Takeaway Tchotchkes

Sometimes you walk away from a meal with more than a full belly.

Many restaurants like to send guests home with a small souvenir of their visit. It can be as simple as a box of toothpicks, but it might be a gourmet goodie or a gift that ties into the eatery’s ethos.

By thinking outside the matchbox, these freebies can build a brand, create customers or highlight promotions.

“First impression is lasting, but so is your last impression,” says Olivia Young, a spokeswoman for Marea in New York City. To make sure that diners leave on a high note, female customers (“We’d never say no to a gentleman who asks,” Young assures) at dinner service are sent away with an individually wrapped currant muffin topped with brown butter streusel made by pastry chef Jim Eckler.

“If we gave out small boxes of truffles, guests would probably eat them when they left, while they were still full,” Young explains. “We wanted to make a treat that they would look forward to enjoying the next morning.”

The restaurant gives away about 120 muffins daily, which cost about 60 cents each, for a total of $26,000 annually.

Young believe that these tasty takeaways burnish the restaurant’s high-profile reputation. “We have two Michelin stars and we’re not an inexpensive experience,” she says. “So if you leave with a free gift, it’s further validation that you’re getting your money’s worth.”

Sometimes restaurants use giveaways to emphasize their vision. H?rth at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner, Virginia, offers guests books of extra-long fireplace matches, which tie back into the restaurant’s design.

“We wanted to show off that you can have fireside dining 365 days a year,” says the hotel’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Snapkoski. “And since we’re a non-smoking establishment, we didn’t want normal-sized matchbooks.”

The 4.5-inch-long matches cost more than your average tindersticks—clocking in at 50 cents for a box of eight—but Snapkoski believes that the outlay is worth it. “We want people to take a logo-ed item home,” she says. “We hope that the uniqueness of our matches ensures that they don’t go in the big bowl with all the others, but they actually get left out, used and seen repeatedly.”

More and more these days, restaurants are giving non-traditional handouts to create buzz, attract consumers’ attention, and encourage them to make a reservation.

Mike Lizotte Jr., a managing partner at American Meadows, a seed company in Williston, Vermont, knows this well. In recent years, his company has created one-of-a-kind seed packets for a number of culinary clients, including Tom Colicchio’s Riverpark and T.G.I. Friday’s.

Whether they’re distributed in person or through mailings, Lizotte’s clients have employed the packets to inspire a direct response from recipients.

T.G.I. Friday’s included a coupon on the back of its packet, while many merchants worked a QR code into the artwork to direct consumers to exclusive content or online coupons.

In an effort to make the packets as green as possible, the paper used is 70 percent post-consumer recycled (100 percent post consumer recycled paper can be requested for an additional fee), soy-based inks are employed and organic-certified seeds are available.

“It’s unique, fun, environmentally friendly and inexpensive,” says Lizotte. “People are looking for something different than the pad and pen giveaway to make a good impression.”