The Making of To Be Determined
What do you call a place where nothing is fixed, but everything is intentional?
To Be Determined is a wine bar and seasonal kitchen in Miami where the only constant is curiosity. When founders Chefs Johnny Delgado and Richard Ortega approached Gluttonomy, they had a space, a name, and a desire to break away from routine. But they didn’t yet have a brand to hold it all together. When chefs and founders Johnny Delgado and Richard Ortega came to Gluttonomy, they brought a space, a name, and a desire to break away from routine. What they needed was a brand that could bring it all to life.
The Philosophy Behind the Name
“To Be Determined” wasn’t just a placeholder — it reflected a mindset.
Built on openness, experimentation, and creative expression.
“To Be Determined” spoke to who they were becoming: chefs and creatives eager to challenge their own structured approach to food, and lean into something more instinctive and expressive.
The name evolved into an invitation to welcome spontaneity, curiosity, and constant reinvention. In their words: “Mientras va viniendo, vamos viendo.” “As things come, we figure them out.”
TBD isn’t about indecision. It’s about being open to possibility.
Designing for Improvisation
How do you design something that’s constantly evolving?
That was our challenge, and our opportunity.
The brand identity needed to feel intentional but never rigid.
We began with the handwritten wordmark, determined, written by the chef. It was expressive, playful, and personal — mirroring the chef’s journey from structure to spontaneity.
Menus were another crucial touchpoint. Because TBD changes their food and wine offering every two weeks, we had to create a format that was:
Easy to update and reprint.
Visually strong, with dish names taking center stage.
Designed for real-time changes, even handwritten edits.
From the font system to the brand color palette, every design choice supported flexibility without sacrificing identity.
Problem-Solving as a Brand Behavior
What made this project especially meaningful was how deeply the concept of problem-solving ran through it, not just in the kitchen, but in the brand-building process.
TBD is constantly improvising with ingredients, dishes, and pairings. That same spirit applied to our approach at Gluttonomy. We had to think on our feet, anticipate changes, and craft tools that made spontaneity feel seamless.
The challenge wasn’t just visual. It was operational.
How do you empower a team to print menus on the fly, while preserving design integrity?
How do you build an identity that welcomes handwritten annotations, surprise wine drops, or last-minute ingredient swaps?
We met those questions with curiosity and intention, just like the TBD team does with every dish.
The Takeaway: A Living Brand That Feels Like a Conversation
At Gluttonomy, we believe the best branding is born out of empathy, conversation, and co-creation.
With TBD, the process was fluid. The final brand is a living, breathing system. One that honors spontaneity without sacrificing clarity. One that reflects not just what TBD is, but what it allows itself to become, week after week.
It’s not just a wine bar. It’s a creative space. A place for the unexpected. A restaurant built on the courage to say: We don’t have all the answers yet. And that’s the point.
