Start here
What to change first
- The dishes and prices. Duplicate a row to add a dish.
- The column labels. Plates, and bakes and drinks.
- The link.
#menu.
The signature moment
The menu is the board behind the counter
The menu is a dark board set inside a frame, the dishes ruled off with dashed chalk lines and the prices pushed to the right edge of each line. The board is an inverted slab inside a thin framed border, so it reads as a thing hung on the wall rather than a section of the page. The two columns sit side by side on a laptop and a tablet and one under the other on a phone.
Theme handoff
What comes from where
From your theme
- Typeface.
- Palette.
- Link.
Set by this pattern
- The dish names and prices.
- The heading.
Full pattern notes
Why it works, and how it is built
Open a topic for the complete design reasoning, editing guidance and implementation notes.
Design rationaleComposition, intent and nearest alternatives
Overview
A menu written up like the board behind the counter: a dark board inside a frame, a centred heading, two columns of dishes with prices, and a centred allergy note. It sits in the listings section beside menu-course-columns, whose prices hang on dotted leaders on the page, and menu-single-sheet: here the whole menu is one object on the wall.
The signature moment: the menu is the board behind the counter
The menu is a dark board set inside a frame, the dishes ruled off with dashed chalk lines and the prices pushed to the right edge of each line. The board is an inverted slab inside a thin framed border, so it reads as a thing hung on the wall rather than a section of the page. The two columns sit side by side on a laptop and a tablet and one under the other on a phone.
Make it yoursVariations and the edits to make first
What to change first
- The dishes and prices. Duplicate a row to add a dish.
- The column labels. Plates, and bakes and drinks.
- The link.
#menu.
Theme behaviourInheritance, fixed decisions and contrast
What it inherits from your theme
- Typeface. The base states no font family.
- Palette. The board is your
contrastcolour withbasetype; the frame is acurrentColorhairline on yourbaseground; the chalk lines are the board's text colour. Labels on the board start atbase, never a ground role. - Link. A transparent, underlined core button in the board's text colour.
What it decides for itself
- The dish names and prices.
clamp(1.125rem, 1.5vw, 1.3125rem), one size for both so a row reads as one line. - The heading. The
x-largerung, centred.
Technical notesBlock mechanics, responsive behaviour and constraints
The Crumb look
Part of the Crumb Pattern Set, one café's whole site in one design language: oat ground #f4ecdf, espresso ink #2b1d16, muted cocoa #5c4a3f, milk cards #fbf7f0 on oat hairlines #dccfbf, terracotta #b3462d labels and peach #e8a27c on the espresso slab. Headings are Georgia at 400, body, labels and buttons Helvetica; buttons are espresso pills or underlined links, cards and photographs rounded at 14px. Every text pair is measured on the ground it is painted on. Take the base for your theme's colours, or the look's Use my theme chip.
Notes
- Core blocks only: group, heading, paragraph, buttons, button. No plugin, nothing to keep updated.
- The root group sets headings and links to
currentColor, so every heading, paragraph and link inherits the group's text colour in any theme; only role-bearing text (labels, rules, plates) carries its own chain.
Questions
Menu chalkboard: common questions
Does Menu chalkboard need a plugin?
No. It is built only from core WordPress blocks (button, buttons, column, columns, group, heading and paragraph), so it pastes into the block editor with nothing to install.
Will Menu chalkboard match my theme?
Choose by variation. Framed board takes your theme’s palette; Crumb brings its own colours.
How many variations does Menu chalkboard have?
2: Framed board and Crumb. Each is its own markup; choose one in the toolbar above the preview before you copy.
Is Menu chalkboard free?
It is included with a subscription, with every Core Pattern and variation. 56 Core Patterns are free to copy without one.
Which WordPress version does it need?
Requires a block theme on WordPress 7.0. Classic themes and page builders are outside our supported setup. Adaptive patterns use the block theme’s colour, spacing and typography presets; styled variations declare their own colours or type.
The markup
Core block markup and nothing else. Copy it, then paste it straight into the block editor: WordPress reads the delimiters and rebuilds the blocks.
Fetching the markup…
Variation: Crumb
Fetching the markup…