Project: Naming and tagline. Create content, and establish tone and
voice for the website of this hip new Asian Street food restaurant.
Type: Tagline. Website copy, menu, press releases.
Agency: Gina Sorell
About Us
The Setiawan family’s front lawn was a frequent resting place for the local Rickshaw drivers. It may have been the aromatic smells coming from the kitchen that drew them, or the chatty children who enjoyed being regaled by the driver’s tales that kept them there. Whatever it was, the rickshaw made a big impression on Oscar and Emil, almost as much as the culture and flavors of the street food that they enjoyed with their family while living in Indonesia.
Rickshaw Republic isn’t just about peddling plates, it’s about peddling dreams. The dream of a mother to have her own restaurant, of a father to leave his family a legacy of their own in the United States, of a son to fulfill his destiny of being a great chef, and of his brother to make all these wishes and his own come true, by bringing the vibrant culture of Indonesia and its street food experience to Chicago.
Ride along with us
Oscar Gastro Guide
An engineer by trade, a professional photographer by passion, and a foodie by nature, Oscar brings together his eye for beauty and detail and his taste for travel and adventure in Rickshaw Republic. Asian street food is in the DNA of Oscar. Having spent half his life in Jakarta, his fondest memories were of street food savored with family along his many travels. His dream of one day having a family restaurant where others could enjoy the culture and food of his childhood, has finally come true.
Elice Spice Keeper
Elice has the good fortune of being able to say Mama Knows Best, and have it come true. Cooking since she was a young girl in Palembang alongside her grandmother, she always believed that the best place for her children to celebrate their individual skills of entrepreneurialism, design, photography, and yes, cooking, was a family restaurant. And just as she was about to hang up her own chef whites, her children agreed, and Rickshaw Republic was born.
Emil TastemakerEmil never thought he’d be a chef. In fact, he even refused to work in the family restaurant back in Boston. But when Emil looked for a job in high school and found himself working at a fast food chain, something clicked. Not only was Emil fast, he was good. Really good. But he wanted to be better, and that would mean studying from the best…Mama. Now Emil and Elice work side by side, bringing to life generations of family recipes and creating new ones for Rickshaw Republic.
Tommy Gourmet Greeter
It wasn’t just years of studying internal medicine that led Tommy to believe that a way to man’s heart was through his stomach, it was meeting his future wife Elice. Won over by her beauty and gifted culinary skills he asked for her hand in marriage and 3 children later, moved them to America on a PhD scholarship. A smart man knows a good thing when he sees it. An even smarter man knows a good meal when he tastes it. Opening Rickshaw Republic with his family just might prove that Tommy Setiawan is one of the smartest men around.