Alfred Restaurant Group

Davidson Hospitality

Marquis & Co.

Starr Restaurants

Schulson Collective

Stokes Architecture + Design

Breanne Furlong Photography

Jason Varney Photography

KPOD Stephen Starr Restaurant Branding

Avroko Interior Design

Nate Harris Art

Kelly Gillin-Schwartz Illustration

The Wayward Restaurant

Wanderlust Design

The Butcher’s Daughter Williamsburg Brooklyn

Di Bruno Bros

Gab Bonghi

Alimentari Bar Branding

Andre Rucker

Groundswell Group Interior Design

Lauren Cat West Illustration

Stokes Architecture

Jason Varney Photographer

HipCityVeg Fast Casual Branding & Marketing

Not an Ad

Kate Fraser PR

Katy Foley PR

Triboro Design

Jackass Burrito Starr Restaurants Ghost Kitchen

Home Studios

Giuseppe & Sons Italian Restaurant Brand

Gibbs Connors

Rohe Creative

Harp & Crown Restaurant Branding

Post Haste Cocktail Bar Branding

Stokes Architecture & Design

Bread Alley Micro-Restaurant

Mackinac Island Pizza Co. Branding

What is Adam Art

Eggspectation Brand Refresh

Strother Enterprises Corporate Rebrand

Claire Baker

Golden Nugget Vegan Campaign

Emilie Fosnocht

Starr Holiday 2022 Campaign

HipCityVeg Sustainable, Vegan Holiday Gift Campaign

HipCityVeg New Menu Launch

Let Us Serve You

Tender Greens

The Butcher's Daughter

Riverwards Produce

Sweet Lady Jane

Choice Market

Honest Greens

Mamahuhu

Canyon Coffee

Restaurant Clients

HipCityVeg "Basically A Salad" Campaign

 Eugenia Zykova Photography

Diana Topley Food Stylist

Bitter Melon Restaurant Content and Marketing in Toronto

Restaurants

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In 2023, Cohere engaged in strategic planning and marketing with HipCityVeg, focused on the introduction of a refreshed menu and a creative campaign to support.

We identified key points that served as the foundation for the evolution, creatively and philosophically guiding the updates. Celebrate the value captured in the basics - crispy and fast, made with simple ingredients. Focus on the indulgence and craveability as captured in the HipCityVeg top selling classics. And lastly, implement limited time offers (LTOs) in which the brand can begin to signal the path forward to customers including fresher, brighter, more seasonally expressive ingredients.

Throughout the strategy and the content captured, the introduction of the campaign was meant to signal that change of the beloved plant-based brand's menu will be “evolutionary” not “revolutionary" when it comes to classics done well and with purpose. The strategy, micro-content, and messaging enabled founder Nicole Marquis to speak authentically about the thought and care that went into menu updates, while introducing fans to a fresh way to think about HipCityVeg.


 is a contemporary Asian cocktail-focused restaurant that serves flavor-packed small plates with unconventional touches in Toronto's bustling Chinatown.

After opening in 2022 with a healthy dose of excitement and recognition, the founders approached Cohere to engage in a holistic marketing exercise, creating a social strategy, capturing new content, and designing new creative assets to continue building recognition for the concept in Toronto and internationally.

" in 2023, applauding its fun-loving, yet hyperlocal ethos.

How do you introduce more sustainable practices into the restaurant and bar industry without boring or lecturing your customers? For the team behind 

, it started with a commitment to sourcing their entire food and beverage program from providers east of the Mississippi River. That means a focus on hyper-local liquors and cocktail ingredients, with messaging to explain the "why" behind it all. 

For Cohere, the project started with a strategy and a rigorous naming process. Constructing the brand identity for Post Haste, we explored facets of folk science, music, art, and punk movements that all collide in an unpretentious, yet thoughtful setting. After the rush of a long day, regulars have found comfort in the Post Haste experience.

"To Fred Beebe [co-founder], a big mistake that many hyperlocal, sustainable bars have made in the past is losing sight of the fact that bars should be fun. “It can’t be some moral lesson, like, You have to drink this, even though it tastes terrible, because it’s the only thing that’s going to save the planet,” he says. The North Star of the bar is showing people a good time, not saving the world. But that doesn’t mean they can’t do their part. “When we explain to someone that we don’t have an imported ingredient and offer an alternative, we’re asking them to trust that we can still provide them something that they’ll enjoy,” Beebe explains. “We can make things that taste good using local products that are also more sustainable.”

HipCityVeg is a plant-based fast-casual chain from restaurateur Nicole Marquis with the mission of making delicious vegan food enjoyable and accessible to everyone. We helped HipCityVeg open its newest locations – in Washington, DC and on Broad Street in Philadelphia – to launch both its 2.0 look and the start of its national expansion.

Beyond physical storefronts, Cohere has produced creative campaign content and collateral to fuel seasonal promotions and ongoing marketing for the growing fast casual brand. 

Branding and signage by Cohere. Interiors by Groundswell Design Group and photographed by Jason Varney.

The infamous Pod restaurant was a staple in Philadelphia for over 20 years and needed a refresh. So when Starr Restaurants approached us to be a part of the team rebranding it, we were excited at the chance to build a new legacy for the space.

Inspired by Korean pop culture, the students of University City Philadelphia, and Chef Peter Serpico’s new menu, we took an eccentric approach to the restaurant branding. Our bold monogram and geometric patterns reflect the beautiful interior upgrades and offer a new addition to the Starr brand that is exciting and memorable. Introducing Kpod, Korean comfort food in a modern diner atmosphere.

KPOD Social Content

The brand strategy revolved around sharing the energy, excitement, and culture-defining spirit of Korean pop culture while engaging the repositioning of Pod as one of University City’s great destinations.



An ultra-modern oasis, the KPOD brand brings fun-filled, futuristic dining into the present. The brand beckons customers to grab a seat and drink at the bar, order small plates on the conveyor belt straight from the kitchen -or cozy up to your friends in a pod for family-style classics.

 for their 2021 annual holiday gift card campaign, their biggest sales push of the year. Our biggest challenge for gift card marketing for restaurants was designing creative for the wide demographic their 30+ locations nationwide appeal to. We decided on bright, welcoming imagery that evoked the feeling of the spaces while placing the gift card front and center.


We applied our overall strategy to a range of channels including digital ads, out-of-home promotions, radio advertisements, and subscriber outreach. The work paid off in dividends with us surpassing our sales goal with an ROI of a 3:1 ratio of sales revenue to ad cost. The learnings from the campaign have continued to guide us and to produce an even more successful results for proceeding years. Our content strategy and advertising management continue to inform the entire restaurant group's approach to campaign thinking and sales metrics.

A successful, engaging, and valuable multi-channel advertising campaign. Starr Restaurants’ ROI on Holiday Advertising achieved a 

3:1 ratio of sales revenue to advertising cost

 — or how much the company spent on advertising, compared to how much it earned from advertising. Cohere managed and implemented unique digital assets across social media, email, SMS, out of home, and digital advertising channels.

I'm inspired by Cohere. They are organized, responsive, creative and, best of all, a lovely group of people to collaborate with. The results of the campaign were incredibly successful and exceeded our expectations.

Amy Branzuela (Starr Restaurants Production and Ecommerce Manager)

Michael Persico, Photography

Molly Corrigan, Food Styling

Starr Restaurants Holiday Campaign 2021

Cohere designed and developed a brand identity for the quick-service pizza parlor from Davidson Restaurant Group on Mackinac Island, Michigan serving Detroit style pizza, outfit with a modern-retro feel.

 is positioned directly on the route to and from the Grand Hotel, a world-famous vacation destination in its own right. It serves square  pies and slices to-go, offering a new quick-service experience, appealing to both a family-oriented groups and a late night crowd of visitors and island locals. Custom illustrations, creative copywriting, and intuitive packaging design round out the brand's concept, which has already become a staple on this unique island destination.

Mackinac Island Pizza at Grand Hotel in Michigan, wanted an elevated Detroit style pizza F&B concept. Cohere did the branding, packaging, signage and interiors direction.

The classic game of duckpin bowling is back, and it has a fresh face.

Cohere found no shortage of historic and narrative elements to tap into when crafting a brand vision for branding project with the Buccini/Pollin Group in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. A 5,700 square-foot space has been transformed into a classic duckpin bowling alley and pinball arcade with a lively yet casual food and drink menu.

Working in tandem with our brand narrative and inspiration, 

 beautifully designed the space to mimic the many moods of Wilma as a character, bringing to life a multi-layered experience that merges bowling, arcade, bar, and more upscale dining space.

When creating this brand identity, we asked ourselves how to bring the spirit of a mischievous character to life, based on the idea of bank robbing and the daring heists of the early 1900’s. We needed a character suitable for the quirkiness of the beloved duckpin game concept and the grand nature of the building itself.

Who is Wilma? On the surface, she’s unassuming and well-mannered. But behind that innocent guise lives a criminal mastermind. This bar is a personification of her. Inside the elegant, grand exterior, you’ll find an atmosphere that’ll make you want to let loose. Duckpin bowling and retro arcade games, overflowing drinks, and dangerously good times—it’s all waiting for you at Wilma’s.

PI.KL Studio

Wilma's Bowling & Bar Branding

We worked with The Schulson Collective to create the brand for 

, their modern Italian restaurant and all-day cafe in Center City, Philadelphia. The old-world Italian experience required a Roman inspired design for the identity that was true to their partners Termini Bros, while designing an elegant, timeless addition to the Philadelphia food landscape.

Hand-painted signage, and heritage typography complement the timeless interiors design by Home Studios, creating an alluring experience from the street all the way through the charming bistro space.

A brand inspired by generations of Italian cooking and culture.

With Giuseppe & Sons, Michael Schulson brings a fresh twist to Italian-American classics. Its intimate downstairs dining room was designed for an evening filled with hand pulled mozzarella, handmade pastas, and elevated Italian staples. Cohere provided all brand strategy, identity design, and print collateral design for this regional restaurant group's concept.

Gift guides are an expected part of the holiday season. So, how do you reimagine one in a way that stands out? For HipCityVeg, a holiday gift guide also had to also fit their sustainable ethos. Cohere designed and produced a multi-purpose guide that not only shed light on local sustainably-made products and gifts, but served as a holiday wrapping paper as well. Designed to be repurposed, this print campaign added to the holiday spirit without relying on commonly wasteful practices.

Eggspectation franchises can be found everywhere from the original Montreal location to Dubai and New Delhi.

created a refreshed creative strategy for the internationally-known franchise 

 to help invigorate what has been working since its founding in 1993, while defining new elements that bring liveliness and character to the existing brand.

 made to the core logo (or name). But instead, the strategy called for a return to the brand’s Canadian origins to tap into what made it unique to begin with. That meant emphasizing the breadth of menu options, all-ages enjoyment, expanded bar offering, and a newfound distinct ethos of 

 a French-Canadian phrase reminding ourselves and the customers that this isn't hard: it's about sharing good food with good people. That added layer of fun is emphasized in all brand elements from the menu, to the custom illustrations by Canadian artist 

, to new takeaway packaging. And it’s all uniquely Eggspectation.

The brand now has a toolkit of distinct parts that all add up to a unique experience: One brand with a cohesive direction made up of unique layers.

This beloved Montreal based brunch spot wanted to spice up their look and further own their position in the market.

Strother Enterprises Inc., a family-owned and operated food services company, launched a new brand for its catering business that showcases its capabilities in providing delicious and inviting meals for every occasion. For the new brand – Legacy Culinary Group – we helped to create an identity that showcases Strother’s food industry expertise and extensive experience in creating unique dining solutions for social and corporate events across the Philadelphia region.

A key part of the creative process and branding required us to establish a name for this initiative. The 

 name was inspired by the Strother family’s generations of history. Originally founded in 1987 by twin brothers Ernest L. Strother, Jr. and Robert G. Strother, The business has gone through many iterations, but catering has always been in the background. Legacy Catering was created to bring this established expertise to the forefront, led by Chef Chris Nguyen.

Legacy Culinary Group

 is a comprehensive food service company, utilizing their three generations of experience to provide exceptional food, service, and operational capabilities to world class organizations. We helped to establish the next phase of Strother's legacy, developing a new brand identity to increase notoriety and brand recognition. It was applied across all corporate collateral, web, and digital assets, and we equipped them with a deep content library to carry their message and approach forward with confidence.

Family operated. Minority owned. Veteran founded. Cohere is proud to continue our work with the Strother Enterprises brand and team. With a mission to cultivate meaningful connections through hospitality while delivering inspired food service solutions to clients anywhere, Strother's business is one which we are thrilled to support.


, a restaurant and bar from Michael Schulson and his team, has transformed a forgotten space on Sansom Street into a day-to-night experience. The branding for Harp & Crown came out of a vision to capture a feminine garden beer hall and downstairs speakeasy-style bowling lane. Cohere’s ability to craft a story about both experiences, reflected in the design both in-person and online, shines in this hospitality project.

https://harpcrown.com/

We've helped HipCityVeg since it's inception. From one store to many, with a brand evolution, signage, content, campaigns, openings and more.

For another record-setting year of gift card sales, Cohere engaged with 

 to support their annual Holiday Gift Card Campaign. Partnering with animation and CGI mastermind 

, we strategized, designed, captured, and managed the roll-out of this campaign across digital and social channels.

The creative strategy for this campaign revolved around bringing miniature versions of beloved Starr Restaurants to life. Think: El Vez's plush corner booth and Morimoto's moody lights. Treated as miniature gift boxes themselves, the renderings visualized signature moments at each Starr restaurant, providing a variety of creative and animation assets. Cohere then expertly managed the deployment, targeting, and creative messaging behind each asset ensuring tangible results-driven outcomes for the team.

For Starr Restaurant's holiday campaign, we embarked on a comprehensive A/B testing initiative, designing two distinct styles of ads to discern the most resonant approach within our target demographic. This data-driven approach not only showcased our ability to craft compelling visuals but also demonstrated our dedication to delivering measurable results for our clients.

The bread sells out so fast, those in the know want to keep this gem as a secret in the heart of Washington, DC.

Le Diplomate has some of the best bread in Washington D.C., so when Starr Restaurants approached us to help with their bakery branding, we were excited to collaborate on bringing 

 to life. The micro shop produces the best baguettes in the most unlikely spot – the alleyway behind Saint Anselm in the Union Market neighborhood. The brand identity was inspired by the grittiness of the alley, juxtaposed by a minimal logo and typography. Packaging offers a practical yet stylish vessel for the unique bread types offered.

https://www.instagram.com/breadalleydc/

Le Diplomate’s Beloved Breads Go on Sale at a Tiny Bakery by Union Market

The brand identity design for Bread Alley by Starr Restaurants was chosen as the winner of a Gold 

. Taking inspiration from Bread Alley's unexpected location, our direction for this new concept mixed artful moments of loose sketches and contemporary typography to create an unexpected visual brand identity that pops against the gritty backdrop of the alley.

 restaurant branding project is an American brasserie at the historic Stephen Girard Building at 1170 Ludlow Street in Philadelphia, PA. Elements are inspired by the legendary figure's journey from Bordeaux to Philly. From the restaurant’s name to the typography and illustrations – each part conveys Girard’s rebellious spirit, his life at sea, and his legacy as a successful entrepreneur.

https://www.thewayward.com/

Wayward Social Splice with Logo

A large part of our work as a creative agency is done before a single design ever touches paper. Creating a creative concept strategy is one of the foundations of our creative process, and at the core of that is typically a name. Everything relies on the naming process to ensure the restaurant can immerse you into the experience it intended, and one that the customer craves over and over again.

, they were seeking a creative team to bring a new restaurant concept to life in the ground floor of the Philadelphia Canopy by Hilton hotel.

Cohere created the brand strategy, voice, designs, identity and name for the restaurant concept, bringing The Wayward to life through illustration and creative details that give the name a deeper meaning.

 as a tribute to Girard’s spirit, his life at sea, and his legacy as a successful entrepreneur.

Housed in the historic Stephen Girard Building, the brand was always connected to a historic thread. French sailor turned American powerhouse, Stephen Girard was known for his headstrong and rebellious attitude. It’s what pushed him to leave his home in Bordeaux, France and travel the world, conquering New York City’s shipping and trade industry before docking in Philadelphia to build a life. From there, Girard went on to build a number of successful businesses in banking, construction, politics, coal mining, and transportation.

"We’d like to be a place where weary travelers and curious locals alike can come together over good food and easy conversation. So wander over to Chestnut Way and stay for a bit. We’ll be waiting with a strong drink in hand."

Hidden atop the Rittenhouse Italian specialty market at 18th & Chestnut Street is a cafe that we designed. Anyone who has visited Philadelphia knows that Di Bruno Bros. is an iconic food experience. What started 80 years ago as a specialty cheese shop in the Italian Market, has evolved into an entire brand offering that ranges from retail to consumer product goods. As a new brand and casual Italian eatery, 

 offers up moments of storytelling and a replication of that special experience you have at the first Di Bruno Bros location.

Starting with the strategy and naming, the Italian translation of 'Alimentari' is "a small neighborhood food store or mini supermarket, a neighborhood gathering place, that provides delicious ready-to-eat food and small meals in a grocery shop setting," Cohere worked with Di Bruno Bros. culinary and leadership teams to conceptualize and design the identity for this unique addition to their shop and brand legacy.

We found opportunities to create various dining experiences by adding a lounge, bistro tables, and banquets. Stylistically we aimed to capture old-world sensibilities juxtaposed in a warm and contemporary manner. Now you can taste cheeses straight from the farm, encounter new ways to use their in-house staples, sip on your favorite beverage, or have a slice of pizza just like the Romans do. Celebrate the things that make life worth living, good food, and good people. Because ‘la vita è bella’.


With the rise of plant-based burger success, we teamed up with HipCityVeg to highlight their own fast food favorites that break the mold. Their “Good as Gold” Plant-based Chick’n Nuggets are a fan favorite, so creating a narrative around them and engaging audiences was a no-brainer. We created award-winning packaging for their newly-designed golden nugget recipe, capturing the fun, nostalgic energy in a hyper-competitive plant-based market.

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