every meal a sensational
experience and the palpable vibe from each restaurant delivers just that.

The Wednesday Chef, Personability: The term “personability” refers to one’s ability
to connect with whatever audience you are trying to seduce. Avril parks itself
somewhere between the suburban Main Line and Philadelphia’s urban Center City.
Balancing the needs/wants/desires of potential customers is complex and there are
no rules to it. What I see is that those of whom who instead focus on their own
character and charm are who succeed. People naturally want to find connections
between others and food is a great vehicle to initiate those relationships, but
without having solidified what “character” you will portray it is hard to the
customer to really feel that loyalty and relationship.

The International Culinary Center, Catering & Events, Simplicity: Having more than
25 years of experience under ones belt assures that at some point in time you have
to get it right. Sure enough the International Culinary Center’s Catering and Events
company has developed a simple and effortless webpage in addition to their social
media sites. Easy access is important for such a large company, especially one that is
involved with two huge culinary institutes, but the Cater and Events team does a
great job of putting all the information you would need about the individual
company itself, but also the French and Italian counterparts.

Recommendations
 Avril is a small-town hero, but has yet to reveal its true capacity to the
masses. In order to evolve from where it is at right now a few minor additions could
transform their position in the currently cyber-centric consumerverse. As noted
above, the website should take advantage of a good photographer and instead of
using dull and replicated images, use original photographs to make the entire
webpage cohesive in the theme and direction. Other minor customizations (i.e.
fonts) could be made, but it is up to Gatti and Lisante to experiment with what they
feel is right.
With regards to social media strategies, I primarily suggest making a
Facebook page (as opposed to the current personal profile) so that through the click
of a button, hundreds of customers can be following your every dish, menu, and
specials. Additionally, a Twitter page is an often underestimated power tool of the
social media world. The 140 character or less “tweets” will keep followers updated
on any breaking news or breaking bread occurs within Avril. The ability to instantly
update your friends, industry experts, and possible celebrities about what’s cooking
at Avril is too easy of promotional opportunity to pass up. Promoting through
mediums like this will be vital to Avril’s further success.