Client-feedback rebuild with a locked palette

Result — Rebuilt to a "warm grill-house" direction; moved the client off the rejected moody build. Palette proved across hero, menu and footer.

You are the heavy design and implementation model for the Ukoni rebuild (Nigerian restaurant, Asaba, Delta State). Brand name is ONLY "Ukoni — On Point Food, Asaba"; never say "Ukoni African Grill". You are fixing a real client review: D O said the current build "doesn't feel like a restaurant/food website, it's a bit too serious/moody" and wants the menu on a dedicated menu tab that reads like a real browsable menu (ordering will be wired in later by another team).

DIRECTION — "warm grill-house": the site must feel like a warm, appetizing, food-forward Nigerian restaurant, NOT a dark moody editorial gallery. Light surfaces, real food photography, warm fire accents. Think warm light through a window onto a food table.

PALETTE (CSS tokens, use exactly these values):
--butter: #FFF8EB (page background, warm reading surface)
--cream: #FBF1DE (secondary surface, cards)
--espresso: #2A2018 (primary text ink — never pure black)
--char: #1E1712 (footer + one dark contrast band only)
--ember: #E24E1B (primary accent, CTAs, prices — grill fire)
--ember-deep: #C23E12 (hover)
--brass: #D9A441 (rules, labels, highlights)
--brass-light: #F0D9A0
--smoke: #8A7B66 (muted copy)
This replaces both the rejected v1 earthy set (#F8F6F1 #F5EFE6 #C8673D #C4A86B #8B6F47 #2D5A27 #2D3E40 #1A1A18) and the current coal-dominant set. Prove the palette across hero, menu page, and footer. No pure black, no purple/blue glow, no Inter font.

TYPE: Fraunces for display headings, Space Grotesk for utility/body. Keep both. Responsive clamp() scale from 360px to desktop.

PAGES — produce TWO static HTML files: index.html (homepage) and menu.html (dedicated browsable menu tab — the star of this revision). Plus menu.json and a short DESIGN-NOTES-DRAFT.md.

Write all files to /home/ubuntu/ukoni-site/kimi-out/ using your file tools (index.html, menu.html, menu.json, DESIGN-NOTES-DRAFT.md). Copy the current real images from /home/ubuntu/ukoni-site/site/images/ into /home/ubuntu/ukoni-site/kimi-out/images/ so relative paths resolve. Then reply with: (1) one paragraph design rationale, (2) the list of files written with line counts. Do not paste full files in your reply.

HOMEPAGE (index.html):
- Fixed header: transparent over hero, solid butter with border on scroll. Nav: Menu (-> menu.html), The Room, Visit. 44px mobile hamburger, full-screen mobile nav.
- Hero: min-height 100dvh, real image hero-tabletop.jpg (or hero-interior.jpg) with a WARM overlay (butter/espresso gradient, NOT heavy dark), label "On Point Food, Asaba", huge Fraunces "Ukoni" wordmark, short tagline, CTAs: "Browse the menu" (-> menu.html) and "Find us" (-> #visit).
- Signature dishes band: the three real photos (dish-jollof-tilapia.jpg, dish-egusi-pounded-yam.jpg, dish-pepper-soup-catfish.jpg) as warm, appetizing image cards with names and short descriptions, linking to menu.html.
- Kitchen section: "Ukoni is Igbo for kitchen" — owner-led, grounded copy (no invented claims). Warm cream surface.
- Menu teaser: the four categories with 2-3 signature items each + "Open the full menu" CTA -> menu.html.
- The Room: warm imagery (hero-interior.jpg, exterior.jpg, hero-tabletop.jpg).
- Visit: address Mariam Babangida Way, Asaba, Delta State + Google Maps link.
- Footer: char background, butter copy, site credit Menashi.

MENU PAGE (menu.html) — the browsable real-like menu:
- Same header with Menu active.
- Page header: "The Menu" + note that prices are indicative and may change.
- Sticky category tab bar (anchor links or vanilla JS filter — keep JS light): Soups and Pepper Soups / From the Grill / Rice and Swallows / Sweets and Drinks.
- Each category: item rows with name, concise ingredient description, Naira price, and dietary/spice flags where factually real (Spicy for pepper soups, suya, asun, peppered items; Vegetarian for zobo, chapman, chin chin, puff puff, pounded yam, garri, starch). Featured dish photo cards where photos exist.
- End of menu content: exactly this empty mount, do not add children: <div id="order-widget" data-menu-src="/menu.json"></div>
- Footer.

MENU DATA (Ukoni's own, Delta/Nigerian — expand to a fuller real-like menu, 26-30 items, indicative Asaba-appropriate Naira prices):
Soups and Pepper Soups: Catfish Pepper Soup 4500 (whole catfish, uziza, ehuru, yam or plantain; Spicy), Goat Meat Pepper Soup 4000 (slow-braised goat, aromatic spices, scent leaf; Spicy), Chicken Pepper Soup 3800 (chicken pieces, pepper soup spices, scent leaf; Spicy), Egusi Soup 3500 (ground melon seeds, bitterleaf, stockfish, palm oil), Banga Soup 4000 (palm fruit extract, dried fish, beletete, atama), Oha Soup 3800 (oha leaves, cocoyam paste, smoked meat, crayfish), Ogbono Soup 3500 (mango seed, uziza, ugu, assorted meat).
From the Grill: Suya Platter 5500 (spiced beef skewers, onions, tomatoes, yaji; Spicy), Grilled Tilapia 6000 (whole fish, pepper marinade, chips or rice; Spicy), Grilled Chicken 4500 (half bird, house spice rub, charred skin), Asun 4000 (spicy goat meat bites, peppers, onions; Spicy), Peppered Gizzard 3500 (grilled gizzard tossed in pepper sauce; Spicy), Peppered Croaker 7000 (whole croaker, onion, pepper sauce; Spicy).
Rice and Swallows: Ukoni Jollof 3500 (party-style rice, fried plantain, coleslaw, protein of choice), Fried Rice 3500 (mixed vegetables, liver, prawns, fried egg), Native Rice 3800 (Delta style rice with palm oil and assorted fish), Pounded Yam 1500 (smooth yam dough, served with soup of choice; Vegetarian), Garri (Eba) 1000 (cassava granules, hot water, served with soup; Vegetarian), Starch 1200 (Delta-style, firm texture, served with Banga; Vegetarian), Fufu 1000 (fermented cassava, served with soup; Vegetarian).
Sweets and Drinks: Chin Chin 800 (crunchy fried dough bites, lightly sweetened; Vegetarian), Puff Puff 3pcs 600 (deep-fried dough balls, sugar dusted; Vegetarian), Small Chops 2500 (samosa, spring roll, puff puff, peppered chicken; Spicy), Chapman 1500 (grenadine, lime, Fanta, Sprite, cucumber; Vegetarian), Zobo 800 (hibiscus flower brew, ginger, pineapple; Vegetarian), Palm Wine 1200 (traditional palm drink, served chilled), Kunu 700 (millet drink, ginger, clove; Vegetarian), Tiger Nut Drink 1000 (chilled tiger nut milk; Vegetarian).

PRODUCTION RULES:
- Static HTML/CSS/JS, single CSS system, CSS Grid layout, max-width 1400px container, min-height 100dvh hero, responsive to 360px, semantic HTML, favicon, meta/OG tags, JSON-LD Restaurant schema (name Ukoni, Mariam Babangida Way Asaba, servesCuisine Nigerian).
- Real images only: hero-interior.jpg, hero-tabletop.jpg, exterior.jpg, dish-jollof-tilapia.jpg, dish-egusi-pounded-yam.jpg, dish-pepper-soup-catfish.jpg.
- No emoji. No em dashes in visible copy. No cliches: welcome, indulge, elevated, culinary journey, warmth of home, passion, unforgettable, experience.
- No invented awards, certifications, quotes, phone, email, opening hours, social URLs, sourcing claims.
- Accessible: skip link, aria labels, prefers-reduced-motion. JS only for nav, current year, menu tab filter/scroll, subtle reveal. Graceful without JS.
- No placeholders, no TODOs. Code must be ready to ship.
- menu.json schema: {site, store:{name,city,state,address}, total_categories, total_items, currency:"NGN", symbol:"N", categories:[{name, items:[{name, price, description?, tags?}]}]} — must match the menu page EXACTLY (same items, prices, categories).

kind

code

type

skill

model

claude-opus-5-5

effort

high

tool

claude-code

author

designer

status

proven

client

ukoni

project

ukoni-site

created

2026-08-09

first used at /home/ubuntu/ukoni-site/site/KIMI-REBUILD-PROMPT-2.txt