step up to the plate

i'm not one to particularly take notice of the plates upon which my food is served in restaurants. this is probably because they are usually of a whitish hue and a deco variety (long rectangles, squares with beveled edges, plain ass white circular dishes, see example 1) and nothing too exciting.

example 1 - wonderful fresh spring rolls at Vientiane,
plate - not that exciting but who cares?

often times i'm willing to trade the plate for the palate. as long as the food is exquisite (ok, delicious is acceptable) the plate can be as trite as they come. hell, i even ate french fries out of a basket the other day and didn't bat an eyelash!

however, the real plating shines through at homecooked meals. and when i say plating, i'm not talking drizzles of coulis or chiffonades of basil, although once in a while we like to get fancy!

example 2 - getting fancy (microgreens are our friends) and
also my "dowry" plates

i'm talking about straight up ceramic and china dishes. aside from a set of 8 beauties (see above - example 2) that my mom got for me from an auction some years ago (i call them my dowry, but i assure you they are not) our house boasts a hodge podge of thrift store finds. bowls, mugs, cups and plates all take on their own personality and occasion. sometimes, in a bizarro twist, while a meal may not be all that exciting, a plate can elevate that food to a fun, whimsical eating adventure. well, maybe not an adventure, but seriously check out this plate:

example 3 - this plate is just full of whimsy

now check out the plate with a simple peanut butter, jelly and banana open face sandwich, alongside another open faced sandwich, this one with onions, tomatoes, tofutti cream cheese and microgreens:

example 4 - don't these sandwiches look cuter?

my point exactly.