3D Menu

A restaurant owner we like kept apologising to his guests. Plates went back to the kitchen because nobody knew what they were ordering — the photos flattered, the portions surprised, and everyone lost. He asked if software could help. We said yes on the spot, then spent a week wondering what we'd agreed to.

FIG. 01 — THE FIRST SCAN RIG: A LAZY SUSAN, A DESK LAMP, 214 PHOTOS OF ONE LAMB SHANK

The first rig cost almost nothing. We put a dish on a lazy susan, lit it with a desk lamp, and photographed it until the phone ran hot. The renderer took eight weeks — getting a photoreal dish to load in a browser before the waiter reaches the table was the whole game.

FIG. 02 — DEMO NIGHT. THE CUSTOMER SPUN THE LAMB SHANK TWICE AND SAID "OH — THAT'S WHAT IT IS."

Demo night told us everything. Guests didn't read the menu — they picked dishes up and turned them around. Questions to the waiters dropped. Orders got braver. The kitchen noticed before the owner did.