Standards
Non-negotiable rules for all restaurant content. They unify storytelling around the chef’s craft, seasonal menus, and the dining experience while protecting operational accuracy, guest trust, and reservation intent.
Brand Story & Positioning
Defines the restaurant’s shared identity through chef craft, seasonal menus and dining experiences, ensuring every message serves priority diners and supports accurate reservation or walk-in decisions.
Restaurant identity
Establish one clear restaurant story that links seasonal lunch and dinner service, the chef’s culinary perspective and the guest experience across every channel and format.
Present the restaurant as a destination for seasonal lunch and dinner.
Connect every menu story to a deliberate culinary point of view.
Describe the dining room as part of the experience, not simply a backdrop.
Avoid unrelated food, staff and interior posts with no shared narrative.
Chef’s craft standard
Chef-led content must show a meaningful culinary decision, technique, process or perspective that helps diners understand the human expertise behind each seasonal menu and service.
Explain why a technique, ingredient pairing or preparation method was chosen.
Show preparation, tasting, service or team collaboration where relevant.
Attribute recipes, quotes and culinary views to the correct chef or team member.
Avoid portraying the chef as the only story at the expense of menu and guest experience.
Seasonal-menu standard
Seasonal-menu content must clearly explain menu changes, ingredient timing and the kitchen’s point of view, helping diners understand why a dish belongs on the menu now.
Identify the relevant ingredient, season, menu phase or available period.
Connect a featured dish to its seasonal ingredient or kitchen decision.
Distinguish current menu items from past dishes and archive content.
Avoid calling a dish seasonal without an approved, current basis.
Dining-experience standard
Dining-experience content must help potential guests picture the pace, setting, service and occasion of visiting the restaurant for lunch or dinner before making a reservation.
Show service moments, table details, atmosphere or the pace of a meal.
Clarify whether the content relates to lunch, dinner or a particular occasion.
Feature the team’s role in making guests feel welcomed and looked after.
Avoid using ambience-only content without an identifiable guest benefit.
Pillar balance standard
Every planned content item must use one primary storytelling pillar—Chef’s Craft, Seasonal Menu or Dining Experience—to maintain a balanced, recognisable restaurant narrative over time.
Brief a chef-preparation post under Chef’s Craft.
Brief a menu-change post under Seasonal Menu.
Brief a dining-room or service post under Dining Experience.
Review the content mix regularly to prevent any pillar from disappearing.
Use cross-pillar stories only when their primary message remains clear.
Lunch-and-dinner clarity
Content must distinguish lunch and dinner accurately, while showing both services as connected expressions of the restaurant’s menu philosophy, quality standards and dining experience.
State the relevant service when promoting a dish, menu or reservation.
Explain service-specific features only after operational confirmation.
Match the call to action to lunch or dinner availability.
Avoid using dinner visuals or conditions to imply the same offer applies at lunch.
Ideal-diner relevance
Content must address the restaurant’s priority diners and their dining occasions, using a client-approved audience definition rather than assumptions about budget, lifestyle or preferences.
Frame an occasion, need or preference that the restaurant genuinely serves.
Use content to explain the value of a seasonal dining experience.
Make reservations feel like a practical next step for suitable guests.
Avoid assuming diners’ budget, lifestyle, dietary needs or reasons for visiting.
Reservation and walk-in clarity
Booking-related content must accurately communicate current reservation and walk-in options, directing guests to the right action without promising availability, seating preferences or service conditions.
Use the approved reservation link, phone number or platform.
State when walk-ins are welcomed only after confirming current conditions.
Clearly mark limited availability, special services or booking conditions.
Direct guests to the reservation channel for current availability.
Avoid guaranteeing walk-in seating, specific tables or booking availability.
Brand-identity consistency
Every content item must reinforce the approved menu philosophy and core pillars, creating a coherent restaurant identity rather than disconnected posts about dishes, people and spaces.
Review captions for a clear link to craft, seasonality or experience.
Use one approved restaurant description across bios and website introductions.
Align team, menu and guest stories with the same central proposition.
Retire formats that attract attention but weaken the intended dining position.
Truth, Evidence & Accuracy
Sets evidence and checking rules for menus, pricing, ingredients, dietary information, team details, claims and operational updates, so guest-facing content remains credible, current and dependable.
Menu accuracy
All menu content must reflect the current, approved restaurant offering so diners receive accurate information about dishes, ingredients, availability and relevant service conditions before booking.
Confirm dish names, ingredients and descriptions before publishing.
Check whether featured dishes remain available on the scheduled date.
Update posts or pages when a menu item changes or ends.
Avoid listing ingredients, substitutions or pairings not approved by the kitchen.
Price and offer accuracy
Check prices, set menus, packages, promotions and booking conditions against approved operational information before publication, including applicable restrictions, charges, dates and availability terms.
Confirm set-menu prices and inclusions before every campaign.
State taxes, service charges or exclusions where material and applicable.
Include end dates or availability conditions for time-bound offers.
Avoid “from” prices or package claims without approved terms.
Ingredient and provenance proof
Support all sourcing, supplier, regional, seasonal and production claims with current kitchen or supplier information, and avoid broad statements that cannot be clearly evidenced.
Verify supplier names before tagging or mentioning them.
Confirm regional, local, organic, heritage or seasonal descriptions with the kitchen.
Describe relationships with producers accurately and respectfully.
Avoid broad sourcing claims without a current, traceable basis.
Dietary and allergen communication
Dietary, allergen and ingredient-suitability information must be approved by the restaurant, directing guests to verified channels rather than making assumptions that could affect safe dining decisions.
Direct guests with allergies to the approved enquiry channel.
Confirm vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or other suitability claims before publishing.
State that menu items and ingredients may change where relevant.
Avoid implying a dish is allergen-free unless the client’s verified policy permits it.
Chef and team facts
All chef and team information—including names, titles, biographies, awards, roles and quotations—must be accurate, current and approved before content is published publicly.
Confirm each chef’s title, role and spelling before publication.
Obtain approval for personal stories and direct quotations.
Verify award, ranking or media-recognition claims from an official source.
Avoid overstating individual responsibility for collaborative work.
Restaurant claims
Claims about quality, popularity, awards, exclusivity, guest demand or neighbourhood reputation must rely on approved, specific evidence rather than unverified superlatives, vague comparisons or assumptions.
Support award claims with the award name and current year where relevant.
Support “signature,” “bestselling” or “most requested” language with internal evidence.
Describe the experience specifically rather than calling it “the best.”
Avoid unverified superlatives, rankings and competitor comparisons.
Operational freshness
Verify service hours, booking conditions, special events, closures, availability and menu details immediately before publishing, because these details can directly influence guest decisions.
Check lunch and dinner hours against the current operations schedule.
Confirm holiday closures, private events and special-service dates.
Validate reservation availability through the current booking source.
Update menu links and booking links after operational changes.
Remove expired event, offer and seasonal-menu content promptly.
Third-party evidence
External facts, supplier information, awards, reviews and market statements must come from approved, credible sources and never rely solely on unverified social content or anecdotal commentary.
Use kitchen records and approved supplier materials for ingredient claims.
Use official awarding-body sources for recognition claims.
Use approved restaurant data for performance or guest-preference statements.
Do not treat social comments, unverified reviews or reposts as factual proof.
Corrections standard
Correct material errors affecting menus, prices, bookings, hours, or guest expectations quickly, with clear ownership and visible updates where the original information remains accessible.
Update incorrect service hours as soon as you confirm the error.
Replace inaccurate menu, price or reservation information immediately.
Add a dated correction note where a webpage’s material information changes.
Inform the responsible restaurant owner when an error affects reservations or guests.
Risk, Permissions & Findability
Protects guests and the restaurant through privacy, permissions, disclosures, incident handling, accessibility and search rules, while separating fixed non-negotiables from flexible creative decisions.
Guest privacy
Restaurant content must protect guest privacy by preventing the sharing of personal details, reservations, private events or identifiable experiences without appropriate consent and operational approval.
Do not show reservation lists, bills, booking screens or identifiable guest details.
Do not publish private-event information without organiser approval.
Move booking changes and complaint details to private channels.
Avoid revealing a guest’s location, dining schedule or personal preferences.
Permissions and user-generated content
Guest, creator, supplier and partner content may only be published with recorded permission, clear attribution and usage terms appropriate to the content’s format, audience and channel.
Obtain approval before reposting identifiable diner photographs or videos.
Record creator credit and permission status for user-generated content.
Confirm supplier approval before using their logos, imagery or claims.
Keep testimonials faithful to the original meaning.
Promotion and partnership disclosure
Disclose all paid, gifted, hosted or commercial collaborations clearly and consistently, follow applicable local advertising requirements, and protect the credibility of restaurant recommendations.
Identify paid creator partnerships clearly.
Disclose hosted meals when a creator receives a complimentary experience.
Clarify promotional terms, eligibility and end dates.
Avoid presenting advertising or incentivised content as independent guest opinion.
Food safety and sensitive incidents
Food-safety concerns, allergy allegations and serious service complaints require immediate internal escalation, careful factual communication and protection of guest privacy while the matter is investigated.
Escalate alleged illness, contamination or allergy incidents to the designated restaurant lead.
Do not debate food-safety allegations in public comments.
Use approved factual holding language during an active investigation.
Preserve relevant published content and records for internal review.
Prohibited content
Content must not misrepresent food, service, availability, guests or employees, and must avoid unsupported health claims, unsafe depictions, competitor criticism and exclusionary dining language.
Do not make unsupported health, nutritional or dietary claims.
Do not shame guests for food choices, budgets or dietary needs.
Do not promise guaranteed availability, service outcomes or seating.
Do not use competitor criticism as a route to differentiation.
Do not publish content that depicts unsafe or non-compliant food handling.
Service-page structure
Lunch, dinner, menu and booking pages must clearly explain the restaurant offer, timing, conditions and reservation action, enabling guests to decide and book without unnecessary uncertainty.
Start with the service name, timing and dining proposition.
Present current menu context and relevant conditions clearly.
Include a direct, functioning reservation action.
Provide an approved pathway for dietary and accessibility questions.
Link related lunch, dinner, seasonal-menu and booking pages.
Metadata and local search
Web and social content must use consistent, accurate restaurant, service and location information so local diners can easily find relevant menu, reservation and experience information.
Use clear page titles that identify the restaurant, service and confirmed location.
Write meta descriptions around the real lunch or dinner experience.
Add accurate location tags to relevant social content.
Use consistent restaurant-name and service terminology across channels.
Accessibility baseline
All essential content must be accessible through clear language, descriptive alternatives, readable visuals and usable navigation, allowing prospective guests to understand menus, services and booking actions.
Add descriptive alt text to dish, dining-room, chef and service images.
Caption all spoken video and provide text for essential audio information.
Ensure graphic text is readable with adequate contrast.
Do not place critical menu, price, booking or dietary information only within images.
Use clear headings, descriptive links and accessible calls to action.
Fixed and flexible rules
Separate mandatory accuracy, privacy, safety and accessibility requirements from adaptable creative choices, allowing the restaurant to test formats while preserving its central brand and guest commitments.
Fixed: accurate menu, price, service, dietary and reservation information.
Fixed: permission, privacy, safety, disclosure and accessibility requirements.
Fixed: every content item aligns with Chef’s Craft, Seasonal Menu or Dining Experience.
Flexible: content formats, posting cadence, campaign concepts and creative treatments.
Flexible: calls to action, feature emphasis and asset combinations may be tested once operational facts remain correct.
Style
How the restaurant should sound, look and communicate across seasonal menus, chef stories and dining experiences. They turn the brand story into a recognisable, reservation-supporting expression.
Voice & Tone
Defines a considered, sensory, warm and knowledgeable restaurant voice that adapts to service, channel and guest responses without becoming inflated, exclusive, overly formal or self-congratulatory.
Considered and sensory
Write with calm, specific sensory detail that conveys craft and atmosphere without exaggerated language, helping diners imagine the menu and setting through grounded, credible descriptions.
Describe texture, aroma, season or preparation only when relevant to the dish.
Use specific details such as “charred,” “slow-cooked” or “citrus-led” only when kitchen-approved.
Let a dish’s ingredients or technique carry the story.
Avoid inflated phrases such as “an unforgettable culinary journey.”
Warm and welcoming
Speak like an attentive host who values guests’ time, comfort and curiosity, making both regular diners and first-time visitors feel genuinely invited to book.
Use helpful, direct language around reservations and walk-ins.
Explain what guests can expect from lunch or dinner.
Acknowledge occasions without assuming why guests are visiting.
Avoid exclusive, cold or overly formal hospitality language.
Knowledgeable and grounded
Show culinary expertise through clear explanation, allowing the chef’s choices, seasonal ingredients and service details to demonstrate quality rather than relying on broad claims.
Explain the reason behind a menu change or preparation decision.
Introduce ingredients in accessible, accurate language.
Credit chefs, producers and team members correctly.
Avoid technical jargon without a plain-language explanation.
Locally aware
Reflect the restaurant’s regional setting through relevant ingredients, people, places and dining habits, without relying on generic location references or borrowed cultural stereotypes.
Reference confirmed regional ingredients and producers.
Connect dining moments to relevant local seasons or occasions.
Use location details only when accurate and useful to diners.
Avoid generic “local flavour” claims without supporting detail.
Confident, not self-congratulatory
Communicate with assured clarity about the restaurant’s food and experience, letting evidence, craft and thoughtful details build confidence instead of unverified superiority claims.
State what the restaurant offers directly.
Explain the chef’s point of view with restraint.
Use guest feedback only with permission and context.
Avoid “best,” “must-try,” “world-class” or similar unsupported claims.
Tone by service
Adjust emphasis for lunch, dinner and booking messages while maintaining the same considered, warm, knowledgeable restaurant personality across every guest-facing touchpoint.
Use practical, time-aware language for lunch content.
Use a more atmospheric, occasion-led tone for dinner content.
Keep reservation messages clear and helpful.
Use factual, respectful language for delays, closures or complaints.
Tone for social content
Make social posts concise, visual and useful, using each post to reveal a single idea about craft, seasonality or experience rather than trying to say everything.
Lead with one dish, ingredient, moment or question.
Keep captions focused on one primary content pillar.
Pair detail with a practical reservation or discovery action.
Avoid caption formats built only around trends or generic food reactions.
Tone for website content
Use clear, informative, guest-first language on menu, service and booking pages to help potential diners understand the offer and confidently decide whether to reserve.
Begin with the service, menu or dining occasion.
Explain what is included using approved operational detail.
Use clear headings and direct booking actions.
Avoid lengthy brand statements before essential guest information.
Tone for guest responses
Respond to questions, praise and concerns with timely, courteous and solution-focused language, protecting guest privacy while reinforcing a thoughtful and attentive hospitality experience.
Thank guests for positive feedback without overstating it.
Move booking changes and complaints into private channels.
Confirm only verified operational details in public replies.
Avoid defensive, dismissive or overly casual responses.
Language & Writing
Sets consistent vocabulary, naming, readability, headline, menu-description, formatting and call-to-action rules so guests can quickly understand the restaurant’s offer, timing, menu and reservation path.
Preferred restaurant language
Use consistent terms for services, menus, people and booking actions so guests encounter one clear vocabulary across the website, social media, email and reservation communications.
Use approved names for lunch, dinner and seasonal menus.
Refer to the kitchen team and dining room consistently.
Use one approved term for reservations and walk-ins.
Avoided language
Avoid vague, inflated, overly technical or trend-dependent language that obscures the restaurant’s real menu philosophy, service offering and guest experience.
Avoid “foodie,” “guilt-free,” “to die for” and “hidden gem.”
Avoid unverified superlatives.
Avoid unexplained culinary jargon in guest-facing copy.
Replace vague praise with a specific ingredient, technique or service detail.
Naming conventions
Use approved, consistent names for dishes, menus, chef roles, dining services and special experiences to prevent confusion when content is shared across teams and platforms.
Match published dish names to the current approved menu.
Use the same chef title in biographies, captions and website pages.
Name seasonal menus using the client-approved pattern.
Avoid inventing informal names for established services or dishes.
Writing conventions
Apply one consistent language variant, grammar standard, capitalisation approach and date format across all content, supporting a polished experience for regional diners and contributors.
Use British English.
Capitalise official menu names and service titles consistently.
Use the approved date, time and currency formats.
Apply the same punctuation and numbering rules across channels.
Readability standard
Write clear, concise copy for diners who may be discovering the restaurant quickly on mobile, balancing sensory detail with practical information about menus, timing and reservations.
Keep social captions focused and easy to scan.
Use short paragraphs for menu and experience descriptions.
Use bullets for menus, inclusions, timings and booking conditions.
Define unfamiliar culinary terms when they materially affect a guest decision.
Headline structure
Use clear, specific headlines that identify the menu, ingredient, chef decision or dining moment, making content useful before the reader reaches the supporting copy.
Use ingredient-led headlines for seasonal-menu stories.
Use process-led headlines for chef’s craft content.
Use occasion-led headlines for dining-experience content.
Avoid vague headings such as “Something special is coming.”
Call-to-action language
Use calm, direct calls to action that help diners move from interest to a confirmed next step, without pressure, false urgency or unclear booking instructions.
Use “Book lunch” or “View dinner reservations” when applicable.
Use “Explore the current menu” for menu-led content.
Use “Contact the team about dietary requirements” where relevant.
Avoid “Book now before it’s too late” unless scarcity is verified and approved.
Menu-description structure
Describe dishes in a consistent sequence: main ingredient, preparation or flavour direction, and relevant seasonal context, avoiding unnecessary detail that distracts from guest understanding.
Lead with the dish name as it appears on the current menu.
Include approved ingredient and technique details.
Mention seasonality only when verified.
Avoid listing every component unless necessary for clarity or dietary information.
Format hierarchy
Use predictable headings, short sections and visible booking actions across the website and campaign content, so guests can easily find service information, menu context and reservation options.
Use one clear main heading per page.
Group menu, service and booking information under descriptive subheadings.
Place the booking action near the relevant service detail.
Avoid dense blocks of text, excessive emphasis or multiple competing calls to action.
Visual & Experience Expression
Creates recognisable, accurate visual storytelling through seasonal ingredients, chef craft, dishes, dining atmosphere, graphics and video, while keeping essential information readable, accessible and regionally relevant.
Seasonal ingredient imagery
Use seasonal ingredients as the starting point for menu storytelling, with accurate, appetising photography that connects produce, preparation, and the finished dish without misleading diners.
Feature ingredients currently used or approved for upcoming menus.
Pair ingredient imagery with a clear seasonal or chef-led context.
Show natural texture, colour and preparation where useful.
Avoid stock imagery that does not reflect the restaurant’s actual offering.
Chef’s craft imagery
Show the chef and kitchen team in genuine moments of preparation, testing, plating and collaboration, revealing skill without staging unsafe, misleading or overly theatrical scenes.
Capture hands, tools and process details where relevant.
Show team collaboration, not just individual portraiture.
Use current kitchen and uniform imagery.
Avoid depictions of unsafe food handling or unapproved workspaces.
Dining-experience imagery
Use photography and video that help diners understand the restaurant’s real atmosphere, service and table experience across lunch and dinner, rather than presenting an abstract lifestyle fantasy.
Show accurate lighting, table settings and dining-room layout.
Capture considerate service moments with permissions where required.
Distinguish lunch and dinner environments when materially different.
Avoid imagery that misrepresents table size, seating or available amenities.
Dish photography standard
Present dishes accurately and consistently, prioritising true portion, plating, colour and texture so diners receive a credible visual impression of the current menu offering.
Photograph current dishes using their approved presentation.
Avoid filters that materially alter colour, size or appearance.
Retire imagery when dishes or plating are no longer current.
Use close-ups selectively alongside wider contextual images.
Visual storytelling sequence
Build content series that move from ingredient or idea to kitchen craft, finished dish and dining-room experience, creating a coherent story rather than isolated visual moments.
Begin with a seasonal ingredient or chef decision.
Show one relevant preparation or service moment.
Conclude with the finished dish or guest-facing experience.
Link the story to the applicable lunch, dinner or menu action.
Graphic and template system
Use a restrained, consistent graphic system for menu updates, reservations, events and informational content, ensuring brand recognition without competing with food, people or place imagery.
Apply approved colours, typefaces and logo use consistently.
Use one template family for menu updates and booking reminders.
Prioritise legibility for dates, prices and reservation details.
Video expression
Create short, purposeful videos that make seasonal food, culinary process and dining atmosphere understandable without sound, using captions and clear visual focus from the opening frame.
Open with the ingredient, dish or moment being explained.
Use captions for spoken chef commentary and essential information.
Keep each video focused on one primary pillar.
Avoid rapid, trend-led editing that obscures the food or experience.
Visual accessibility
Design all visual content so guests can understand essential menu, service and reservation information regardless of device, sensory access needs or viewing environment.
Use sufficient contrast between text and backgrounds.
Caption every spoken video.
Add descriptive alt text to meaningful images.
Avoid putting essential booking, price or dietary information only inside graphics.
Regional visual relevance
Represent the restaurant’s real regional setting, people, ingredients and dining context through approved imagery, avoiding generic visuals that could belong to any restaurant or market.
Use real local or regional supplier, kitchen and venue imagery where approved.
Show relevant seasonal conditions or dining occasions.
Credit creators and partners where required.
Avoid generic stock scenes that weaken the restaurant’s local identity.
Systems
Repeatable ways to plan, create, approve, publish and improve restaurant content. They align chef, service and marketing inputs around seasonal menus, dining experiences and reservation goals.
Planning & Calendar
Coordinates content around approved pillars, menu changes, lunch, dinner, reservations, walk-ins, seasonal themes and operational capacity, ensuring stories remain timely, balanced and practical to deliver.
Pillar-led content calendar
Plan content around Chef’s Craft, Seasonal Menu and Dining Experience so each pillar appears consistently, supporting a connected restaurant story instead of disconnected food, staff and venue posts.
Assign one primary pillar to every planned item.
Include all three pillars within each agreed planning cycle.
Balance menu updates with chef and guest-experience storytelling.
Flag posts that support lunch, dinner, reservations or walk-ins.
Seasonal menu planning
Align menu content with confirmed ingredient availability, menu-change dates and kitchen capacity, ensuring stories are captured and published while dishes remain accurate and available.
Confirm menu launch and removal dates with the kitchen.
Schedule ingredient, process and dish content around each change.
Capture assets before menu transitions where practical.
Archive or update content when dishes leave the menu.
Lunch-and-dinner rhythm
Create a predictable publishing rhythm that gives appropriate visibility to lunch and dinner, reflecting each service’s real offer, occasions, availability and reservation needs.
Plan lunch and dinner content as separate but connected streams.
Match posts to confirmed service times and menu changes.
Avoid promoting dinner-only experiences during lunch service without context.
Review whether each service receives sufficient attention.
Reservation-support planning
Plan reservation-led content around actual availability, seasonal launches, events and dining occasions, helping interested diners take clear action without relying on unsupported urgency or pressure.
Confirm booking links before scheduling promotional content.
Align calls to action with lunch, dinner or event availability.
Flag time-sensitive offers for same-day operational checks.
Avoid scheduling booking pushes during confirmed closures.
Walk-in communication
Coordinate walk-in messaging with real-time service conditions, seating capacity and operational guidance, giving guests helpful expectations without implying immediate availability.
Confirm walk-in policy with the restaurant before publishing.
Use approved wording for limited or variable availability.
Update walk-in information during closures or private events.
Direct guests to the appropriate contact or booking channel.
Seasonal campaign themes
Use seasonal campaign themes to connect ingredients, chef decisions and dining occasions into coherent content runs that can support menu transitions and reservation activity.
Build each theme around a confirmed menu or seasonal moment.
Include content from all three restaurant pillars.
Define the guest action for each campaign.
Close each theme with a current menu or reservation pathway.
Regional and local planning
Plan stories around confirmed regional ingredients, producers, events and dining habits, ensuring local relevance strengthens the restaurant identity without relying on generic location-based content.
Check producer, ingredient and event details before inclusion.
Coordinate content with relevant regional seasons.
Avoid claims about local culture without restaurant approval.
Include location details only when useful to potential diners.
Content capacity planning
Match the calendar to available kitchen, service and marketing capacity, preventing rushed production, inaccurate menu claims and excessive demands on staff during peak operating periods.
Schedule asset capture outside the busiest service periods.
Confirm chef and team availability before planning interviews.
Reserve time for menu, booking and compliance checks.
Keep reactive content slots available for operational changes.
Planning review cadence
Review the content calendar regularly with operational stakeholders to confirm menu accuracy, pillar balance, upcoming service changes and reservation priorities before publishing commitments become fixed.
Hold a recurring calendar check with kitchen and front-of-house leads.
Remove or amend content affected by menu changes.
Review planned calls to action against booking conditions.
Record approved changes in the shared calendar.
Workflow & Governance
Defines briefing, ownership, approvals, review timing, publishing checks, operational updates, feedback handling, contributor onboarding and guideline maintenance so restaurant content remains consistently accurate and controlled.
Content briefing
Start every content item with a concise brief that identifies its pillar, audience, service relevance, approved proof, required assets and intended reservation or discovery action.
State whether the post supports lunch, dinner or general awareness.
Name the primary pillar and key message.
Include confirmed dish, ingredient or service information.
Specify the booking link, contact route or next action.
Flag dietary, permission or time-sensitive information.
Role clarity
Assign clear responsibilities for culinary facts, service details, brand expression, guest permissions and publishing, ensuring no contributor approves information outside their operational authority.
The kitchen owner confirms dish, ingredient and chef information.
The front-of-house owner confirms reservations, walk-ins and service conditions.
The content owner prepares copy, assets and scheduling.
Designated approver confirms final publication.
Final approval
Require a designated final approver to confirm that each item meets the restaurant’s Standards and Styles before publication, especially where menus, prices, booking terms or guests appear.
Obtain kitchen approval for menu and ingredient claims.
Obtain service approval for availability and booking information.
Check consent before using identifiable guests or third-party content.
Hold publication if a required approval is missing.
Review turnaround
Set agreed review deadlines for routine, time-sensitive and urgent content, allowing seasonal menu updates and reservation communications to remain accurate without compromising required operational checks.
Use a standard review window for planned evergreen content.
Set shorter review windows for menu or service updates.
Escalate unanswered high-risk content instead of auto-publishing.
Reschedule content when required information is unavailable.
Publish gate
Apply a mandatory pre-publish checklist that confirms accuracy, permissions, booking links, brand alignment, accessibility and required disclosures before any website, social or campaign content goes live.
Confirm the dish, menu, price and service details are current.
Confirm the correct pillar, tone and visual direction.
Confirm permission status for guests, creators and partners.
Test booking links and contact details.
Add alt text, captions and disclosures where required.
Operational change process
Update, pause or remove content when menus, hours, booking conditions or service availability change, preventing published material from creating avoidable confusion for potential diners.
Notify the content owner when a dish or service changes.
Pause scheduled posts affected by new operational information.
Update menu pages and booking calls to action promptly.
Add correction notes where published information changes.
Guest feedback handling
Capture guest questions, reviews and recurring concerns in a structured process, using approved insights to improve content while protecting privacy and avoiding unsupported public claims.
Log repeated questions about menus, dietary needs or bookings.
Route complaints and booking-specific issues to private channels.
Seek permission before repurposing guest feedback.
Turn recurring questions into approved FAQs or service content.
Review sentiment for recurring clarity gaps.
Creator and supplier onboarding
Give freelancers, photographers, creators and suppliers clear access to the guideline, permissions process and approved story pillars before they create or submit content.
Share the current guideline before assigning work.
Provide an approved brief and visual reference.
Explain ingredient, guest and supplier permission rules.
Require content to use confirmed menu information.
Review a sample asset before commissioning a larger batch.
Guideline maintenance
Keep the guideline current by reviewing it after material menu, team, service or brand changes, maintaining a usable reference for restaurant employees and external contributors.
Add a visible “Last updated” date to the guideline.
Review after major menu or service changes.
Replace outdated examples, links and templates.
Record changes that affect approval or publishing rules.
Tools, Assets & Measurement
Organises templates, asset capture, storage, tagging, publishing, booking attribution, reporting and optimisation, enabling teams to reuse approved materials, measure results and improve future content decisions.
Content tools
Use agreed tools for calendar planning, briefing, approvals, storage, publishing, booking-link management and reporting, ensuring the team can locate approved information and track content outcomes.
Keep one shared content calendar as the planning source of truth.
Store approved copy and assets in an accessible shared location.
Use approved scheduling and publishing tools.
Maintain access to current booking and operational information.
Required templates
Use reusable templates for briefs, menu updates, chef stories, reservations, walk-in notices and quality checks to reduce inconsistency while leaving space for relevant seasonal creativity.
Use a brief template for every content request.
Use a menu-update template for new or departing dishes.
Use a reservation template with approved calls to action.
Use an incident or closure template for urgent notices.
Maintain a pre-publish quality-assurance checklist.
File management
Store content files in a consistent folder structure with clear naming, version control and permission status, so the restaurant can find, reuse, update and retire assets safely.
Name files with date, service, topic and version.
Tag assets by pillar, menu period and channel.
Store consent records with relevant guest or creator assets.
Archive expired menu imagery separately from current content.
Restrict editing access to designated contributors.
Asset-capture process
Plan structured photo and video capture around menu development, kitchen preparation, service and dining moments, ensuring enough current material exists to support the three approved storytelling pillars.
Capture ingredients, preparation and finished dishes for menu changes.
Capture dining-room and service moments during suitable periods.
Confirm permissions before filming identifiable guests.
Record dish names, menu dates and contributor credits with assets.
Avoid disrupting kitchen or guest operations during service.
Content tagging
Tag every asset and published item by pillar, service, menu period, format and call to action, making it easier to measure balance, reuse strong material and identify gaps.
Tag Chef’s Craft, Seasonal Menu or Dining Experience.
Tag lunch, dinner, reservation, walk-in or event relevance.
Tag menu launch, current menu or archived content status.
Tag channel, format and campaign theme.
Use consistent labels across calendar, storage and reporting tools.
Publishing and monitoring
Publish content through approved channels and monitor early responses for booking questions, menu confusion, guest concerns or operational changes that require a prompt update.
Check comments and messages after publication.
Respond with approved information only.
Escalate food safety, allergy or serious complaint messages promptly.
Monitor booking links for errors or broken destinations.
Note questions that reveal unclear content or service information.
Reservation attribution
Use approved tracking methods to connect content activity with reservation interest, helping the team understand which stories, formats and calls to action support qualified bookings.
Use distinct tracking links for key campaigns where possible.
Tag reservation links by channel and content theme.
Record booking enquiries attributable to social or email content.
Compare lunch and dinner response patterns.
Performance scorecard
Maintain a regular scorecard that combines content, reservation and guest-response signals, allowing the restaurant to evaluate what strengthens identity, interest and useful booking action.
Track reach, saves, shares, website visits and booking-link clicks.
Track reservation enquiries or bookings where data is available.
Review performance by content pillar and service.
Note recurring guest questions and sentiment.
Optimisation routine
Use recurring performance and operational feedback to retain strong formats, clarify unclear information and retire content that no longer reflects the menu, guest experience or restaurant priorities.
Review top-performing posts, pages and campaigns regularly.
Update weak reservation pathways or unclear calls to action.
Reuse successful story structures with current menu information.
Remove expired dishes, offers and service details.
Test one approved change at a time and document the outcome.
Last updated 1 September 2026 by Zazoozoo.
