Lauren Hom came up with a million-grilled-cheese idea: hand-write menus and get paid... in tasty food.
The 23-year-old graphic designer noticed that chalkboard menus in front of many New York City restaurants were a little sloppy. "I noticed that it's common for a restaurant to have a menu board that's written by, like, a hung-over hostess," Hom told Grub Street. "And it's totally not a diss on anyone's handwriting, but I thought, I could do that and make it look kick-ass!"
The hungry artist passed out flyers advertising her services in April. "Actually, the first flyer I ever passed out was a 'yes,'" she said. "It was this little organic, hippie café called Mountain Café, and I wrote their sandwich board."
Hom explained the system to Grub Street: "I go in, I letter, and then everything I write, I get to eat. It's a complete fair barter. So if I write the entire menu, sometimes I'll have to go back multiple times and bring friends to feast. It's amazing!"
Hom told Grub Street that she has no desire to charge for her services, regardless of how long a job takes her. According to Grub Street, a sandwich board could take up to an hour! "I feel like it almost taints the fun of it if there's money involved," she said. "And I have a very steady freelance career, so everything's fine. And the truth is, free food tastes better, too."
Hom's ultimate goal is to hand-letter a menu for a sushi restaurant, but for now, she focuses mostly on reaching out to casual cafés. "My mom always told me you eat with your eyes first, and so she always made sure all of our food looked nice," she says. "But then I realized, where typography comes into the picture, is that you eat with your eyes before you even see your food. If you're looking at a menu and the food's written out nicely, you're going to want to eat more. It's totally weird, but it's true!"
"I've lived in New York for about five and a half years, and I've explored a lot of the city, but I just thought that this would be a fun way to meet more people - especially because I'm interested in food and the restaurant industry," Hom added. "Anyone who opens a restaurant is fascinating to me, because you have to be pretty passionate about it to do it. And there are so many great places to eat in New York. If you're not eating well in New York, I don't know what you're doing. Like, move to Cleveland."
