Blanchette Soho Has Won Special Kudos at the CSS Design Awards

We have some very exciting news.

The website we designed and developed for Blanchette Soho has officially won Special Kudos at the CSS Design Awards, alongside awards across UI Design, UX Design and Innovation.

Safe to say, we’re pretty proud of this one.

Blanchette Soho is a characterful French bistro tucked away in the heart of Soho, London. From the beginning, the goal was never just to create a polished restaurant website. We wanted the digital experience to feel like an extension of Blanchette itself.

Warm. Playful. Charming. Slightly unexpected.

And now it has been recognised internationally for exactly that.

Winning Across UI, UX and Innovation

The CSS Design Awards recognise websites from studios, agencies and designers around the world, with projects assessed across three key areas:

• UI Design
• UX Design
• Innovation

Blanchette Soho received awards across all three categories, as well as the Special Kudos award.

For us, that combination means a lot.

A beautiful website is great, but design should never stop at how something looks. It needs to feel intuitive, guide people towards the right actions and create an experience that people actually remember.

That balance between brand, usability, interaction and personality was at the centre of the Blanchette project.

Translating a Soho Bistro Into a Digital Experience

Blanchette already had something many brands spend years trying to build: personality.

The restaurant has a distinctive visual identity, beautiful interiors, custom artwork and an atmosphere that feels genuinely different from the typical restaurant experience.

Our job was to bring that character online without turning the website into something over-designed or difficult to use.

The new website was designed and developed in Webflow, combining editorial-style layouts, playful movement, custom illustrations, photography and considered interactions.

Some of our favourite parts of the project include:

• The illustrated Blanchette story experience
• Subtle flower animations and interactive details
• Editorial typography and layouts
• Strong restaurant photography
• Clear menu and booking journeys
• A responsive experience that retains the personality of the desktop site

Every detail was designed to make the website feel unmistakably Blanchette.

More Than Just a Restaurant Website

Restaurant websites have a very clear job.

People want to see the food, understand the atmosphere, check the menu, find the restaurant and book a table.

But that doesn’t mean the experience needs to be generic.

The best hospitality websites can start creating the feeling of visiting the venue before someone has even walked through the door.

That was exactly what we wanted to achieve here.

The result is a website that works commercially while still feeling creative, immersive and completely aligned with the brand.

International Recognition for Raccoon Web Ltd

Receiving Special Kudos and all three category awards from CSS Design Awards is a huge milestone for Raccoon Web.

Especially because this project represents exactly the kind of work we want to keep producing.

Websites with personality.

Websites that work properly.

Websites that balance conversion, user experience, brand and creativity rather than sacrificing one for another.

A massive thank you to the Blanchette Soho team for trusting us with such a brilliant brand.

And thank you to everyone who supported and voted for the project during the awards process.

We’ll be celebrating this one for a while. 🦝🏆

Looking for a website that actually feels like your brand?

Raccoon Web designs and develops high-performing websites across WordPress, Webflow and other platforms for businesses that see their website as an important part of their growth.