The Making of Zahav

After dithering around with all sorts of permutations for the Zahav logo, Steven Cook and Michael Solomonov have arrived on the image you see here.

With that out of the way, the partners are going forth to stamp this logo on everything. The outdoor sign is on order. So are business cards and menus.

Enter another challenge: Zahav's menus will double as placemats. It's partly a matter of economics. Every time a restaurant plops on a fresh tablecloth, it's 50 to 75 cents.

At Zahav, the menu-as-placemat idea is also a re-creation of the common practice in Israel. A paper placemat, as you'd imagine, is a heck of a lot cheaper (and yes, they'll use recycled paper).

But as Cook explains, they need to buy a press run of 10,000 placemats -- maybe six months' worth. Restaurants usually tweak their menus as they go along. Also, most restaurants change their menus seasonally.

"We're going to be living with them for a while," Cook says.

To add to this, they will need to handwrite prices. If some dish is unavailable -- let's say an ingredient is out of season -- no price will be included, he says.

(Systems problems delayed this entry, which should have been posted on or about Feb. 1.)