UMI by Vikram Garg Restaurant

UMI by Vikram Garg is a fine-dining restaurant located inside the Halepuna Waikiki hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. Led by acclaimed chef Vikram Garg, the restaurant brings together locally sourced Hawaiian ingredients, seafood, and international culinary influences in an elegant dining environment. Its approach to food and presentation called for a website that reflected the same attention to detail.

Working in collaboration with CWD, Brave Cat Digital handled the complete website design and development in 2024. We built a custom WordPress website using Elementor, creating a refined visual direction that matched the restaurant’s upscale identity. The design focused on elegant layouts, prominent food photography, and carefully balanced visual elements, giving the restaurant a distinctive online presence without unnecessary distractions.

Animation played an important role in the website’s presentation. We implemented smooth scrolling and custom GSAP ScrollTrigger animations, allowing images and content sections to appear and move naturally as visitors explored the pages. These interactions added depth and a more polished feel to the browsing experience while maintaining the restrained aesthetic expected from a fine-dining restaurant.

Beyond the visual design, the website presented the restaurant’s dining experience, chef, menus, location, and contact information. Visitors could explore the menu directly on the website, access external reservation services, and use a dedicated contact form to get in touch. Each section was designed to make the restaurant’s information accessible while maintaining a consistent visual style across desktop and mobile devices.

The completed project combined custom WordPress development, detailed visual design, and scroll-based animation into a restaurant website built around UMI’s identity. Rather than relying on a conventional restaurant template, the website presented the food, atmosphere, and dining experience through a distinctive design developed specifically for the brand.