Tiramisu’s final bite (after the rest of the coffee cream and cocoa powder dust licked from the plate, I’m looking forward to the bill. It’s not from me‘M is excited to assess the damages caused by eating out (I certainly don’t). Rather, I‘I’m worried about checking if there’s a chance that a free postcard might be presented on my check to join my growing collection. Seeing the servers place solid cardstock on the table along with thin receipts, they are delighted to continue their long dietary tradition with an astonishing backstory.
There were postcards before the cleverly designed tote bags and graphic tees stolen restaurants. From the early 20th century, postcard culture swept America, and restaurants in big cities had the opportunity to take advantage of tourists and business travelers who promote their business. ““The restaurant’s historian, postcard collector and author of blog restaurant throughout history,” said Jan Whitaker, restaurant historian and blogger, “The restaurant’s historian.” Hospitality that supports marketing.
I had a 4×6 print attached. It looks like the art of the French Vaudeville era of La Grande Boucherry, a quirky illustration of Jack’s wife Freda Soho storefront and friendly neighbors, a purple cartoon octopus chef, and a bowl of noodles with Ivan Ramen on the Low East Side. It was a gallery of my meal conquest and was held together by a painter safe to renters‘S tape. These days, I prefer to use cards for their intended purposes. You will be mailed to friends who enjoy their meals and appreciate the images on the card. According to the US Postal Servicethe number of stamped cards and postcards sent by mail decreases by 7.9% per year. The number of people has decreased from over 3 billion in 1997 to approximately 325 million in 2024. However, despite lower email rates, restaurants are seeing the overall effect of the opposite. This is a renewed interest in this format.
The group behind Happy Booking Hospitality CEO Gabriel Stalman, New York City Restaurant sailor, Fairfax, Josephrey and Jeffrey‘S Grocery points out that there are several popular ways restaurants can choose to present their check. “I‘I saw it getting caught in the glass. I’ve seen it come out in a leather folding book,” he says. “I‘VE people have nice, heavy stock stationery, almost like small envelope inserts. I‘I saw people bring it to a miniature clipboard. I saw it on a silver tray. I’ve seen a few places that don’t bring it, and they’re just bringing me their little iPhone. “However, in particular, the server faces a check that is held underneath it, except for its function, it hurts it “The essential itch of (his) love for design. ”
Stulman printed multiple repetitions of postcards from Joseph Leonard, the first restaurant to open in 2009. It ranged from portraits of Stalman’s grandfather, Joseph and Leonard (whose restaurant is named) to recipes for culinary recipes such as salted caramel printing. Fairfax postcard features: a manga fox. Seafood and Oyster Bergeffrey grocery stores have voyage-themed art. The bold and modern graphics are the design choices for Sailor, the group’s latest restaurant, which opened in Brooklyn in 2023.
that‘Who started this trend in the US? But some New York City operators have tipped their hats to Keith McNally, the British restaurant legend behind Pastis and Minnetta Tavern, who helped define the dining and social scene in downtown Manhattan. Jack‘Dean and Maya Jankelowitz, co-owners of his wife Freda, certainly got clues from McNally after both working at his restaurant.‘S and Balthazar, respectively. “Having a check presenter (postcard) feels very whimsical and cute,” Dean says.
There were postcards before the cleverly designed tote bags and graphic tees stolen restaurants.
In a 2025 memoir, McNally stated that he loved buying vintage postcards. He writes that by the end of the 1970s, he had gathered a collection of over 500 people. However, his former business partner and ex-wife Lynn Wagenknecht proposed to create a postcard as a check-in presenter for the newly opened Café Luxembourg in 1983. Instead of a restaurant photo‘S interiors, as suggested by Wagenknecht, McNally took inspiration from vintage Brassai photo cards and held a photo shoot. Initially, the restaurant’s general manager hired a woman who, in McNally’s words, “looked like a Vogue model.” He was “crowded” and called the modeling agency to reschedule the filming the next day, telling three “real” women to pos naked in front of Café Luxembourg every day.‘Instead, an S-bar.
McNally has been selling his stocks in restaurants for a long time, but he still writes, “that‘It is definitely worth a visit to Café Luxembourg just to see this photo. “Cafe Luxembourg was recently released New illustration version It depicts three women sitting in a glass of martini, among the iconic postcards. The restaurateur uses postcards to promote his books at restaurants such as Balthazar and Minnetta Tavern.
Rivka Orlin also opened Cafe Mogador in East Village in 1983, but it was only natural to have postcards and matchbooks like the McNally facilities and other restaurants at the time. Her plan was to share a part of her family‘In particular, the restaurant’s Maize and Tajin menu is based on mothers, so history‘I love Moroccan food and warmth and the things her parents share. She printed a postcard with her parents’ favorite photos taken in Mogador, Morocco in 1935. ‘A 20’s style day dress, and her dapper’s father plays the mandolin.
“On one trip to Paris about 15 years ago, and on another trip to Costa Rica, she recalls finding a postcard from Cafe Mogador at the homes of people she just met. “that‘Very good ads for SA restaurant, but that wasn’t the reason I did it. The reason is because I loved it and I thought it was an extra gesture to give people this photo. ”
Stulman reflects these feelings, and the aspect of the presenter is “Postcard service part,‘sThis idea of giving people something, either cherish them or mailing them to the loved ones who make them “Hospitality. (Stulman says his restaurants are happy to send postcards handled by customers and left behind at the table, but few people know this, but that rarely happens.) According to some restaurants I’ve spoken about, the budget for printing postcards and payroll postage budgets range from over $1,000 a year to over $24,000 a year without taking into account design costs.
“that‘It is definitely worth a visit to Café Luxembourg just to see this photo. ”
“Most people don’t take postcards. But for those who don’t take it, there’s a handful of other bundles,” says Dean Jankelowitz. Some customers grab more than a few people from a stack of postcards sitting in the restaurant’s front area next to the matchbook.‘After 21 courses of Omakaze and dessert at Mr Moto’s office in East Village in 2024, I will not forget that I abused the hostess (and my boyfriend won’t let me forget).‘A generous offer to send blind postcards (made in collaboration with hospitality design company Polonsky & Friends) with beautiful, golden leaves anywhere in the world. I wrote a total of five and sent it. One in the Philippines, the other in Australia, and three to friends who live in different states in the US, they were willing to stamp and mail them. The international postage costs didn’t get close to making up for the cost of meals, but I certainly felt that was the case.
This is the purpose of a restaurant postcard. This is to help create a lasting impression until the last moment, even after the dessert is served. “Cory NG, co-owner of the Potluck Club in New York, which opened in 2022, said NG and his partner wanted something special that appealed to childhood and Asian American culture, so they introduced trade cards like wells like wells like wells like Tradense’s pop culture. Chan.
“For those who know it, it just hits that chord in your mind,” says Ng.‘You will continue to maintain your postcards for a foreseeable future.
While helping to live out the postcard tradition is an unintended advantage, McNally conveys the taste through emails from his book agents, “I don’t think my restaurant postcards are as important as the thin layer of Gossamer for the overall customer experience. “Even so, and in part because of the McNally restaurant and its heritage, the postcard is a small detail of hospitality that has not been noticed.
