HAZ: Modern Mediterranean Restaurant
HAZ is a much loved and well-established restaurant chain with 5 locations across the heart of London’s historic financial district, serving up a traditional Turkish menu in a formal but dated restaurant environment that lacked character and appeal beyond the normal city lunchtime banquet. HAZ owner and founding partner Zafer Cicek approached I-AM with a very clear brief to revolutionise and breathe new life into his restaurants, making them more relevant to the increasingly youthful and affluent target city slicker, without losing the spirit of the brand that has retained a loyal following since HAZ was founded in 2001.
HAZ’s Personality & Values
HAZ can be identified by its dedication to hospitality; the owners take great satisfaction in seeing returning customers enjoying the menu time and again. The brand essence is defined by the principle of ‘sharing great food, in great company’ and a consistent service culture underlined by the ethos that at all times ‘it’s our pleasure’.
The revamped identity needed to reflect HAZ as a vibrant, generous, and sociable brand that engages people in a positive and confident way, thereby elevating the brand beyond the mid-market casual dining market offering.
HAZ’s Customer Journey
The main objective was to create a visual identity and customer experience that communicated the HAZ brand essence. Longer term, the goal was to design a concept that could be rolled out to future sites. To achieve this, we worked on a holistic approach, which involved crafting the identity of HAZ across various Customer Journey touchpoints; conveying HAZ’s identity in the design of the space and any consumer facing communications, from graphics to interactions within the restaurant and online.
In conjunction with brand and visual development, a new contemporary menu was developed alongside leading chef Niall Davidson.
The HAZ Restaurant Concept Design
The restaurant concept is inspired by the art of Turkish Coffee, a balance between bitter and sweet, translated by light and dark areas to the restaurant; with intimate dining spaces at the front of the restaurant (the bitter), that transcend into the lighter, main dining area (the sweet cream). An emphasis has intentionally been placed on the bar offer stretching across the entrance to entice guests to return for an after-work cocktail or two.
Our new material palette comprises of sophisticated burnt-cocoa tones, sweet creams and highlights of coral, a metaphor for the bold spirit and distinguished elegance of HAZ.
The feature ceiling has an undulating design, reflecting the ripples of a fresh coffee. Vibrant pops of colour and bring energy to the restaurant, inspired by the burning embers of the coal fires theatrically burning in the open kitchen, whilst the hints of copper throughout the restaurant create a sense of opulence and quality that propels the brand into the next level of dining experience.
