The Poutinerie by Air Canada
Boston, Massachusetts
The Poutinerie by Air Canada was a pop-up restaurant located in the heart of Downtown Boston, designed by Studio HHH. The concept came about as part of the #aircanadafliesthere marketing initiative to share poutine, the classic Canadian comfort food (fries with cheese curds and gravy), with the people of Boston.
The interior design of this space was inspired by “northern chic:” white walls, untreated wood of the Scandenavian design traditions, and an open plan dining room and exposed kitchen. Layered lighting and warm textiles lended to the cozy cabin feel of the Canadian north. Potted plants and trees connected the outdoor and indoor environments, with log side tables and a rustic bench – a nod to the Canadian love of the frontier lifestyle. Visitors could explore distinct spaces, all tied into a consistent visual experience and accented throughout with the red and black of the Air Canada logo.
The pop-up restaurant drew record crowds, with a line around the block from opening until closing every day throughout the 10 day activation. The popularity of the Poutinerie was not just because of the welcoming interior we designed or the award winning cuisine, but the Instagram and Twitter contest to win a pair of economy class tickets to any one of Air Canada’s over 200 destinations around the globe. Winners were selected daily from anyone who posted to social media and tagged #aircanadafliesthere.
To highlight select cities serviced by Air Canada, the pop-up featured 10 globally-inspired poutine dishes in addition to the classic French fries/cheese curds/gravy combo: the Paris, a gluten-free version made with french fries, topped with duck confit, crème de brie, and black pepper; the Casablanca featured sweet potato fries and taktouka, a Moroccan salad; the Seoul tops fries with kimchi and popcorn shrimp.
This restaurant was designed with sharing in mind – not just sharing of the wide variety of Poutine dishes, but also designed for photo sharing on instagram and twitter. For this, we created four distinct experiences within the restaurant where visitors can take specialty photos as part of the fun: the Tokyo walk “vignette” featuring a canopy of cherry blossoms, the Montreal mountain top where visitors can sit in a vintage ski-lift chair with a view of the Canadian wild, the VR experience where visitors can interact onboard an Air Canada flight, and the Poutine photo booth used to create the perfect shareable photo of your meal.
Following stints in Washington, D.C., London, and Denver, Boston was the fourth stop for Air Canada’s traveling marketing activation. The pop-up restaurant was designed to connect local travelers to the airline’s 200 global stops through the modern take on traditional Canadian cuisine. “As we showcase Air Canada’s flight offerings and easy connection options from Boston, we hope to inspire everyone to explore these remarkable destinations,” said Air Canada’s senior director of sales, Vincent Gauthier-Doré, in a press release.
All proceeds from all restaurant sales throughout the 10 day event proudly were donated to our dear friends at About Fresh, whose mission is to bring fresh, healthy food closer to the people that need it the most through their mobile FreshTruck grocery service. We could not be more pleased to have helped facilitate this substantial donation to such a worthy recipient.
