The restaurant that will dethrone your grandmother

With origins dating back to the 19th century, Cal Rubell is a classic of typical Catalan cuisine. It’s one of those restaurants that isn’t nearby anything, but nevertheless is always totally packed.

A word-of-mouth restaurant. A classic. The well-kept secret of their amazing cannelloni. With dishes cooked slowly over wood coals, for hours, giving them their characteristic texture and tenderness. Because, for good cooking, this restaurant is the place to go.

CHALLENGE

Cal Rubell is one of those businesses that does their job so well that their customer take care of advertising for them. Nevertheless, even though nothing is absolutely necessary, the Catot-Jamilà siblings (Pilar, Teresa and Josep) who have had the restaurant at the centre of their family life for generations, have always wanted to do things right.

The communication challenge at Cal Rubell has always been honesty. Knowing how to convey the restaurant’s truth. The importance of unpretentious food without special effects; of humble recipes, good produce and unhurried cooking.

RESULT

Xoo Studio developed several pieces for Cal Rubell. One of them is the restaurant’s menu, artisan made with a real wood base, communicating concepts like warmth and tradition. This wood base was personalised with the restaurant’s brand using laser.

Don’t look at this website on an empty stomach

Cal Rubell’s cooking is irresistible and this was the challenge we had with the website. To make it like walking into the restaurant’s kitchen.

The key was a full photo session featuring the most emblematic dishes as well as the restaurant itself, just as it is. Not hiding that it is a traditional, old-fashioned restaurant. Without any luxuries. No false promises. Everything just as it is. If you order monkfish with langoustines, it will look just like it does in the picture.

However we did invest in the photo session to make sure we got good-quality shots. We got dishes that you eat with your eyes, and made the most of them with full-width web design, with the photos taking centre stage. Plus, the site has all this material in the Gallery section, one of the most effective on restaurant websites. Because that’s the way it works: when choosing a restaurant, we prefer seeing to reading.

Capacities
involved

Brand · Identity · Web design and programming · Digital strategy · Creating contents