CASE STUDY - Le bela's cafe
Designing & printing a waterproof menu for their restaurant
About le bela's cafe
Le Bela Café is a family-style café and restaurant nestled in the heart of Wickford's High Street, at the Willowdale Centre. Known for its warm atmosphere, outdoor seating, and a genuine sense of community, Le Bela Café has quickly built a loyal following among locals since opening — earning a 100% recommendation rate from its customers.
As a growing independent business in the heart of Essex, Le Bela Café needed a creative partner who understood their vision and could translate it into compelling visuals and a consistent brand presence. That's where Patrick Stephen Ltd came in.
The Challenge
With a growing customer base and an evolving offering, Le Bela Café's existing menus were no longer doing the business justice. Prices needed updating, new products required adding, and the overall design was ready for a more professional look that better reflected the quality of the café itself.
Durability was also a key concern. As a busy, high-footfall venue, menus take a beating — and the team were used to relying on lamination to protect them. They needed something that could stand up to daily use without compromising on presentation.
The brief was clear: redesign the menus from the ground up, keep them practical, and make them something the team and their customers would be proud of.
The solution
Patrick Stephen Ltd delivered a full menu redesign — part of our broader document design service — refreshing the layout and aesthetic to give Le Bela Café a more polished, professional feel, whilst incorporating updated pricing and their expanded product range.
On the print side, we went a step further than the lamination they'd previously relied on. Through our print services, we recommended printing the menus on 230gsm SYNAPS — a synthetic paper stock that's 100% waterproof, tear-proof, and built for exactly this kind of high-use environment. Unlike laminated menus, SYNAPS menus can be wiped clean or rinsed under a tap after each use, making hygiene effortless without any degradation in quality. The result is a menu that stays looking fresh, vibrant, and guest-ready — day after day, service after service.
Available in sizes from A7 to A3 and printable single or double-sided, SYNAPS gave Le Bela Café a flexible, long-lasting solution that genuinely outperforms traditional lamination in both durability and presentation.
THE RESULTS
The project was delivered on time and to the client's complete satisfaction — hitting two of the things that matter most to any small business: quality and reliability.
BEFORE
AFTER
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
Perfect. Loved the design and on time which is a plus
Visar Halilaj
Owner
Could we do something similar for you?
Whether you need a one-off seasonal piece or ongoing design and print support, Patrick Stephen Ltd is here to help. We also support small businesses and sole traders with everything from business cards and branded stationery to website design and social media management — all under one roof, right here in Essex.
