Behind The Scenes of Check Please!:

A Love Letter to Dining Out

For the Check Please! collection, our designers pulled inspiration from retro diners, candlelit bistros and café counters — then transformed it all into art.

There’s a particular kind of joy that comes with dining out: the soft clink of cutlery, the buzz of conversation, a casual toast among friends. Check Please! is a celebration of that energy. From cheeky matchbook sketches to moody black-and-white dinner scenes, the collection captures the nostalgic, delicious chaos of restaurant culture, past and present.

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Art With Appetite

Being based in Montreal, the Opposite Wall art team is spoiled with plenty of top-notch restaurants, and some of these inspired the creative process. “This collection is all about bringing the restaurant ambiance to your own space,” says Lead Designer Roxanne Barbeau. “It’s like an art takeout! And once it’s up on your walls, it adds a je ne sais quoi to your dinner parties.” 

To bring the restaurant atmosphere to life, the team sourced vintage photos from digital archives. These fragments of dining culture were then reimagined through modern design: illustrations were digitized and refined, black-and-white images were hand-recoloured, and every detail was curated to tell a story.

Retro and Real

Unlike pristine studio shots, the photography in Check Please! leans into imperfection: hazy lighting, off-kilter angles, post-dinner tables.

Whether you’re framing a gritty diner snapshot or a sleek martini sketch, these prints are meant to stir up a whole mood. The Check Please! collection is, at its heart, an invitation to spill a little wine, laugh a little too loud and make memories over shared meals at your own dinner table.

It’s a kind of magic that lasts even after the plates are cleared.

Artist Spotlight: Meet Valerie Perreault

The illustrations in the collection have a story of their own. Many of these were created with indie linocut block-printing artist Valerie Perreault. “They’re graphic, cheeky, charming,” adds Barbeau. “We really love what she brought to the collection!”

Ready to Order? Explore the full Check Please! collection.

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