COUCOU
Restaurant Identity
Coucou is a conceptualized farm-to-table, vegetarian, and local restaurant. A family farm in Upstate New York, Heirloom Farm, would also be the primary produce supplier for the restaurant so the menu could rotate by season. Proceeds from the restaurant help fund scholarships for New York City public school students attending summer camp at Heirloom Farm. Kids would learn how to look after a garden or cook in conjunction with it being a typical summer camp. This foundation would also alleviate parents’ financial stress of providing childcare for kids during summer vacation while working full-time.
This project was inspired by community and family and it is intended to support both. For this reason, the location of Coucou would be in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where I grew up.
“whatever you water, grows.”
The core belief at both Coucou and Heirloom Farm is, “Whatever you water, grows.” This philosophy drives these philanthropic efforts to look after the community and environment. The food industry generates a lot of waste, so the restaurant’s carbon footprint Is lessened by not serving meat and sourcing ingredients locally.
The Concept...
Heirloom references an heirloom tomato and a family heirloom, therefore celebrating nature and personal family treasures. This concept commemorates where family tradition intersects with a good meal. Coucou translates to “hello” in French. It is a friendly, familial greeting. It is pronounced the same as the “cuckoo” in cuckoo clock. Recipes in the cookbook and menu are all associated with a time or important moment in life. Examples of this include “terrible twos birthday cake” or “10 am (or pm) granola.”
Watercolor
All deliverables for Coucou feature watercolor illustrations of fruits and vegetables. When I was about 7, my grandfather illustrated a story I wrote about the make-believe I played in his garden. His watercolors directly inspired this project as watercolor lends itself to a very sentimental and nostalgic feeling. The crayon-like kid drawing in the cookbook is intended to be additions from the kids at summer camp.
Cookbook
