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Ember & Oak

A restaurant website with menu, reservations and a visual identity that matches the room.

Client type
Concept build
Category
Websites
Role
Design + engineering
Year
2026
Open the working demo
Ember & Oak restaurant website concept — hero and menu layout

00 / Overview

Overview

Can a restaurant’s own website take the reservation before the phone rings?

Technology
  • Next.js
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Sanity
  • Vercel
Delivered
  • Editable menu with dietary tags
  • Reservation flow with time-slot availability
  • Location, hours and structured data for search
  • Image pipeline optimised for mobile

01 / The problem

We didn't start with the screen.

Independent restaurants often rely on social media and third-party listings, so their own site is an afterthought — slow, out of date and unable to take a reservation without a phone call.

02 / The approach

We started with the system.

We treated the website as the restaurant's front door: a strong hero, a menu that is easy to browse on a phone and a reservation flow that takes under a minute. Content is managed through a lightweight CMS so the menu can change nightly.

  1. SYS / 01Statically rendered pages, menu and hours editable in a lightweight CMS
  2. SYS / 02Reservation flow backed by time-slot availability, confirmed by email and WhatsApp
  3. SYS / 03Structured data for search, image pipeline tuned for mobile networks

03 / The interface

Then we built the interface.

A statically rendered Next.js site with editable menu and hours, integrated reservations, structured data for search and an image pipeline that keeps the pages fast on mobile networks.

Use it yourself — open the demo

  • Ember & Oak homepage concept
    Ember & Oak homepage concept01 / 02
  • Ember & Oak — a table held, with the confirmation message the guest would receive
    Ember & Oak — a table held, with the confirmation message the guest would receive02 / 02

04 / The build

The build

What it does

  • Editable menu with dietary tags
  • Reservation flow with time-slot availability
  • Location, hours and structured data for search
  • Image pipeline optimised for mobile
  • Dark, atmospheric visual direction

Built with

  • Next.js
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Sanity
  • Vercel

05 / The result

The result

A concept build has no client numbers, and we would rather show none than invent some.

What it proves is the approach: problem first, system second, interface last. Results sections appear only on delivered client work, with verifiable outcomes.

Could we build yours?

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