“Crockery is an important part of the language we use when serving food,” says chef Ferrán Adrià. Beyond their functional aspect, plates and tableware enhance the flavours we eat, in the same way that good interior design or architecture in a restaurant bring wellbeing to the people that occupy the space. Here are five examples of tableware that will stimulate your visual appetite:
José Piñero, thirty years as an “idea-maker”
This interior and industrial designer likes to describe his atelier as “a Noah’s Ark for trades“, where professionals in design, industrial and artistic painting, blacksmithing, carpentry, and mouldings all work side by side. In addition to plates and glasses, he also creates other pieces, including sculptures and ephemeral installations. He has worked for many chefs, including Adrà himself, with whom he began his career thirty years ago, and the innovative Dabiz Muñoz.
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Luesma & Vega, like leaves on trees: unique but identifiable
Glass is Luesma & Vega’s chosen medium for their pieces, described in their manifesto as “like the leaves on trees: unique but identifiable”. With a commitment to sustainable development encompassing environmental, fiscal, and social aspects, this studio carries out its production in a quaint village in Barcelona. This approach, coupled with their exceptional ability to tailor pieces to the unique requirements of haute cuisine, has seen this artisanal brand become the first choice for many restaurants spanning from New York to Singapore.
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CooKplay: sustainable and local
Ana Roquero, the mind behind CooKPlay, counts many big names in the Basque culinary realm, such as Arzak and Martín Berasategui, among her esteemed clientele. Roquero focuses on sustainability and her strives to combine beauty and functionality in her work. “I am an industrial designer who really believes [that] every element must be good for something and have a purpose,” she says. Roquero was also one of the biggest champions of sustainable packaging made from sugar cane for takeaway food.
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Santos Bregaña: the perfect cup of coffee
Porcelain and coffee owe a great deal to Santos Bregaña. He has had such a major influence on the way we cook (he “forced” Ferrán Adrià to modify his creations to match his own designs) and he created THE PERFECT CUP, the perfect container for the crema to slide into, thus enhancing the aromas and flavour of the coffee.
Andrea Zarraluqui: the plate as a canvas
An intimate and personal story behind each dish. That’s the best way to describe the plates designed by Andrea Zarraluqui, who left a promising career in marketing to throw herself into her passion for ceramics and painting. In addition to restoring crockery by filling them with colour, flowers, and tropical dyes, she makes porcelain murals designed for bathrooms, exteriors, or kitchens. And she does it all using local products, with earthenware from Puente del Arzobispo in Toledo, which was recognised as a UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2019.
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